Investing.com — Here is your Pro Recap of the earnings reports you may have missed this week: Meta Platforms, Apple, Alphabet, and UPS.
Meta Platforms stock jumps on beat-and-raise, ProPicks soars on the news
Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) experienced a surge of over 16% in pre-market today after the company released strong Q4 earnings, declared its first-ever quarterly dividend, and announced a new share buyback plan.
The tech giant reported Q4 EPS of $5.33, significantly outperforming the anticipated $4.96 by analysts. Its revenue saw a 25% increase year-over-year, reaching $40.11 billion and exceeding the consensus of $39.02B.
Looking ahead to Q1/24, Meta Platforms anticipates revenue between $34.5B and $37B, which is above the consensus estimate of $33.83B.
The company also declared its first-ever quarterly dividend of $0.50, with a scheduled payment date of March 26, offering an annual dividend yield of 0.5%. Additionally, the company's board approved a substantial expansion of its share repurchase authorization, adding another $50B to the program.
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Apple reports Q1 beat, but iPhone sales miss estimates amid China weakness
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) unveiled its Q1 results yesterday, surpassing Wall Street's projections even as iPhone sales missed expectations due to challenges in China and increasing competition. Shares of Apple dropped over 2% in pre-market today.
The tech giant reported earnings of $2.18 per share with a revenue of $119.58B, outperforming analyst forecasts, which expected an EPS of $2.10 on revenue of $118.06B. Despite these strong overall results, revenue from greater China experienced a 13% decline to $20.82B, contributing to the underperformance in iPhone sales amid a tough competitive backdrop. iPhone revenue, which makes up about half of total revenue, rose to $69.70B from $65.78B a year earlier but missed estimates of $67.82B.
Alphabet shares plunge amid higher AI spending forecast
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), experienced a 7% drop in its stock price on Wednesday after announcing its Q4 results and revealing that capital expenditures in 2024 will significantly increase compared to the previous year.
This increase in spending is part of the company's strategic initiative to enhance its AI capabilities, aiming to improve performance across its crucial advertising and cloud services units.
Despite facing weaker-than-expected advertising growth in Q4, Alphabet's strong cloud business performance contributed to the company's revenue and profit surpassing Wall Street's forecasts.
For Q4, Alphabet reported an EPS of $1.64, above the analyst prediction of $1.59. The company's revenue for the quarter was $86.31B, exceeding the consensus estimate of $85.23B.
UPS falls 8% on weak outlook
Shares of United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) tumbled over 8% on Tuesday following the announcement of its Q4 results, which were mixed, and its guidance fell short of expectations.
The logistics giant reported an adjusted EPS of $2.47 for the quarter, matching the consensus among analysts. However, its quarterly revenue of $24.92B represented a 7.8% decrease year-over-year and was below the anticipated $25.41B.
Looking forward to 2024, UPS projected its full-year revenue to range between $92.0B and $94.5B, aiming for a consolidated adjusted operating margin of about 10.0% to 10.6%. This projection is below the analysts' expectations, who had forecasted full-year sales to reach $95.6B.
Furthermore, UPS management announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs as part of a strategy to achieve $1B in cost reductions.
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