This could probably be the best week ever for investors in the market: from Google’s Alphabet to Shopify to Microsoft and Nokia.
While we thought the pandemic wasn’t good for business, the results from the company’s earnings are proving negative. Many companies who have leveraged technology to deliver their products or services to customers, or assisted (empowered) other businesses to reach their customers have won big in this period.
Shopify, a store that helps other businesses reach customers online, reported net income of US$1.26 billion in the first quarter of 2021. The company has continued to build on the momentum sparked by a shift to e-commerce, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As against analysts’ expectation revenue of $866 million, the company closed total sales of $988 million.
The king of digital advertisement, Alphabet, owners of Google, saw its own share of earnings hike as the company’s net profit jumped by 162% to a record $17.9bn in the first quarter as advertising revenue swelled by a third. Reflecting this revenue, Google’s search business jumped by 30% to $31.9bn in the quarter, while sales at YouTube leaped 49% to $6bn. Alphabet reported earnings per share (EPS) of $26.29, compared to EPS estimate of $15.56, and revenue stood at $55.3 billion, compared to estimates of $51.71 billion, according to Seeking Alpha. Google’s revenue, up 34% from the same quarter last year, was driven by a growth in advertiser revenue and revenue from Google Cloud, according to the earnings statement.
As for Microsoft, revenue growth was led by Azura with 50% growth YoY, LinkedIn revenue increased by 25% and the company’s Intelligent Cloud revenue was $15.1 billion representing a 23% increase. Microsoft reported an earnings per share of $1.95 compared to consensus EPS estimates of $1.78, and total revenue of $41.71 billion.
“Over a year into the pandemic, digital adoption curves aren’t slowing down. They’re accelerating, and it’s just the beginning,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, said in the earnings statement. “We are building the cloud for the next decade, expanding our addressable market and innovating across every layer of the tech stack to help our customers be resilient and transform.”
Another company, smashing their earnings report is Finnish Telecom Network equipment maker Nokia. Nokia shares surge 13% pre-market on thursday as the company announced a better than expected Q1 result. Nokia success has been attributed to the sales from its 5G infrastructure unit. The company Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark promised to do “whatever it takes” to lead in the 5G space back in October 2020, this report proves that his strategy seems to be working. Net sales rose 3% year-over-year to €5.08 billion beating the FactSet consensus for sales of €4.75 billion. Comparable net profit of €373 million crushed expectations of €90 million. It maintained full-year guidance for sales of €20.6 billion to €21.8 billion and an operating margin of 7% to 10%.
Apple and Facebook are not left out of the fun ride as both companies delivered a good report for the quarter.
Apple stock rose 2.7% after the tech giant reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with revenue hitting a record high following a surge in services and iPhones growth. Iphone sales generated a whopping $47.9 billion bringing total revenue to $89.58 billion versus $77.3 billion expected.
Facebook stock rose 7.5% after the world’s largest social network beat expectations for both quarterly revenue and profit, with a surge in digital ad spending during the pandemic when consumers shopped online, along with higher ad prices, resulting in revenue soaring 48%.
Earnings Calendar For The Coming Week
Monday
Earnings: Avis Budget, Loews, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Rambus, Leggett and Platt, Vornado, American Water, Iamgold, Mosaic, Apollo Global Management, ZoomInfo, Estee Lauder, ON Semiconductor
Tuesday
Earnings: Pfizer, CVS Health, ConocoPhillips, Martin Marietta Materials, Activision Blizzard, DuPont, KKR, T-Mobile, Akamai, Pioneer Natural Resources, Lattice Semiconductor, Denny’s, Hyatt Hotels, Host Hotels, PerkinElmer, Prudential Financial, Viavi, Caesars Entertainment, Thomson Reuters, Cummins, Vulcan Materials
Wednesday
Earnings: General Motors, Hilton Worldwide, Booking Holdings, Fox Corp., Uber Technologies, Etsy, PayPal, Allstate, Accolade, Cognizant Technology, MetLife, Marriott Vacations, CF Industries, Marathon Oil, CyberArk Software, Emerson Electric, Amerisourcebergen, BorgWarner, Zynga, Tanger Factory Outlet, Twilio
Thursday
Earnings: Regeneron, ViacomCBS, Kellogg, Moderna, Murphy Oil, Beyond Meat, Shake Shack, Square, Roku, Axon, Cushman and Wakefield, Tapestry, Neilsen, AIG, Anheuser-Busch, EOG Resources, Consolidated Edison, DropBox, Expedia, Roku, Peloton Interactive, Datadog, Cardinal Health, Ambac Financial
Friday
Earnings: Cigna, Siemens, Gannett, AMC Networks, Draftkings, Liberty Broadband, Elanco Animal Health
