Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Market indexes started off slowly this morning, but managed to climb into positive territory before noon. For the Nasdaq — which notched its first all-time closing high since July — and the S&P 500, they were able to stay in the green, while the Dow and small-cap Russell 2000 finished mildly in the red.
The Dow dropped -154 points today, -0.36%, while the S&P came close to giving back its gains in the final minutes of trading, +0.16%. The Nasdaq closed up +145 points, +0.78%, to 18,712 for the first time, and the Russell came down -0.27% for the session.
Q3 earnings season really heats up today. We’ll spot-check a few key companies reporting after the closing bell:
Alphabet Spells Big Q3 Beats
Google and YouTube parent Alphabet GOOGL reported earnings of $2.12 per share, nicely ahead of the $1.83 in the Zacks consensus, and well beyond the $1.55 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues, minus Traffic Acquisition Costs (TAC), came in at $74.45 billion in the quarter, improving on the $72.85 billion anticipated (Alphabet had reported headline revenues at $88.27 billion).
Most segments were modestly or notably above consensus expectations in Q3. Search Revenue reached +$49.4 billion ($49 billion had been expected), YouTube brought in $8.92 billion (versus $8.89 estimated) and Cloud fetched $11.4 billion versus $10.9 billion. Shares are up nearly +5% on the news, adding to its +22% year to date.
AMD Trading Down on Modest Earnings Beat
Advanced Micro Devices AMD outpaced bottom-line earnings by a penny to 92 cents per share, with a stronger top-line outperformance: $6.82 billion versus $6.71 billion in the quarter. But with Gaming revenue missing expectations, and a slightly lower guide on next-quarter sales, AMD shares are down -6% in today’s after-market, cutting into the stock’s +20% gain year to date.
Chipotle Posts Mixed Results, Shares Lower
Chipotle CMG posted a two-cent beat on its bottom line this afternoon, to 27 cents per share, but the fast casual giant brought its first top-line miss since July of last year. Same-store sales came in at +6%, a tad lower than the +6.3% estimate. The company listed higher avocado and dairy prices for the quarter, which were cited as the reason for the miss. Shares are down -2.5% in late trading, rolling back some of the +34% year-to-date gains.
Visa, Which Never Misses on Earnings, Beats Again
In its fiscal Q4 reported today, Visa V typically surpassed estimates on its bottom line to $2.71 per share (from $2.58 in the Zacks consensus) on $9.62 billion in quarterly sales, nicely ahead of the $9.51 billion analysts had been expecting. Payments volume rose +8% in the quarter, while the company has a host of other issues, including 1400 pending job cuts and an antitrust lawsuit filed against Visa by the Department of Justice a month or so ago. Shares are up +1.5% in late trading, adding to the sub-S&P +9% year to date.
Reddit Swings to Surprise Earnings, Shares +18%
It’s only the third reported quarter for Reddit RDDT since its IPO, but the digital communities provider swung to a big positive on its bottom line — from an expected -7 cents per share to positive +16 cents for its Q3. Revenues of $348 million stormed past the $313 million in the Zacks consensus, +68% year over year. Next-quarter revenue guidance is screaming ahead to a range of $389-400 million from the earlier expected $360 million. Shares are up +17% on the news.
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