Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Intel Corp gave the Nasdaq a welcome boost on Friday, after a tough week for technology stocks, which followed poorly received results from Google-parent, Alphabet and Facebook-owner, Meta Platforms.
Shares in Amazon rose 7.5% and Intel leapt 10.8% in early trading helping propel the Nasdaq more than 100 points to the good.
Results from Amazon were better received than those of its peers, beating forecasts for sales and earnings.
The company’s quarterly earnings per share came in at $0.94, a more than three-fold increase from a year earlier and much better than the $0.58 analyst consensus estimate.
Its revenue for the period, meanwhile, rose 13% to $143.1 billion, edging past expectations of $141.4 billion.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) sales climbed 12% to $23.1 billion during the quarter, a slight miss on the analyst forecast of $23.2 billion.
Bank of America said: "With seemingly another year of margin improvement ahead, we think growing margins can drive further multiple expansion."
"As for revenue growth, we think next driver for stock will be AWS acceleration, with positive comments on the call likely to fuel Street optimism on a positive AI cycle ahead."
Meanwhile, Intel posted adjusted earnings of $0.41 per share, well ahead of the $0.22 per share projected by analysts.
Revenue was $14.16 billion, down 8% year-over-year and compared to Street expectations of $13.53 billion.
Sales from Intel’s Client Computing group, which includes its laptop and PC processor shipments, fell 3% to $7.9 billion.
Looking ahead, Intel expects fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.23 per share on revenue between $14.6 billion and $15.6 billion.
Analysts expect $0.32 per share on revenue of $14.31 billion.
UBS said: "With solid results and guidance, Intel is now annualizing close to $2 EPS and starting to put "points on the board" for its advanced process/foundry initiatives."
"The company will also start to provide separate P&Ls for the manufacturing and product groups and hold an IFS event in FQ1 - both of which may tease investors to maybe "dream a little" with a SOTP valuation on what the manufacturing/foundry business could potentially be valued at in a spin", it added.
Intel is a unique entity in the semiconductor space.
While other big names in US chipmaking, namely Nvidia Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), use Taiwanese or South Korean foundries to print their designs, Intel does it all in-house.