Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB) is once again facing lofty expectations ahead of its second quarter financial report due on Wednesday, July 31, after the stock market closes.
The Street expects the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp parent to post an almost 20% jump in revenue from the year-ago quarter’s $32 billion to $38.3 billion.
Half-year results from Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) were pretty much in line with expectations, but analysts felt the market was likely to be disappointed that margin guidance was not raised.
The results included a second-quarter underlying pre-tax profit of £1.74 billion, which was 6% ahead of consensus forecasts.
A trio of microchip earnings next week will provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of global chipmaking demand at a time when artificial intelligence applications are supercharging the thirst for compute, but lingering worries are growing louder.
In the past week, results from Google owner Alphabet and Tesla sparked a wide-scall tech rout as investors cottoned on to the multi-billion scale of spending needed for the AI roll-out.
This year’s Farnborough Airshow was a bit of a damp squib, suggests Canadian bank RBC, especially for wide-body (WB) jets and their suppliers, such as engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.).
"Relative to expectations, the 2024 Farnborough Airshow (FAS) was a disappointment," says the bank.
Swedish music streaming megacap Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) has won a new bull in Goldman Sachs, which has jacked its rating up from neutral to buy following Tuesday’s solid second-quarter earnings print.
The quarter smashed expectations for Premium subscriber additions and Spotify projected continued operating momentum into the third quarter.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)'s second-quarter earnings got a guarded thumbs up from Goldman Sachs, which sees potential for the search engine giant to grow and margins to rise.
In the second quarter, Google Search was ahead of consensus estimates and cloud revenue was boosted by billions of dollars of AI-related revenues, while YouTube is facing tougher comparatives going forward.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares have suffered in recent weeks as tech stocks have been sold off, but Goldman Sachs is still convinced of the appeal of the Redmond-based titan.
"Buy with a US$515 target" is its view ahead of Microsoft’s fourth-quarter earnings on July 30.
Robotaxis, autonomous vehicles and lower-cost models are the three key areas which could propel Tesla’s share price, but investors will have to remain patient, analysts at Goldman Sachs warned.
Shares in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped more than 12% on Wednesday after its second-quarter profits fell short of expectations and its gross margins came in 200 bps under.