Ahead of Apple (AAPL) reporting quarterly results tonight, the other Magnificent 7 stocks are on watch today.
Alphabet (GOOG) posted Cloud revenue growing by an astounding 63% Y/Y to $20 billion. YouTube advertising also fared well at $9.88 billion. Its EPS topped $5.11. The firm said it would spend $180 - $190 billion in capital expenditure. This is more than the $175 billion to $185 billion in expenses it forecast for this year previously.
After-hours (last night), GOOG stock gained 7%. Investors might have sold Meta Platforms (META) after its Q1 results. Meta blamed internet disruptions from the Iran conflict for its weak results. Despite revenue of $56.31 billion (+33% Y/Y) and EPS of $7.31 beating estimates, shares fell by 7%. Since both the Russia and Iran conflicts will not end, weak usage of WhatsApp will continue.
Microsoft (MSFT) posted $82.89 billion in revenue (+18% Y/Y) as EPS topped $4.27 in Q3. CFO Amy Hood implied that operating margins for the fiscal fourth quarter will fall to 44%. This is down from 46.3%. This is disconcerting, since depreciation costs are worsening amid an aggressive data center infrastructure build-out. Assuming Microsoft used relaxed depreciation rules, margins would worsen if AI hardware valuations fall faster in the future.
Expect MSFT stock to trade roughly flat in Thursday morning markets.
