Q4 Pedal to the Metal: AMZN, MSFT, V & More
Straight in the heart of Q4 earnings season, there are many companies for which to account after the bell. Among them include notable headliners like Amazon.com (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Visa (V), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) and Amgen (AMGN). Can Q4 earnings keep up its successful pace in beat ratios? Let’s find out.
After two successive 200+ percent positive earnings surprises in the past two quarters, Amazon posted a big miss in Q4 earnings, and a slighter miss on sales. This earnings report was somewhat reminiscent of Amazon quarters gone by, in which a big earnings miss would be shrugged off by CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon Misses Q4 Earnings, Stock Hit After Hours
Microsoft was big in the cloud for its fiscal Q2 2016 earnings, beating estimates on both the top and bottom lines. It also saw an after-market boost of around 5 percent. Microsoft Surging on Cloud Strength, Q2 Beats
Elsewhere, Visa was able to slightly supersede estimates for both sales and earnings for the quarter, despite a strong-dollar headwind. Visa Beats Q1 & Revenue Estimates
Skyworks Solutions soundly beat revenue estimates in its first quarter while also managing to come out ahead of earnings expectations. Revenues rose 15 percent year over year. Skyworks Solutions Beats Q1 Estimates, Stock Rising
Leading biotech major Amgen posted a big earnings beat after the bell Thursday, and also topped revenue estimates in the quarter. Operating margins improved, and the company brought 6 new launches in 2015. Amgen Beats Q4 Earnings, Revenue Estimates
Q4 Earnings Season Scorecard (as of 1/28/2016)
Including all of today’s results, we now have Q4 results from 183 S&P 500 members that combined account for 48.3% of the index’s total market capitalization. Total earnings for these companies are down -1% from the same period last year on -1.5% lower revenues, with 73.6% beating EPS estimates and 48.4% coming ahead of revenue estimates.
Relative to other recent periods, this is weak earnings and revenue growth from these 182 index members. The beat ratios, however, are tracking better, with the EPS beat ratio of 73.6% above what we saw from this group of companies in 2015 Q3 and the 4-quarter average. Even the revenue beat ratio is tracking above the Q3 level and about in-line with the 4-quarter average. The favorable trend in surprises could be interpreted to mean that estimates may have fallen too much in the run up to the start of the Q4 earnings season.
Looking at Q4 as a whole, combining the actual results from the 182 companies that have reported with estimates for the still-to-come 318 index members, total earnings are expected to be down -5.5% on -4.5% lower revenues – the third quarter in a row of earnings declines for the index. Estimates for 2016 Q1 have started to come down at an accelerated pace lately, with total earnings for the S&P 500 index now expected to be down -5.5% from the same period last year, which is down from roughly flat growth for the period a few weeks back.
For a more detailed look at the Q4 earnings season, check out weekly Earnings Trends report at this link: 4 Takeaways for Q4 Earnings Season
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AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report
VISA INC-A (V): Free Stock Analysis Report
SKYWORKS SOLUTN (SWKS): Free Stock Analysis Report
AMGEN INC (AMGN): Free Stock Analysis Report
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