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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Meta Platforms, Lockheed Martin and Eli Lilly
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 4, 2024 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) , Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) and Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) .
3 Big Winners from Q2 Earnings Season: META, LMT, LLY
The 2024 Q2 earnings season is slowly grinding to a halt, with the majority of S&P 500 companies already delivering quarterly results. Looking ahead, Q3 earnings for the S&P 500 index are expected to be up +3.8% from the same period last year on +4.6% higher revenues, chaining together consecutive periods of positivity.
Several companies have stolen the spotlight throughout the period, including Meta Platforms, Lockheed Martin and Eli Lilly. All three posted robust results and upped guidance, with shares of each seeing bullish activity post earnings.
Let's take a closer look at each.
META Raises AI CapEx
Mega-cap giant Meta Platforms was one of the few Mag 7 members to see a positive reaction to its quarterly results, with the company again exceeding both earnings and revenue expectations. The company's earnings outlook reflects bullishness across all timeframes.
The company delivered a stunning statement in the release, with Mark Zuckerberg saying, 'We had a strong quarter, and Meta AI is on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year,"
He continued, "We've released the first frontier-level open source AI model, we continue to see good traction with our Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, and we're driving good growth across our apps."
Meta also raised its CapEx outlook into a band of $37 - $40 billion ($35 - $40 billion prior) to support its artificial intelligence roadmap.
The valuation picture for META remains attractive, with the current 22.4X forward 12-month earnings multiple in line with the five-year median and well beneath five-year highs of 31.5X. In addition, the current PEG ratio works out to 1.2X, reflecting that investors are paying a fair price for the forecasted growth.
Eli Lilly Sees Robust Demand
Eli Lilly shares have been red-hot in 2024 thanks to robust results stemming from unrelenting demand, up 65% and widely outperforming relative to the S&P 500. Shares popped following its latest release, with earnings and sales climbing 85% and 35%, respectively.
The company upgraded its current-year sales guidance by a sizable $3 billion. Analysts have adjusted their sales expectations accordingly, with the now $46.4 billion expected alluding to a 35% climb year-over-year.
The story behind Eli Lilly has been driven by its diabetes drug Mounjaro and its weight loss injection Zepbound, which have seen unrelenting demand among consumers. Mounjaro sales jumped 216% year-over-year, whereas Zepbound sales of $1.2 billion also reflected strong demand.
Earnings expectations have shot higher across the board following the release, with LLY sporting a favorable Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
LMT Generates Significant Cash
Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor in the world, operating in defense, space, intelligence, homeland security, and information technology. The company's steady growth continued throughout its latest period, with EPS and revenue growing 6% and 9%, respectively.
The company has been a long-time favorite among income-focused investors, consistently upping its payout over the years. LMT's cash-generating abilities have aided its dividend growth, with the company posting nearly $1.3 billion in free cash flow throughout its latest period.
Following the favorable quarter, LMT upped its EPS, segment profit, and sales guidance, causing shares to move bullishly following the release.
Bottom Line
The Q2 earnings season overall showed resiliency, with no major spooks hitting the tape. While we saw some mixed reads on the consumer, recent favorable economic data helps alleviate this issue.
And concerning a few companies who stole the spotlight during the reporting period, these three stocks all did precisely that.
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Meta Platforms, Lockheed Martin and Eli Lilly
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 4, 2024 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) , Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) and Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) .
3 Big Winners from Q2 Earnings Season: META, LMT, LLY
The 2024 Q2 earnings season is slowly grinding to a halt, with the majority of S&P 500 companies already delivering quarterly results. Looking ahead, Q3 earnings for the S&P 500 index are expected to be up +3.8% from the same period last year on +4.6% higher revenues, chaining together consecutive periods of positivity.
Several companies have stolen the spotlight throughout the period, including Meta Platforms, Lockheed Martin and Eli Lilly. All three posted robust results and upped guidance, with shares of each seeing bullish activity post earnings.
Let's take a closer look at each.
META Raises AI CapEx
Mega-cap giant Meta Platforms was one of the few Mag 7 members to see a positive reaction to its quarterly results, with the company again exceeding both earnings and revenue expectations. The company's earnings outlook reflects bullishness across all timeframes.
The company delivered a stunning statement in the release, with Mark Zuckerberg saying, 'We had a strong quarter, and Meta AI is on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year,"
He continued, "We've released the first frontier-level open source AI model, we continue to see good traction with our Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, and we're driving good growth across our apps."
Meta also raised its CapEx outlook into a band of $37 - $40 billion ($35 - $40 billion prior) to support its artificial intelligence roadmap.
The valuation picture for META remains attractive, with the current 22.4X forward 12-month earnings multiple in line with the five-year median and well beneath five-year highs of 31.5X. In addition, the current PEG ratio works out to 1.2X, reflecting that investors are paying a fair price for the forecasted growth.
Eli Lilly Sees Robust Demand
Eli Lilly shares have been red-hot in 2024 thanks to robust results stemming from unrelenting demand, up 65% and widely outperforming relative to the S&P 500. Shares popped following its latest release, with earnings and sales climbing 85% and 35%, respectively.
The company upgraded its current-year sales guidance by a sizable $3 billion. Analysts have adjusted their sales expectations accordingly, with the now $46.4 billion expected alluding to a 35% climb year-over-year.
The story behind Eli Lilly has been driven by its diabetes drug Mounjaro and its weight loss injection Zepbound, which have seen unrelenting demand among consumers. Mounjaro sales jumped 216% year-over-year, whereas Zepbound sales of $1.2 billion also reflected strong demand.
Earnings expectations have shot higher across the board following the release, with LLY sporting a favorable Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
LMT Generates Significant Cash
Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor in the world, operating in defense, space, intelligence, homeland security, and information technology. The company's steady growth continued throughout its latest period, with EPS and revenue growing 6% and 9%, respectively.
The company has been a long-time favorite among income-focused investors, consistently upping its payout over the years. LMT's cash-generating abilities have aided its dividend growth, with the company posting nearly $1.3 billion in free cash flow throughout its latest period.
Following the favorable quarter, LMT upped its EPS, segment profit, and sales guidance, causing shares to move bullishly following the release.
Bottom Line
The Q2 earnings season overall showed resiliency, with no major spooks hitting the tape. While we saw some mixed reads on the consumer, recent favorable economic data helps alleviate this issue.
And concerning a few companies who stole the spotlight during the reporting period, these three stocks all did precisely that.
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.