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3 Top Tech Stocks That Just Crushed Earnings Estimates
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Stocks moved slightly lower on Monday as traders grow increasingly cautious about range-bound indexes and fresh volatility in the healthcare and oil sectors, but overall, investors have remained optimistic in recent trading periods thanks to better-than-expected earnings results and strong guidance.
Heading into the week, total Q1 earnings for the 154 members of the S&P 500 that had already reported were up 25.4% from the year-ago period on 10.3% higher revenues. About 80% of these companies surpassed EPS estimates, and 72.1% managed to top sales estimates.
Among these reporting companies, many have been some of the world’s top technology firms, underscoring the sector’s ability to maintain the strength it has presented over the past few years. Overall, earnings growth expected to surpass 20% in the technology sector.
But which technology bellwethers have led the charge so far this report season? Make sure to take a look at these three companies that recently crushed estimates!
E-commerce behemoth Amazon helped round out another strong quarter for the FANG stocks last Thursday. The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.27 per share, crushing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22 per share. Meanwhile, total revenue was up 43% year over year and forecasted Q2 revenue was on the high end of our prior consensus estimate.
Amazon also notched net sales of $5.44 billion in its Web Services unit, marking growth of 49% from the prior-year period and coming in ahead of our consensus estimate. Further, the company reported first quarter physical stores sales of $4.26 billion, underscoring the scope of the Whole Foods acquisition.
Amazon is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Memory solutions giant Western Digital also reported its latest quarterly results last week. The company notched adjusted earnings of $3.63 per share, comfortably surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.31 per share. WDC also posted revenue of about $5 billion, edging out our consensus estimate of $4.94 billion and improving 7.5% year over year.
Western Digital’s strong results helped relieve some tension in the memory space, with many investors assuming cyclical trends had likely run their course and predicating a pullback soon. Still, the stock has struggled to generate much momentum since its report, indicating that volatility is still lingering.
Nevertheless, an improving earnings outlook has earned the stock a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Chinese internet powerhouse also cruised past earnings estimates recently, reporting adjusted earnings per share of $2.60 that comfortably outpaced our consensus estimate of $1.73. The company saw revenue figures of $3.33 billion, also topping our consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Total revenue was up 31% from the prior-year quarter.
Baidu also posted strong guidance. For the second quarter of 2018, Baidu expects revenues to be between $3.97 billion and $4.17 billion. Before the report, our latest consensus estimate was calling for revenue of $3.91 billion.
Want more market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeneyon Twitter!
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
Image: Bigstock
3 Top Tech Stocks That Just Crushed Earnings Estimates
Stocks moved slightly lower on Monday as traders grow increasingly cautious about range-bound indexes and fresh volatility in the healthcare and oil sectors, but overall, investors have remained optimistic in recent trading periods thanks to better-than-expected earnings results and strong guidance.
Heading into the week, total Q1 earnings for the 154 members of the S&P 500 that had already reported were up 25.4% from the year-ago period on 10.3% higher revenues. About 80% of these companies surpassed EPS estimates, and 72.1% managed to top sales estimates.
Among these reporting companies, many have been some of the world’s top technology firms, underscoring the sector’s ability to maintain the strength it has presented over the past few years. Overall, earnings growth expected to surpass 20% in the technology sector.
But which technology bellwethers have led the charge so far this report season? Make sure to take a look at these three companies that recently crushed estimates!
1. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report)
E-commerce behemoth Amazon helped round out another strong quarter for the FANG stocks last Thursday. The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.27 per share, crushing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22 per share. Meanwhile, total revenue was up 43% year over year and forecasted Q2 revenue was on the high end of our prior consensus estimate.
Amazon also notched net sales of $5.44 billion in its Web Services unit, marking growth of 49% from the prior-year period and coming in ahead of our consensus estimate. Further, the company reported first quarter physical stores sales of $4.26 billion, underscoring the scope of the Whole Foods acquisition.
Amazon is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
2. Western Digital Corp. (WDC - Free Report)
Memory solutions giant Western Digital also reported its latest quarterly results last week. The company notched adjusted earnings of $3.63 per share, comfortably surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.31 per share. WDC also posted revenue of about $5 billion, edging out our consensus estimate of $4.94 billion and improving 7.5% year over year.
Western Digital’s strong results helped relieve some tension in the memory space, with many investors assuming cyclical trends had likely run their course and predicating a pullback soon. Still, the stock has struggled to generate much momentum since its report, indicating that volatility is still lingering.
Nevertheless, an improving earnings outlook has earned the stock a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
3. Baidu Inc. (BIDU - Free Report)
Chinese internet powerhouse also cruised past earnings estimates recently, reporting adjusted earnings per share of $2.60 that comfortably outpaced our consensus estimate of $1.73. The company saw revenue figures of $3.33 billion, also topping our consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Total revenue was up 31% from the prior-year quarter.
Baidu also posted strong guidance. For the second quarter of 2018, Baidu expects revenues to be between $3.97 billion and $4.17 billion. Before the report, our latest consensus estimate was calling for revenue of $3.91 billion.
Want more market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>