Yahoo Finance Markets Continue Steady Slide; META, EBAY Beat Q1 Earnings
Market indices once again could not hold onto early gains this Hump Day session, with Regional Banks still feeling the sting of Monday’s earnings report from First Republic FRC, which itself was down another -30% today (-95% year to date). We also saw some profit-taking from sectors that had been outperforming of late, such as Healthcare. The Dow lost another -228 points, -0.68%, while the S&P 500 was -0.38%. The Nasdaq snapped a two-day losing streak and was the only major index in the green all day, +0.47%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 slid another -1.11%.
All four indices are now down meaningfully over the past five trading days, even with a Q1 earnings season putting up more positive surprises than negative — from -1.26% (Dow) to -3.47% (Russell). Year to date, the small-cap index is now in the red more than a full percentage point with the Dow within a half-point of unched since early January. Only the Nasdaq (+14%) and the S&P (+6%) are still showing meaningful gains thus far in 2023.
After the close, Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy)-rated Meta Platforms META put up better-than-expected numbers in its Q1 report, with earnings of $2.20 per share on revenues of $28.65 outperforming Zacks consensus numbers by +8.9% and +3%, respectively. Even with quarterly restructuring charges, the Facebook and Instagram parent was able to notch a second-straight positive earnings surprise. Shares are up +9% in late trading on both this beat and raised revenue guidance for Q2.
Recall Meta was getting hammered through most of 2022 as analysts saw the company straining to turn profits with excessive employee headcount; the company has put forward a thus far very successful plan to let thousands of workforce go, the latest tranche of layoffs not yet recorded in these Q1 figures. Daily Active Users (DAU) came in slightly ahead of expectations, 2.04 billion versus 2.01 billion. Monthly Active Users (MAU) were in-line at 2.99 billion.
eBay EBAY shares are also higher in after-hours trading, +5%, on its Q1 earnings release which posted modest beats on both top and bottom lines: earnings of $1.11 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 4 cents, while earnings of $2.51 billion edged out the $2.48 billion anticipated, and roughly in-line with year-ago quarterly sales. eBay also improved revenue guidance for Q2, with 133 million buyers in Q1 also coming in higher than projected.
Tomorrow morning we’ll see another big day of earnings results, including Big Pharma companies Bristol Myers BMY, Eli Lilly LLY, Merck MRK and Sanofi SNY. After the close, we’ll hear from Amazon AMZN, Intel INTC and Snap SNAP, along with many others. Weekly Jobless Claims will also be on deck, as will the first print of Q1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It’s getting less likely enough data will be weak enough to augment the Fed’s mission to raise interest rates another 25 basis points next week, but we’ll pay close attention to the trajectories, nevertheless.
Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Intel Corporation (INTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Sanofi (SNY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
eBay Inc. (EBAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
First Republic Bank (FRC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Snap Inc. (SNAP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) : Free Stock Analysis Report
