Amazon(AMZN)
Amazon reported better-than-expected profits and sales in the first quarter, driven by growth in advertising and cloud computing.
The retail giant’s stock rose as much as 5% in pre-market trading following the results.
Amazon posted a profit of $10.4 billion (£8.3 billion) in the first three months of 2024, up from $3.2 billion in the same period last year.
First-quarter sales rose 13% to $143.3 billion, driven by strong retail sales in North America and rapid growth across Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s digital infrastructure division. Net income more than tripled to $10.4 billion in the first quarter.
AWS’ first-quarter revenue accelerated 17% to $25 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations for revenue growth of 12% to $24.5 billion.
CEO Andy Jassy told analysts there is “a huge opportunity in front of us” for Amazon to serve its AI customers.
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The company expects sales for the current quarter, which ends in June, to be between $144 billion and $149 billion.
“The after-hours stock price reaction was pretty much flat,” said Mamta Valecha, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot. “In response to these results, expectations for our performance have increased. However, despite this,” he said. , we are a company that has made record profits and is using those profits to fund our next growth. ”
AMD on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenue that slightly exceeded Wall Street expectations and provided its outlook for the current quarter.
However, the stock fell as the outlook for the current quarter was weaker than expected.
The company’s stock fell about 6% in premarket trading Wednesday.
AMD said it expects revenue for the current quarter to be about $5.7 billion, which is in line with Wall Street’s forecast for about the same amount. This equates to approximately 6% annual growth.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62 and revenue of $5.5 billion. Wall Street had expected adjusted EPS of $0.61 on revenue of $5.45 billion.
Net income was $123 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $139 million, or 9 cents per share, in the prior-year period. Sales increased by approximately 2% compared to the same period last year.
The company predicts its MI300 lineup, a so-called family of AI accelerators, will generate about $4 billion in revenue this year. That’s up from the $3.5 billion they expected, but some investors had expected as much as $8 billion, analysts said.
GSK has raised its full-year profit forecast due to strong demand for its shingles and common respiratory virus vaccines.
The company now expects core earnings, its priority metric, to increase 9% to 11%, compared with previous guidance of 7% to 10%, and sales for the current fiscal year will be lower than previously. The guidance limit is set to be reached. It ranges from 5% to 7%.
The company also said that the successful appeal of a royalty dispute for its ovarian cancer treatment drug Zejula in the first quarter also contributed to the higher expectations.
The company’s total sales for the quarter were £7.4 billion, up 10% year-on-year. Total operating profit for the period fell by 18% to £1.49bn.
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Deren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said strong growth in vaccines and specialty medicines led to double-digit sales growth in the first quarter and the company’s second rating upgrade this year.
“Prudent cost management has allowed underlying profits to grow at a faster pace. However, one cost line that GSK has invested in is research and development. “This is a good thing, considering that there are many
Aston Martin (AML.L)
Aston Martin has revealed that sales at the start of the year have fallen by more than a quarter.
The luxury carmaker’s sales fell 10% to £267.7m in the first three months of the year as sales fell 26% to 945 units.
Analysts had expected sales of 290.4 million pounds and 1,159 units sold. Operating loss worsened by 15% to £58.7m.
Aston Martin has launched several new cars over the past year, including the next-generation sports car DB12 and Vantage, but has discontinued production of older models ahead of ramping up production of new models later this year. .
“Our first quarter results reflect the anticipated transition period,” Chairman Lawrence Stroll said in a statement.
Shares fell as much as 14% in early trading to 128p, the lowest since November 2022, but have since recovered slightly.
Watch: Amazon reports first-quarter sales beat expectations
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