Richard Drury
Stock futures edged higher in premarket trading on Friday, ahead of the release of key U.S. inflation data, following mixed earnings reports from major technology companies.
Here are some of Friday’s biggest stock movers:
Biggest stock gainers
- Google parent Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock soared 11% following an upbeat Q1 performance driven by YouTube ads revenue, which soared 21% Y/Y. Subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenue jumped 18% while the momentum in the Cloud segment continued, with 28% revenue growth. Operating margin also expanded, to 32% from a year ago’s 25%. Additionally, the company also authorized the buyback of up to an additional $70B worth of shares and declared a cash dividend of $0.20 per share.
- Shares of tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) also surged about 5% following better than expected FQ3 earnings results, with total sales rising 17%, driven by 31% Y/Y growth in Azure, signaling strong AI demand. The company expects Q4 sales to be between $63.5B and $64.5B, slightly below the consensus of $64.57B. Included in that is $28.4B to $28.7B from Intelligent Cloud, with Azure growing between 30% and 31% in constant currency.
- Snap’s (NYSE:SNAP) shares jumped 24% after reporting an upbeat Q1 earnings report and Q2 outlook. The company sees Q2 revenue of $1.225B to $1.255B, implying a Y/Y growth of 15% to 18% and above the consensus of $1.21B. “Our Q2 guidance is built on the assumption that DAU will be approximately 431M in Q2. Given the revenue range above and our investment plans for the quarter ahead, we estimate that adjusted EBITDA will be between $15M and $45M in Q2,” the company stated.
Biggest stock losers
- Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shares plunged as much as 7% after the chip giant reported mixed Q1 results, missing the top line despite 9% Y/Y growth. The company also provided a disappointing outlook, seeing revenue between $12.5B and $13.5B, well below the consensus of $13.61B, and an adjusted EPS of $0.10 per share, significantly below the consensus of $0.25 per share. Intel Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said in a statement. “Our new foundry operating model, which provides greater transparency and accountability, is already driving better decision-making across the business. Looking ahead, we expect to deliver year-over-year revenue and non-GAAP EPS growth in fiscal year 2024, including roughly 200 basis points of full-year gross margin improvement.”
