Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Breaking Down Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) Stock Ahead of Earnings

Read MoreHide Full Article

 

Welcome to the latest episode of the Full-Court Finance podcast from Zacks Investment Research where Associate Stock Strategist Ben Rains dives into the latest news from Apple (AAPL - Free Report) and Facebook . We then break down what to expect from the two tech giants’ quarterly financial results that are due out Wednesday, October 30 as part of a busy stretch of Wall Street earnings.

Stocks jumped last Friday and the S&P 500 hit a new intraday trading high on Monday as third-quarter earnings season heat ups. We have already seen results from tech powers such as Intel (INTC - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , and more with Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) set to report Monday (also read: Making Sense of Q3 Earnings Season).

Along with earnings, traders now expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rate once again. Plus, there seems to be growing optimism that the U.S. and China can come to a broader trade resolution.

Moving on, Apple stock hit new highs heading into its quarterly earnings release. The firm is back in the $1 trillion market cap club alongside Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) . CEO Tim Cook and Apple executives have focused on its services expansion as iPhone sales slow and Chinese consumers explore more options. This includes its new streaming TV service that will launch on November 1, just ahead of Disney (DIS - Free Report) .

Meanwhile, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have faced criticism and increased governmental scrutiny. Yet, FB has steadily gained more users across its various social media platforms, including Instagram. Aside from cryptocurrency-related backlash and more, Facebook appears strong as it expands is non-advertising business, including eBay (EBAY - Free Report) competitor Facebook Marketplace.

Investors need to pay close attention to Facebook’s daily and month active user growth figures, especially in the U.S. and Canada. On the Apple front, services and iPhone revenue will likely remain at the forefront. We broke down what to expect from all of these individual business units on the episode using our Key Company Metrics estimates.

As a reminder, if you feel that we missed something, or if you have any topic suggestions, shoot us an email at podcast@zacks.com. Make sure to check out all of our other audio content at zacks.com/podcasts, and remember to subscribe and leave us a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?

Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.

Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.

See the pot trades we're targeting>>

Published in