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Full Slate of Q2 Earnings: TSLA, NFLX, IBM, UAL & More

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Welcome to the most eventful afternoon of Q2 earnings season so far. We have a wide swath of earnings reports across a variety of industries after today’s closing bell, and leading into it we got another up-day in the markets on the major indices across the board. The Dow put up another +111 points, +0.32%, while the S&P 500 gained +0.23%. The Nasdaq was the laggard, sliding into the close, +0.02%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 outperformed yet again, +0.43% on the session.

Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) has outperformed estimates on both top and bottom lines in its Q2 report after today’s close, earning 91 cents per share — 8 cents higher than the Zacks consensus, and nicely beyond the 76 cents per share in the year-ago quarter — on revenues of $24.93 billion, better than the $24.88 billion expected. The EV leader kept full-year delivery guidance in-line with expectations, and gross margins, ex-zero-emissions credits came in up +18.2%, an improvement on the +16.9% estimated. This is lower than the +19.3% reported the previous quarter, which may be due to lowered price points for sold vehicles.

This, however, is considered the trough for gross margins minus credits; both the company and analysts expect this number to continue growing from here. Operating margins overall came in at +9.6%. This is the 10th straight earnings beat for CEO Elon Musk’s industry leader, and Tesla has kept full-year revenue guidance in-line with earlier estimates. Shares have been bouncing around on the news, from below $285 per share for a short time and over $295 moments later. Tesla remains one of the best-performing stocks of 2023 so far.

Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) is also out with new Q2 results, which were mixed: earnings of $3.29 per share marked a positive beat of 46 cents, and positive year over year, while its top line narrowly missed expectations to $8.19 billion in the quarter. Net add subscribers more than doubled analyst consensus — 5.89 million versus roughly 2 million expected — but the revenue miss also carries to full-year guidance, which has been lowered to $8.52 billion from the Zacks consensus $8.63 billion.

That said, next-quarter earnings guidance has been bumped up to $3.52 per share, as Netflix shows good results from its preliminary “paid sharing” program, which is essentially a crackdown on prevalent password-sharing Netflix had been dealing with for years. This plan is expected to fetch $9 billion in revenues through 2025. The company also recently announced it is ending its $10 basic subscription plan. Shares are down more than -3% on this news; Netflix’s high profile likely set investors up for expecting a big beat that did not come.

IBM (IBM - Free Report) also reported Q2 earnings this Hump Day afternoon, beating solidly on the bottom line — earnings of $2.18 per share amounts to an 18-cent outperformance — while revenues missed expectations for the second-straight quarter: $15.48 billion versus $15.54 billion our analysts were anticipating. Currency accounted for an 80 basis-point hit, according to the company’s statement, while its Red Hat software segment grew by +11%, outperforming other software developers of late. Shares have ebbed back to -0.87% in the after-market, and shares are still in the red year to date.

United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) put up perhaps the most impressive quarterly numbers so far this earnings season, trouncing estimates on its bottom line — earnings of $5.03 per share is far beyond the $3.99 expected, on sales of $14.17 billion for the quarter, nicely ahead of the $13.93 billion in the Zacks consensus +17% year over year. Passenger per Seat Mile was +2.2% in the quarter, while Cost per Seat Mile also rose, +2%. Guidance is up for both earnings and revenues next quarter, and this is the airline’s fourth-straight earnings beat. Shares are +3.5% in late trading.

Las Vegas Sands (LVS - Free Report) also outperformed on both top and bottom lines: earnings of 46 cents per share bettered estimates by a penny while revenues of $2.54 billion is well beyond the $2.36 billion expected. The international gaming entertainment major also announced it is issuing its first quarterly dividend since prior to the pandemic: 20 cents per share. Property EBITDA in its Macau and Singapore locations was up to $973 million in the quarter — now 82% of 2019 capacity (the last appropriate comparison). Shares are off their late-session lows, but still down -2.7% this afternoon.

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