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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, Facebook and Starbucks

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL –October 31, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) , Facebook and Starbucks (SBUX - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

New Highs Continue: Apple, Facebook Outperform Estimates

Apple Inc. pushed past Zacks consensus estimates for its fiscal Q4 earnings and revenues after Wednesday’s close, with $3.03 per share beating the $2.81 expected, as well as the $2.91 reported in the year-ago quarter. Sales of $64 billion surpassed the $62.72 billion for the quarter, swinging to positive gains from expectations year over year.

Apple sold more iPhones than expected in the quarter, 33.86 million versus 32.4 million consensus, with its Services business bringing in $12.51 billion, slightly ahead of estimates. Gross margins were 38% in the quarter — not quite the numbers Apple once put up, but admirably strong considering all the headwinds (competition, U.S.-China trade war, etc.). The company has averaged 3% beats in the past four quarters, and its last miss was back in Q1 of 2016.

That said, guidance on the top line for fiscal Q1 2020 is in a range of $81.5 million to $85.5 million, beneath the Zacks consensus of $86.13 billion prior to the earnings release. Nevertheless, shares have risen 1.4% at this hour in the pre-market, though this is below the 2%+ growth we saw immediately following the release.

Facebook has easily topped estimates on both revenues and earnings in its Q3 earnings report after the bell today, with $2.12 per share up from the $1.91 expected, and +20% year over year. Revenues of $17.65 billion in the quarter grew 29% from a year ago to $17.65 billion, and over the Zacks consensus $17.32 billion. This is the first earnings beat for the company in the last three quarters.

Shares rose 3% on the news in late trading, on in-line Monthly Active Users (MAU) +8% to 2.45 billion. Daily Active Users (DAU) was up 9% to 1.62 billion, slightly above expectations. For the first time in two years, Facebook has grown by 2 million DAU for the quarter in the U.S. and Canada year over year, and +3% MAU. Average Revenue per User (ARPU) rose $7.26 from the $7.04 anticipated. 

Feeling the heat of Congress ahead of 2020 campaign season, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a lot to feel good about with Facebook’s performance in the quarter. For his part, Zuckerberg said his company is “focused on progress in social issues,” which may mean there is some interest to clean up what congressional oversight sees as problematic business practices in its recent past. For more on FB’s earnings, click here.

Starbucks met earnings estimates of 70 cents per share in its fiscal Q4 earnings report, up 13% year over year. Sales of $6.75 billion outpaced the $6.67 billion analysts were seeking, up more than 6% from the year-ago quarter. Shares are up 3% in the post-market on the news, and keeps its record of not missing earnings estimates since Q3 2015. Global comps rose 6%, up 5% in China. Shares aren’t cheap, but the market likes the results. For more on SBUX’s earnings, click here.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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