Earnings Data Deluge
We have a big day of stock market information on deck, most of which doesn’t happen until after the opening bell rings this morning. We have a full docket of Fed presidents reporting later today, including Cleveland’s Loretta Mester, Minneapolis’ Neel Kashkari, Boston’s Susan Collins and Philadelphia’s Patrick Harker. There are also plenty of after-market-close earnings reports from Ford F, Chipotle CMG, Gilead GILD and Snap SNAP — all of which have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) rating as of this morning.
Ahead of today’s open, Eli Lilly & Co. LLY — up nearly +20% in the first month of 2024, +120% from this time a year ago — is up an additional +5% on its Q4 earnings report this morning. Earnings beat estimates by 2 cents to $2.49 per share on $9.35 billion in quarterly revenues, which topped the Zacks consensus by +5.5%. The company is now on track for its fifth-consecutive all-time closing high, basically double where the stock traded in November of 2022.
Investors are responding to the eye-opening efficacy of obesity drugs Mounjaro — which made $2.2 billion in the quarter, even though it’s not yet available everywhere — and Zepbound, which was made available at U.S. pharmacies two months ago. These treatments are not only credited as weight-loss drugs, but are also demonstrating the ability to keep people safe from (non-alcoholic) liver disease, which can lead to cirrhosis, which is deadly. The future looks bright for Lilly, but the secret is out of the bag.
Also reporting Q4 earnings results this morning is Spotify SPOT, the Sweden-based music streaming company which brought a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) into its release. The company reported a loss per share of -0.39 versus -$0.08 expected (though better than the -$1.43 per share reported in the year-ago quarter). Spotify has only beaten estimates in one of the past four quarters. Revenues of $3.95 billion missed the Zacks consensus by -0.11%.
It’s hard to believe a company that compensates artists with three-thousandths of a penny per song could somehow be losing money, but here we are. That said, total revenues grew +16% in the quarter, with a gross margin of 26.7%, and shares are up +10% on the better-than-expected bottom line.
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Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Spotify Technology (SPOT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
