By Davit Kirakosyan
Investing.com -- Meta Platforms shares jumped nearly 20% pre-market today following the announced Q4 revenue beat, stricter cost controls this year, and a $40 billion share buyback. Here are the rest of the 5 biggest earnings reports yesterday, all first covered on InvestingPro.
Meta Platforms reports Q4 revenue beat, cuts costs for 2023
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Q4 revenue was down 4% year-over-year to $32.17B, coming in better than the consensus of $31.53B. EPS was $1.76, missing the consensus of $2.26. Net income fell 55% to $4.65B.
Family daily active people (DAP) were up 5% year-over-year to 2.96B on average for December 2022, while Family monthly active people (MAP) reached 3.74B, up 4% year-over-year.
For Q1/23, management anticipates revenue in the range of $26-28.5B, compared to the consensus of $27.25B.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg called 2023 the "Year of Efficiency" as the company aims to improve its AI-powered content recommendations and ad targeting to keep users clicking, while cutting its total expense estimate to $89-95B from its prior outlook of $94-100B.
The company also announced a $40B increase in its share repurchase authorization.
Following the quarterly report, Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised its price target to $215.00 from $136.00. Dozens of other firms raised their price targets, including Morgan Stanley with a new price target of $190.00 (from $130.00), Stifel with a new price target of $210.00 (from $180.00), and BofA Securities with a new price target of $160.00 (from $150.00).
Shell announces Q4 revenue beat, a 15% dividend hike & $4B share buyback
Shell PLC ADR (LON:RDSa) shares were up nearly 3% after the company reported its Q4 results, with revenue of $101.3B coming in better than the consensus estimate of $95.64B.
Adjusted earnings were $9.8B, beating the consensus of $8.26B and reflecting strength in the company’s gas business that includes its giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading operations. EPS came in at $1.39, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17.
The company also announced a 15% dividend increase and a $4B share buyback that will be completed in the current three-month period.
Shell ADRs (NYSE:SHEL) were up 2.7% at $58.32 pre-market.
Deutsche Bank shares slide despite Q4 beat
Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) shares dropped 2.8% today, with ADRs (NYSE:DB) down 2.3% pre-market, despite reporting better-than-expected Q4 results as investors focused on the challenges that lie ahead.
Net profit attributable to shareholders was €1.80B ($1.98B) in Q4, beating the consensus estimate of about €951M.
Some analysts, including JPMorgan, were concerned about a decrease in Q4 investment bank revenue and warned of risks from a slowing economy, high inflation, and interest rate peak.
Investment bank revenue fell 12% year-over-year to €1.7B in Q4, missing the consensus estimate of €1.9B. This was offset by gains in corporate and retail banking, which rose 30% and 23%, respectively.
Align Technology shares gain on Q4 beat
Align (NASDAQ:ALGN) Technology shares jumped more than 13% pre-market today after the company reported its Q4 results, with EPS of $1.73 coming in better than the consensus estimate of $1.54. Revenue was $901.5M, beating the consensus estimate of $892M.
Given continued global challenges and uncertainty, the company didn’t provide full-year revenue guidance. For Q1/23, it expects revenues to be about flat to Q4/22.
C. H. Robinson Worldwide shares fell on worse-than-expected Q4 results
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:CHRW) shares fell more than 2% pre-market today after the company reported its Q4 results, with EPS of $1.03 missing the consensus estimate of $1.36. Revenue came in at $5.1B, worse than the consensus of $5.69B.
Following the report, Wolfe Research raised the price target on the company to $85.00 from $84.00 while maintaining an Underperform rating.
Scott Kanowsky contributed to this report.
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