Square   shares climbed in after-market trading Thursday, following  after the company posted earnings beat for the first quarter.

The digital payments company’s adjusted earnings per share came in at 41 cents, handily topping the 16 cents expected in a Refinitiv survey of analysts.

Revenue soared almost four times in the quarter to $5.057 billion,  compared to $3.36 billion expected by Refinitiv.

Gross profit climbed +79% year over year to $964 million in the quarter that ended Mar.Cash App gross profit surged +171% from the year-ago quarter to $495 million.

Square generated $3.5 billion in bitcoin revenue, up 11 times year over year.

ODP  shares climbed on  first-quarter earnings beat and plans to spin off its distribution business into a separate publicly traded company.

For the first quarter, adjusted earnings came in at $1.21 a share, exceeding the FactSet consensus estimate of 72 cents a share. 

Revenue rose +13% from the year-ago quarter to $2.36 billion, but was below the FactSet estimate of $2.41 billion.

Office Depot owner ODP Corp said it would spin off its distribution platform, which schools and offices use to buy supplies, into a separate company.The separated company would include ODP's business solutions division and Canadian office supplies retailer Grand & Toy.

The new company will also own ODP's regional office supply distribution businesses, it said.

 

 

On Tuesday, American Express Global Business Travel,  a joint venture 50% owned by American Express Co., announced that it planned to   acquire Egencia, the corporate-travel business of online travel-services company Expedia .

Under the proposed deal, Expedia will become a shareholder in and will enter into a long-term commercial agreement with Global Business Travel.

“In Egencia, we would welcome the industry's leading digital business travel platform," said Paul Abbott, the chief executive of GBT.

According to Expedia,  the supply agreement reached between the two companies will "meaningfully further Expedia Group's goal of powering businesses across the entire eco-system." 

Shares of pet food retailer Chewy Inc. shares got   a buy rating from Guggenheim analysts who initiated coverage of the stock.

Guggenheim analysts set a $95 price target on the shares.The analysts cited a fast-growing market, a leading industry position, significant new and existing customer opportunities and other tailwinds for Chewy.

"As of today, although CHWY only participates in ~70% of the combined pet products and services market, the recent launch of telehealth tele-triage service (connect with a vet) in October 2020 and compounding medication (customized medicines) in November 2020 showcases management’s commitment to driving increased participation in the services-related needs of pet parents," analyst Steven Forbes wrote.  According to Forbes, Chewy customers have shown "an extreme level of customer loyalty".

Chewy’s  active customer base has grown to 19.2 million in 2020 from 1.5 million in 2015, implying 66% compound annual growth.

They also slashed price target to $170 a share from $240.  Analyst Chris Carey called Clorox shares "dead money, at best, with downside."  

According to Wells Fargo analysts, Clorox sales in the professional and international segments ( "new growth drivers") missed estimates – something that makes it hard to argue for 'underappreciated' upside, as indicated by the analysts.

 

MicroVision   shares fell more than -20% in premarket trading on Friday, after the laser-scanning technology company posted a steeper-than-expected quarterly loss.The company incurred a loss of -4 cents a share in the first quarter, compared to a loss of -3 cents a share anticipated by analysts poled by FactSet.

Sales fell to $500,000 from $1.5 million a year ago.

Sports betting company DraftKings Inc.  shares got a buy rating at Guggenheim Securities that initiated coverage of the sports betting company with a $75 price target.

Guggenheim estimates suggest that the online sports betting and iGaming opportunity in North America will range between $7.6 billion and $10.6 billion when fully mature, with EBITDA margins of 30% or more.Doug Ducey (R.), as well as regulatory clearance.

Analyst Curry Baker said that  in addition to legalization and the tailwinds from new states/markets, there are several other competitive advantages driving the firm’s positive outlook for DraftKings.

Caterpillar Inc.  reported its first quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations, on the back of  solid construction sales.

The construction equipment company’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in March increased +48% from the year-ago quarter to $2.87 per share, well ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $1.94 per share.

Revenues climbed +12% year-over-year to $11.9 billion, which also exceeded analysts' estimates of $11.1 billion.

Construction sales rose +27% year-over-year to $5.46 billion in the quarter.Resource, energy and transportation sales increased +6.5% to $2.216 billion.

There was  a -1% decrease in rolling three-month sales in North America. Nevertheless, Latin American sales for the rolling three-month period rose +54%, while world machines sales were up +13%.

Online healthcare company Teladoc Health’s   shares fell Thursday as several analysts lowered their share-price targets – following lower-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Teladoc reported a loss of -$1.31 a share, steeper than the -40 cents loss expected by analysts.It is also wider than the year-ago quarter’s  -40 cents per share.

Evercore ISI’s Elizabeth Anderson slashed her price target to $185 from $195 and kept her in-line rating.

Apple got rating upgrades from several analysts, following the iPhone maker’s blowout earnings results for its second quarter.

On Wednesday, Apple reported earnings that crushed analysts’ expectations, and also announced a $90 billion boost to its stock buyback program.

Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall boosted rating on Apple shares to neutral from sell, while hiking his price target to $130 from $83."  Hall noted that iPad demand is so solid that Apple says it will leave $3 billion to $4 billion of revenue on the table in fiscal Q3 ending June.

JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee raised his price target on Apple shares to $165 from $150.

Facebook  shares rose +5% after-hours trading on Wednesday, as the social media behemoth beat first-quarter earnings expectations.

The company’s net income came in at $3.30 per share, compared with $2.37 per share expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.  Earnings were $1.71 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue surged +48% year-over-year to $26.17 billion in the quarter, vs. $23.67 billion expected by analysts.

Daily active users (DAUs) of 1.88 billion was close to the 1.89 billion forecast (based on FactSet data).Average revenue per user (ARPU) came in at $9.27 vs. $8.40 forecast by FactSet.

Advertising revenue was $25.44 billion, soaring +46% year-over-year, on the back of a +30% year-over-year increase in the average price per ad and a +12% rise in the number of ads delivered.

 

Apple crushed its  second quarter earnings expectations, on the back of double-digit growth in every single one of its product categories-- for the second quarter in a row.

The iPhone maker’s earnings for the quarter came in at $1.40, handily beating the $0.99 expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.However, Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the company expects June quarter revenue to rise by double digits year-over-year, although it faces supply challenges due to the worldwide chip shortage.

 

This compares to year-ago revenues of $205.55 million.

However, the company’s  weak second-quarter guidance led to its shares falling. It expects sales to come in between $300 million and $320 million during the second quarter, compared to analysts’ projections of $320.7 million (based on FactSet data).

“Looking to Q2, our shipment volumes will be constrained by semiconductor component availability,” Enphase President and CEO Badrinarayanan Kothandaraman said during the company’s earnings call.

“Although we are increasing the capacity of solar microinverters every quarter and the demand is increasing every quarter, the supply is unable to keep up with demand because of semiconductor constraints, component constraints,” Kothandaraman added.

The fast-food company, that owns chains like Taco Bell and Pizza Hut,  posted earnings of $326 million, or $1.07 a share, compared with $83 million, or 27 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.It also exceeded analysts’ expectation of $1.45 billion.

Global same-store sales increased 9%.

Shopify shares were rising during pre-market trading, as the company  beat analysts’ earnings expectations.

The e-commerce company’s adjusted net income was $2.01 a share, vs. 74 cents expected by analysts polled by FactSet.Net income came in at $1.26 billion, or $9.94 a share, compared to a year-earlier loss of -$31.4 million, or -27 cents a share.

Revenue rose +110% from the year-ago quarter to $988.6 million, surpassing analysts' consensus estimates of $859 million.

Gross merchandise volume from merchant customers surged +114% year-over-year to $37.3 billion.

FactSet consensus was $2.77 billion.

According to the company, it now has 15 million total paying direct-to-consumer subscribers across its platform, including more than 13 million for its Discovery+ streaming platform. 

"The global rollout of discovery+ is off to a fantastic start by any measure.Key metrics, including subscriber additions, customer engagement, and retention, are exceeding our expectations and demonstrating sustained momentum into the second quarter," Chief Executive David Zaslav said in a statement. 

Advanced Micro Devices   shares climbed  Wednesday, after the chipmaker provided strong guidance on current-quarter sales and a solid full-year outlook.

AMD expects June quarter revenues in the region of $3.6 billion, with a range of plus or minus $100 million, and a non-GAAP gross margin of 47%. For the full 2021 financial year, AMD projects revenue growth of +50%, indicating a total of around $14.65 billion, on expectations that semiconductor supply chain bottlenecks will subside over the second half of the year.

The company’s first quarter earnings surged +150% year-over-year to 45 cents per share, with revenues up +92% to $3.45 billion. 

 

 

Earnings were $9.87 a share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose to $55.31 billion, up from $44.16 billion a year ago.

The company’s Google Cloud revenue for the quarter grew +46% year-over-year to $4.05 billion vs. $4.07 billion expected by analysts polled by FactSet.YouTube ads generated  $6.01 billion vs. $5.70 billion, according to StreetAccount.

According to a filing Tuesday, Alphabet’s board approved an additional stock repurchase of up to $50 billion on April 23.

 

Microsoft  posted its fiscal third quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations – in the ninth consecutive quarter.

The software behemoth’s earnings for the quarter came in at $1.95 a share, compared to  $1.77 a share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue of $41.7 billion also beat estimates of $40.83 billion. Revenue grew at +19% annualized rate – the biggest quarterly growth since 2018.PC sales was a major contributor to growth.

The company said its Azure public cloud grew +50%, faster than the +46% growth analysts had expected, according to a CNBC review of 14 equity research notes.

This is the aircraft maker’s sixth quarterly loss in a row, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on global aircraft demand.

Boeing’s adjusted core loss for the three months ending in March came in at -$1.53 per share, steeper than analysts’ expectations of -$1.16.It had a profit of $1.70 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue fell -10.6% year-over-year to $15.22 billion, but was higher than the $15.02 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

Boeing has been facing challenges related to the pandemic’s impact on travel and the extended grounding of its 737 Max aircraft (following two fatal crashes killed 346 people).