About 79% of the S&P 500 names beat on EPS during the busiest week of Q1 reporting - Earnings Scorecard

There is room for a breather up ahead, as this was the heaviest first quarter earnings week for the companies on Wall Street. 171 earnings released this week contributed 28.50% to S&P 500 Index (SP500). Here is a recap of a few big names and what they had to say about their performances.

Of the 171 S&P 500 companies that reported, 135 had EPS above analyst expectations, 35 missed consensuses, and one was in line. For revenue, 97 companies reported a beat, while 69 reported a top-line miss, with the rest coming in line.

Of the 383 companies that have reported QTD, 79.4% of them beat on EPS, while 55.6% of the companies have exceeded expectations on revenue.

A quick glance at the heavyweights

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) on Tuesday posted better-than-expected results for Q1, including a beat on the company’s Amazon Web Services segment. For Q2, the company expects revenue to be between $144B and $149B, missing expectations of $150.1B. Q2 sales incorporate an unfavorable impact of ~60 basis points from foreign exchange rates. Operating income is expected to increase to $10B–$14B from $7.7B in Q2 2023. During a post-earnings conference call, CFO Brian Olsavsky shot down any speculation that the e-commerce giant would initiate a quarterly dividend for the first time to follow in the path of tech powerhouses Google (GOOG) and Meta Platforms (META), but rather stick with its longtime philosophy of investing in growth initiatives for the business.

Semiconductor firm Qualcomm (QCOM) posted better-than-expected guidance on top of strong second-quarter results, which sent its stock up 4.5% in extended trading on Wednesday. The company said it expects to earn between $2.15 and $2.35 per share on an adjusted basis, with revenue forecast between $8.8B and $9.6B for Q3. Analysts were expecting $2.16 per share in earnings and $9.05B in revenue.

Apple (AAPL) shares rose nearly 6.5% in extended trading on Thursday after the tech giant posted fiscal second-quarter results that were better-than-expected, despite fears about the iPhone in China. The company also announced a historic share buyback of $110 billion, the biggest one in the U.S. to date, and hiked its quarterly dividend by 1 cent to $0.25 per share. Looking ahead, CEO Tim Cook said overall revenue for the upcoming quarter is likely to grow in the "low single digits," prompting many on Wall Street to suggest the worst is behind the iPhone malaise.

Other Notable Names

Eli Lilly (LLY) stock rose about 7% on Tuesday after the company increased its full-year outlook above consensus, citing a strong performance in its weight loss products in Q1 2024. Its Q1 earnings also exceeded estimates, offsetting the underperformance of its diabetes therapy, Trulicity.

Coca-Cola (KO) on Tuesday topped the organic sales estimates with its Q1 earnings report and set a strong guidance. The company said it expects full-year adjusted organic revenue growth of +8% to +9% vs. +6.9% consensus.

On Wednesday, Mastercard (MA) reported a Q1 earnings beat, but the company's payment network didn't process quite as much dollar volume as Wall Street expected. Gross dollar volume of $2.29T slipped from $2.35T in Q4 2024, rose from $2.11T in Q1 2023 and fell shy of the Visible Alpha consensus of $2.30T.

Pfizer (PFE) on Wednesday topped expectations with its Q1 2024 financials and raised its full-year earnings outlook amid its plans to deliver $4B in cost savings this year. The New York-based pharma giant’s revenue fell ~20% to $14.9B, mainly due to a significant decline in revenue from its COVID-19 products, Comirnaty and Paxlovid.

ConocoPhillips (COP) on Thursday reported Q1 adjusted earnings that were in line with Wall Street estimates, as lower natural gas prices and increased costs offset higher oil production volumes. The company expects continued volatility in Q2 from its operations in the Permian Basin due to pipeline maintenance and third-party offtake constraints. It also expects to return $9B in capital to shareholders in 2024 through dividends and stock buybacks.

For the upcoming week, at least 51 S&P 500 names are scheduled to report, with the likes of Disney (DIS), Electronic Arts (EA), Duke Energy (DUK), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) on Tuesday, Uber (UBER), and Airbnb (ABNB) on Wednesday, and Tapestry (TPR) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) on Thursday.