Stocks recap
WEEKLY STOCKS RECAP
IN TECH
Alphabet tops expectations thanks to strong ad and cloud growth; CFO named chief investment officer
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were surging Tuesday as the search giant reported a second-quarter profit of $1.44 per share on a revenue of $74.6 billion, fueled by advertising growth and strong performance in its cloud division.
Investing.com polled analysts, who predicted earnings per share of $1.34 on revenue of $72.82 billion.
Google Advertising increased by 3.2% to $44.68 billion, while Google Search and other increased by 4.8% to $40.69 billion. Google Cloud increased by 28% to $8.03 billion, exceeding analyst projections of $7.87 billion.
CFO Ruth Porat will also take on the newly established post of chief investment officer, beginning in September, and will be in charge of Alphabet’s “Other Bets” initiatives.
Microsoft exceeds expectations, but warns of growing capex for AI investment.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) outperformed on earnings in the second quarter, but shares fell as the firm cautioned that capex will climb in the coming quarters to satisfy strong AI demand.
“The impact will be weighted toward H2 in FY ’24.” “We will accelerate investment in our cloud infrastructure to support our Microsoft Cloud growth and demand for our AI platform,” CFO Amy Hood stated on the earnings call.
Microsoft reported EPS of $2.69 for the second quarter, beating the $2.55 average, on revenue of $56.2 billion versus $55.44 billion expected.
Meta
Meta (NASDAQ:META) jumped after the business announced it earned $2.98 per share in the second quarter, $0.07 more than the Street expected, on above-average revenue of $32 billion, fueled by a 12% year-over-year increase in advertising income.
The Facebook operator also forecasted Q3 revenue of $32 billion to $34.5 billion, beating the $31.2 billion average.
Daily active users (DAUs) on Facebook increased by 5% to 2.06 billion, while monthly active users (MAUs) increased by 3% to 3.03 billion.
Intel
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) shares rose 6.6% on Friday after the firm reported earnings of $0.13 per share in the second quarter, exceeding the $0.04 estimate and generating $12.9 billion in revenue that was more than expected.
The unexpected results came as the PC market began to recover from the post-pandemic impact it sustained in the previous year, and Intel did see a 15% fall in overall revenue.
CEO Pat Gelsinger, on the other hand, stated that the results “exceeded the high end of our guidance as we continue to execute on our strategic priorities, including building momentum with our foundry business and delivering on our product and process roadmaps.”
Intel predicts revenue in the range of $12.9B-13.9B for the third quarter, with the midpoint slightly higher than Wall Street’s $13.23B consensus. Adjusted EPS is expected to be $0.20, well exceeding analyst projections of $0.13.
IN EV SPACE
Tesla is targeting India in the midst of claims of range manipulation.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) conducted high-level talks in India this week in its unrelenting pursuit of establishing a foothold in the country’s auto market – and, especially, to propose a proposal for the establishment of a factory dedicated to producing low-cost electric automobiles.
Tesla executives Rohan Patel and Roshan Thomas met with Invest India personnel, including the CEO, Nivruti Rai, who previously worked at Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).
According to rumours, Tesla executives will soon meet with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to discuss options for developing an EV supply chain and securing adequate land for the factory setup.
Rival automakers join together to power EVs in the United States.
Stellantis (NYSE:STLA), the final member of the “Big Three” that has yet to announce plans to incorporate Tesla’s NACS connection into their vehicles, has formed a new joint venture with several other prominent automakers to provide EV charging services across the United States.
The new JV, an unusual collaboration of rival companies that includes General Motors (NYSE:GM), Honda (NYSE:HMC), and others, will support both CCS and the Tesla standard, with the objective of becoming North America’s leading provider of quick charging services.
“A strong charging network should be available for all – under the same conditions – and built together with a win-win spirit,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement.
Their initial approach calls for the installation of 30,000 chargers, with a primary focus on major highways and urban areas.
Although each automaker’s particular investment levels are not released, they have shown a readiness to consider additional investments or collaboration from other interested companies.
Volkswagen and XPeng’s exciting collaboration
This week, Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) announced their own collaboration with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV).
The Volkswagen Group will acquire approximately 4.99% of Xpeng’s outstanding share capital, valued at approximately $700 million, under the terms of the agreement, with ambitious plans to jointly develop two B-class battery electric vehicles specifically tailored for the Chinese market.
Xpeng’s G9 platform, as well as its sophisticated Connectivity and ADAS software, will be used in these vehicles.
Both firms are also looking at other prospective strategic alliances in a variety of industries, such as collaborations on future EV platforms, software technologies, and supply chain management.
Outlook for the week on energy and precious metals
Oil Price Forecast
According to Sunil Kumar Dixit, chief technical strategist at SKCharting.com, WTI’s ascension might continue if it breaks through two resistance levels at $83 and $86.
“As the week’s price action settles strongly, bullish momentum persists, with footprints rising to $80.70, well above the 50-week EMA, or Exponential Moving Average, of $78.50,” Dixit added.
“The next level of resistance is $83.50, followed by the 100-week SMA, or Simple Moving Average, of $85.30 and the Monthly Middle Bollinger Band of $86.40.”
Support, on the other hand, remained at $79.40, with $79 being the psychological handle to break.
“A break below this zone will be the first sign of momentum weakness, which may call for a short-term correction towards the 200-day SMA, or Simple Moving Average, of $76.50.”
Gold Price Outlook
According to SKCharting’s Dixit, if spot gold falls further from Friday’s closing of $1,959.20, the next level of support will be $1,951.
“Below that, a retest of $1,942 looks likely, before deeper declines to the $1,930-$1,915 zone.”
Consolidation over $1,951 will, on the other hand, enable a moderate recovery towards $1,968 and $1,972.
“Resumption of an uptrend requires clearing through this resistance zone to set the stage for retests of $1,982 and $1,987,” Dixit added.
Natural Gas Price Forecast
Gas futures appear to be on the verge of breaking out from mid-$2 levels, while multiple resistance levels must be overcome, according to SKCharting’s Dixit.
Stability above the weekly Middle Bollinger Band of $2.39 is a key confirmation, he noted, while acceptance over the 50-day EMA of $2.57 lends credence to bullish continuance.
“Immediate upside resistance will be seen at the swing high of $2.84, after which the psychological handle of $3 comes,” Dixit added.
“Strong buying above this zone will eventually extend the upward movement towards the 100-month SMA of $3.25.”
Weekly Earnings Calendar
Earnings calendar
Monday, July 31
Arista Networks (ANET), Republic Services Inc. (RSG), ON Semiconductor Corp. (ON), Welltower Inc. (WELL), Diamondback Energy (FANG), and Eversource Energy (ES) report earnings
Tuesday, August 1
Merck (MRK), Pfizer (PFE), Toyota Motor Co. (TM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Caterpillar (CAT), BP (BP), Starbucks (SBUX), Uber Technologies (UBER), Mitsubishi Financial Group (MUFG), Altria Group (MO), and Marriott International (MAR) report earnings
Wednesday, August 2
Qualcomm (QCOM), CVS Health Corp. (CVS), Shopify (SHOP), PayPal Holdings (PYPL), Equinix (EQIX), Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI), Ferrari (RACE), Humana (HUM), Phillips 66 (PSX), and MetLife Inc. (MET) report earnings
Thursday, August 3
Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), ConocoPhillips (COP), Amgen (AMGN), Stryker Corporation (SYK), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Airbnb (ABNB), Cigna (CI), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) report earnings
Friday, August 4
Enbridge Inc. (ENB), NatWest Group (NWG), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Dominion Energy (D), and Liberty Media Corp. (FWONA) report earnings
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