Source: Global Market Report
On Thursday, Nvidia, the second-largest in terms of US stock turnover, closed up 3.71%, with a turnover of US$34.614 billion; Tesla, which ranked third, closed 4.97% higher, with a transaction of US$20.883 billion.
No. 1 in US stock turnover on Thursday$Meta Platforms (META.US)$It closed down 10.56% to US$35.845 billion. The company issued second-quarter revenue guidance that was disappointing. Its CEO Zuckerberg said in an earnings call that the company is investing more money in the field of artificial intelligence, but “investment in AI will take a long time to pay off.” This statement raised concerns in the market about the prospects for monetizing AI technology.
According to a research report published by Citigroup, although META's revenue and operating income for the first quarter were about 1% and 4% higher than market expectations, respectively, with earnings per share of 4.71 US dollars under GAAP, and the market forecast was 4.32 US dollars, the median income guidance for the second quarter was about 1% lower than the forecast. Meta increased the median expected expenditure guide for 2024 by about 1 billion US dollars and raised its annual capital expenditure plan.
Citi said that Meta's total revenue in the first quarter after deducting exchange effects increased 27% year-on-year to US$36.5 billion; operating revenue was US$13.8 billion. The bank pointed out that Meta's quarterly results were better than expected, but lower revenue guidance for the next quarter and slightly higher operating expenses and capital expenditure forecasts than market expectations may lead to lower stock prices. The bank gave the group a “buy” rating, with a target price of $590.
Second place$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$The closing was up 3.71%, and the transaction was US$34.614 billion. Nvidia announced that it has reached a final agreement to acquire Run:ai. Allegedly, the transaction price is expected to be around 700 million US dollars. According to data, Run:ai has about 150 employees and has raised a total of 118 million US dollars. In addition, Nvidia also acquired Deci, which has about 100 employees, and the latter raised a total of 55 million US dollars. Nvidia's deal with Deci has not been publicly disclosed, and the transaction price is unknown.
According to some reports, Nvidia recently reached a deal to acquire these two startups with the aim of reducing the cost of developing or operating generative AI models, helping customers make more effective use of AI computing resources, and thereby boosting demand for Nvidia's AI chips.
3rd place$Tesla (TSLA.US)$Sales rose 4.97% to US$20.883 billion. Since deliveries in the first quarter fell short of expectations, Tesla CEO Musk revealed during the earnings call that the launch of new models will be accelerated, and the new models will be launched as soon as the end of 2024.
Musk said, “There is indeed a lot of discussion about the new product roadmap. We have updated our lineup of future models to speed up the launch of new models.” He said that if a new model cannot be introduced later this year, then it may be launched in early 2025.
Billionaire investor Ron Barron on Thursday said he is very optimistic about Tesla.
Fourth place$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$It closed down 2.45% to $16.086 billion. Microsoft announced financial results after closing on Thursday, and the stock price rose more than 4% after the results.
According to financial reports, Microsoft's total revenue for the first quarter of the 2024 calendar year was 61.86 billion US dollars, higher than market expectations of 60.87 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to a 17% year-on-year increase, exceeding the 14.5% increase in the company's previous official guidelines.
Adjusted EPS per share was $2.94, higher than market expectations of $2.82, and increased 20% from $2.45 in the same period last year. Net profit was US$21.94 billion, up about 20% from US$18.3 billion in the same period last year. Operating profit increased 23% to US$27.6 billion.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadell has been promoting the injection of partner OpenAI's artificial intelligence technology into Microsoft's entire product line. This bet is paying off. Some customers are adding AI tools with functions such as document summarization to their Office software or Azure cloud subscription services, or purchasing more cloud services to help them build and run their own AI applications.
Dan Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, said, “Microsoft's revenue associated with generative AI has become a key share price driver. When it comes to artificial intelligence, Microsoft really dominates.”
5th place$Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$It closed down 1.97% and traded at US$9.038 billion. Google released earnings reports after the market closed on Thursday and announced that it would buy back up to $70 billion in shares. Google Class A shares in after-hours trading rose more than 13%.
According to financial reports, Google's parent company's total revenue for the first quarter was US$80.54 billion, up 15% year-on-year, the fastest growth rate since the beginning of 2022, and higher than market expectations of US$79.04 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.89, far exceeding expectations of $1.53, surged 61.5% year-on-year from $1.17 in the same period last year. Net profit jumped 57% year over year to US$23.66 billion, higher than the forecast of US$18.95 billion.
Alphabet said the board of directors has approved the payment of a cash dividend of 20 cents per share to shareholders registered as of June 10 on June 17, and “intends to continue to pay quarterly cash dividends in the future.” The company also authorized an additional $70 billion in share buybacks.
6th place$Apple (AAPL.US)$The closing was up 0.51%, and the transaction was $8.555 billion. Swedish music streaming company Spotify posted on the social media X platform on Wednesday that it has submitted a new version of the app to Apple, which includes basic pricing and website information, which is the minimum requirement for the European Commission's ruling on its music streaming case. Spotify says Apple declined the update in a response sent directly to the company.
7th place$Amazon (AMZN.US)$It closed down 1.65% and traded $8.447 billion. UBS raised Amazon's price target from $198 to $215 on Thursday, maintaining a “buy” rating.
9th place$Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US)$The closing was 1.33% higher, and the transaction was US$6.32 billion.
13th place$IBM Corp (IBM.US)$It closed down 8.25% and traded $2.803 billion. The company's revenue fell short of market expectations.
18th industrial giant$Caterpillar (CAT.US)$It closed down 7.02% to $2.84 billion. The company announced lower-than-expected sales revenue for the first fiscal quarter.
Editor/Jeffy