Investing.com — With earnings on track and the US election on the horizon, there’s a lot to talk about in the markets this week, with a variety of big-name companies making big moves. This week’s Investing.com stocks include:
Big Tech (Earnings): Microsoft (NASDAQ:) Disappoints, Amazon (NASDAQ:) Gains
Microsoft announced its latest quarterly results on Wednesday. The tech giant posted higher profits and sales. However, the stock fell more than 6% in the next session as the company said it expected a slight slowdown in the next quarter given supply chain challenges such as delays in third-party infrastructure for its AI capabilities.
“Azure growth in September Q1 was 1 percentage point above guidance, although demand and supply imbalances are having a greater impact on December Q1 than September Q1. “Regardless, we expect investors to be somewhat disappointed in Azure’s revised December Q1 guide,” the analyst said. BMO Capital. “We are lowering our price target slightly to $495 given the lower EPS expectations, primarily due to OpenAI. We maintain an Outperform rating.”
Meanwhile, Amazon shares rose 6.7% on Friday after the company announced higher profits and sales as improving retail sales boosted profits.
Following the report, Citi analysts said they are “increasingly confident that the company can capitalize on growth while significantly expanding margins.”
The bank highlighted that “improved retail efficiencies will lower Amazon’s service costs, resulting in improved wallet share through faster shipping, higher conversion rates, and higher overall spending due to lower ASP/essentials.” I am doing it,” he added.
Apple (NASDAQ:) also reported earnings this week, beating profit and revenue expectations. However, the stock fell on Friday as investors were disappointed with the company’s guidance.
SMCI
It’s been another bad week for SMCI, which fell more than 32% on Wednesday after Ernst & Young LLP (EY) abruptly resigned as the company’s registered public accounting firm.
Supermicro disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that EY submitted its resignation on October 24.
EY concluded that it “can no longer rely on the representations of management and the audit committee” and expressed reluctance to engage with the financial statements.
SMCI stock has soared more than 41% in the past week. As of this writing, the stock price was down more than 6% on Friday.
Following this news, Rosenblatt suspended its rating on the company’s stock, citing financial uncertainty. “Given the uncertainty surrounding the company’s financials, we are suspending Supermicro’s rating, price target, and estimate until we receive results that allow us to make a recommendation,” the company said.
estee lauder (New York Stock Exchange:)
It also wasn’t a good week for cosmetics company Estée Lauder. The company plunged 20% on Thursday and fell another 2% on Friday after it reported missed sales and withdrew its fiscal 2025 guidance amid continued challenges in China and travel retail. .
The company announced that it had withdrawn its fiscal 2025 outlook due to “increased uncertainty.” [the] The timing of the stabilization of the mainland Chinese market and Asian travel retail, and in the context of a change in leadership. ”
Additionally, the company announced a reduction in its quarterly dividend, but its second quarter outlook was lower than expected.
In response to this report, JPMorgan lowered Estée Lauder’s rating to “neutral” and lowered its price target from $113 to $74. “We do not expect to receive any information for at least another three months,” the bank said.
“Plan execution and earnings are likely to be delayed due to lower operating leverage due to lower-than-expected travel retail sales volumes in China and Asia, and therefore advise investors to wait for signs of improvement.” We believe it is prudent to request. “
