Interactive Investor

US earnings to watch this week: Tesla, Alphabet, Apple and Amazon

interactive investor market experts preview global firms ahead of a crucial week in reporting season.

23rd April 2021 16:20

Myron Jobson from interactive investor

interactive investor market experts preview global firms ahead of a crucial week in reporting season.

Next week, some of the most well-known global companies are set to announce their earnings for quarter 1 2021. interactive investor’s market spokespeople preview Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (Google) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).

Tesla – Q1 results, after-hours on Monday 26 April

Lee Wild, head of equity strategy, interactive investor

“Tesla’s stock price is little changed since the start of 2021, but that stat is misleading. Worth about $736 at the time of writing, the shares have traded as high as $900 and below $600 over the past few months, demonstrating a level of volatility that investors have grown accustomed to.

“There are multiple drivers of the share price, not least growing optimism around the electric vehicle revolution, particularly in China, but also globally as governments accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels. US president Joe Biden’s green agenda should provide a significant boost to Tesla.

“We already know Tesla achieved record production in Q1, and further interest in the Model Y in China should mean a massive increase in sales in 2021. Assuming no more major pandemic disruption, expectations are for Tesla to far exceed 800,000 deliveries this year, up from around 500,000 in 2020. Tesla could confirm expectations of at least 50% growth in annual deliveries alongside Q1 results.

“Tesla must keep up its rapid progress, even as competition intensifies, to even begin to justify the current valuation. The shares are already priced for perfection, so any slip-up will be punished.”

Alphabet (Google) – Q1 results, after-hours on Tuesday 27 April

Keith Bowman, equity analyst, interactive investor

“Results for Alphabet, owner of the Google search engine, offer investors another opportunity to gauge corporate confidence as we emerge from the pandemic. A 22% jump in quarterly advertising revenues to $46.2 billion in the quarter to the end of December contrasted with an 8% fall in the Covid-affected quarter to June.

“The performance of Alphabet’s YouTube business will likely remain under scrutiny given its popularity with younger demographics. Interest in its cloud computing business, which competes against Amazon and Microsoft, is again likely to feature. Investors will also be keen to hear about progress at the self-driving business Waymo, given its potential rivalry with Elon Musk’s Tesla. Alphabet shares have more than doubled since pandemic lows in March 2020 and are close to a record high. As with all high-flying tech stocks, it cannot afford to disappoint.”

Apple – Q2 results, after-hours on Wednesday 28 April

Lee Wild, head of equity strategy, interactive investor

“An army of high-tech consumers remain addicted to Apple products and regular upgrades of the iconic iPhone. And it was no different at the end of 2020, when quarterly sales exceeded $100 billion for the first time. The big increase in first-quarter revenue was driven by the launch of Apple’s 5G iPhone 12.

“Apple should have had an exceptional second quarter too, given numbers will be compared with the first three months of 2020 which included the start of the pandemic crash. Wall Street expects an increase in Q2 revenue of around 32% and profit growth to easily exceed 50%. Annual sales are tipped to increase by around a quarter this year to nudge $350 billion.

“Apple’s share price has almost doubled over the past 12 months, but the valuation does not appear overly stretched, especially given the breadth of its product range. A new iMac and iPad are the latest gadgets for Apple disciples to snap up. That leaves potential for further upside if the second quarter went as well as expected, or better.”

Amazon – Q1 results, after-hours on Thursday 29 April

Richard Hunter, head of markets, interactive investor

“Amazon has a happy habit of under-promising and over-delivering to investors.

“Even the news that founder Jeff Bezos would be stepping down as CEO (although retaining a role in the company) did little to undermine the strength of the latest update, when quarterly sales exceeded $100 billion for the first time.

“As well as its dominant position in retail, the company is now a major global player in cloud computing through its Amazon Web Services (AWS) business.

“In addition, the Q1 update will be up against the relatively easy earnings comparatives of Q1 2020.

“Whether the company is regarded by some as belonging in the consumer discretionary sector as opposed to tech, this is of little concern to shareholders who have seen the share price rise by 42% over the last year, 120% over the last three years and 440% over the last five years.”

 

interactive investor is running a five-day trading fee-free offer* for US shares to new and existing customers from Monday (26 April) to coincide with what promises to be a significant week in the US reporting season.

The offer applies to US stocks bought and sold on the ii website and mobile app between 2.30pm BST (when the major US stock exchanges open) on Monday 26 April until 9pm Friday 30 April 2021 – during which mega corporations including Apple, Amazon and Google’s Alphabet are scheduled to unveil their first quarter 2021 earnings.

 

Notes to editors

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