Welcome to The Beginner Investor blog!
Last semester, I have covered some of the basic knowledge on how to launch your very own investing career. This semester, I am going to be doing things a little differently by discussing my thoughts and opinions about current events in the stock market and economy. Hopefully, this should give some insight on how to interpret these events.
So, for today’s blog, I want to discuss a major event happening this week in the market, the fourth quarter earnings for some major companies such as Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Tesla, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, Intel, etc… This has been a very suspenseful week for the market because earnings for these companies represent the broader health of our economy and its future prospects.
So, let’s take a look at some of these projections:
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Apple (AAPL): According to analysts, Apple is projected to report massive sales of around $102.8 billion dollars, with a profit of $24.5 billion. At this same time last year, they reported $91.8 billion in sales, and $13.7 billion in profit. This goes to show that Apple has been growing at a very rapid pace over the last year. This can partially be attributed to the rising demand for tech devices due to Covid-19, as well as a high demand for iPhone 12s over the holiday. Earnings reports come out Wednesday afternoon. If you would like to know more about Apple’s projected earnings, click here.
Microsoft (MSFT): Analyst projections for Microsoft are also optimistic. The company is set to report sales of $40.2 billion and an income of $12.4 billion. Last year they reported sales of $36.9 billion and $10.7 billion in income. The strong growth of Microsoft is from multiple services such as cloud storage, Windows OS, video chat through Microsoft Teams, and video game growth through Microsoft’s Xbox.
Tesla (TSLA): Tesla is an interesting case. A year ago, Tesla reported sales of $7.4 billion and an income of only $143 million. This week it is projected to earn $10.5 billion in sales and $1 billion dollars in sales. This means that Tesla has increased its profits margins 7 times over. What is interesting about Tesla is that its stock price has increased dramatically over the last year by around 800%. Many analysts see this rapid increase as insanity, but younger investors, and some institutional investors are convinced by CEO Elon Musk’s vision for the company, as well as its future in alleviating car carbon emissions. Time will tell if Tesla can live up to its reputation. If you would like to know more about Tesla’s projected earnings, click here.
If you would like to read more about this week’s earnings, take a look at the article I used to get some information for today’s blog. See you next time!