Technically, the Dow blue-chip index kept its four-day winning streak intact, albeit by the slimmest of margins: +0.007% on the day, or +2 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell -0.74% and -2.04%, respectively, reflecting heavier selling in the tech-heavy index as ex-FANG stocks posted quarterly earnings that were barely to be distinguished from their unexpected days of the past decade. The small-cap Russell 2000 led the field, +0.86% for the day.
One of those ex-FANG stocks, the “ex-F” in “Fang,” Meta Platforms META, nee Facebook, posted Q3 earnings after the closing bell this Hump Day. It delivered deeply mixed results: earnings of $1.64 per share missed the Zacks consensus of $1.88 (and roughly half of last year’s $3.22 per share reported), on $27.71 billion on sales that exceeded $27.39 billion (but still -4% last year. year).
Daily Active Users (DAU) increased +3% year-over-year to 1.98 billion, while Monthly Active Users (MAU) gained +2% from a year ago to 2.96 billion. The price per ad came to -18% year-on-year. Also, amid the clamor of late about tech companies maintaining extremely long job lists, Meta announced that it will keep its headcount flat through the end of 2023. These details helped META shares which first bounced +6% in late trade to -11% today. Shares are down -61% year to date.
interesting, Service Today NOW is headed in the opposite direction in the aftermarket today following its Q3 earnings report: +12% on a revenue beat — $1.96 per share vs. the Zacks Consensus of $1.85 — on $1.831 billion in revenue, shy of estimated at $1.85 billion, though still +21% year-over-year. Subscriptions increased and the company raised guidance. This enterprise cloud software company has no missing earnings on its chart going back to its analyst coverage.
Also reporting Q3 earnings after the bell is Ford Motor Company F, which missed on both the top and bottom lines: earnings of 30 cents per share were a penny lighter, while $37.24 billion in sales fell short of the $38.34 billion expected. The biggest news to come out of this report is that Ford will take a $2.7 billion non-cash charge as it ends its involvement in the Argo AI level 4 vehicle development. The automaker giant has $3.6 billion in free cash flow and expects $9.5-10 billion in free cash flow for the full year. Shares were down -1.6% in late session.
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