While in Europe the stock markets take a day off on Labor Day, with the exception of London (flat), across the ocean Microsoft and Meta they push the US Stock Exchange which is proceeding in a sharp rise after the better-than-expected quarterly results of the two tech giants, whose results served to calm the market's fears about the performance of the economy and the growth of artificial intelligence after the cold shower that arrived on Wednesday on the US GDP, which surprisingly fell in the 4th quarter of 2024 by 0,3% (against expectations of +0,4%). Good news also comes from foreign policy, with The agreement on rare earths signed by the United States and Ukraine.
Wall Street rises, Nasdaq soars
And so the Dow Jones continues to rise by 0,75%, while the S & P 500 does even better, rising by 1,3%. It is the Nasdaq but beat everyone, marking a 2,3% increase thanks to the rain of purchases on ecosystem (+ 8,9%) and Meta (+5,4%). Salt too Tesla (+0,4%) after the indiscretion of the Wall Street Journal, according to which the board of directors of the electric car company is reportedly looking for a CEO to succeed Elon Musk, although the company denied it.
Still on the stock market, it advances by 2% General Motors, which has cut its forecast for 2025, due to the impact of the tariffs that could be at least $4 billion. It helps, however, to have more certainty about the tariffs and their effect.
Microsoft and Meta's accounts
For Meta the first quarter of 2025 closed with earnings per share of $6,43 (+37%), beating analysts' estimates of $5,23, for the ninth consecutive quarter. Revenues grew 16,1% to $42,31 billion (41,34 billion consensus). In the first quarter, active users (Dap) grew 6% compared to a year earlier to 3,43 billion, above the consensus of 3,39 billion, after +5% in the previous two quarters. Advertising revenues were $41,39 billion (+16,2%) above the consensus of $40,43 billion. In the second quarter, Meta expects revenues between $42,5 and $45,5 billion, above the consensus of $39,1 billion.
Quarterly results above expectations also for ecosystem, which in its fiscal third quarter (March 31), reported earnings per share of $3,46 on revenue of $70,07 billion, versus expectations for $3,22 on $68,42 billion. Revenue increased 13% from a year earlier, while net income rose 18% to $25,82 billion, up from $21,94 billion a year earlier. The Productivity and Business Processes segment, which includes Office and LinkedIn, contributed $29,94 billion in revenue, up 10% and above the $29,57 billion consensus. The Intelligent Cloud unit posted revenue of $26,75 billion, up 21% and above the $26,16 billion consensus.
In the evening, when the US stock market has closed its doors, it will be the turn of Apple and Amazon lift the veil on the quarter's accounts.
McDonald's and Mastercard
Instead it gives up 1,5% McDonald's, which closed the first three months of the year with adjusted earnings per share of $2,67 and revenue of $5,96 billion. Estimates were for earnings of $2,66 and revenue of $6,09 billion. Investors were most concerned about the data on sales in the United States, which fell 3,6% compared to the same period in 2024. This is the sharpest decline since the second quarter of 2020, when the impact of the pandemic had hit the entire restaurant sector hard.
The title of Mastercard falls 0,2%, despite a better-than-expected quarterly report. Profits and revenues grew thanks to the fact that consumers continued to spend with their debit and credit cards, despite the economic uncertainties caused by the trade war started by US President Donald Trump. In the first quarter, adjusted profit was $3,73 per share, versus $3,57 expected, on revenues up 17% to $7,25 billion, versus $7,12 billion expected.
