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Today we are watching…
1.ย Microsoft (#msft)
Bill Gates will be all smiles ahead of Microsoft’s earnings today as the company looks poised to post some strong results. Analysts have been revising their estimates upwards in the lead up to today and the stock has shown strong momentum since the start of 2019, rising 24% since January. While its hardware sales may have slowed slightly during Q1 its cloud-based business has soared, justifying its high market valuation of 30x earnings. The consensus EPS estimate is $1.00 (+5.3%) on revenue of $29.86bn (+11.83).ย
2. Facebook (#fb)
Facebook is next on the earnings chopping block today and analysts are on the fence about its chances at an earnings beat. While regulators have been clamping down on the company’s privacy policies, its video advertising initiatives have been generating significant revenues and consistently gaining traction. Additionally, its expanded portfolio, includingย games tabs, Instagram checkout and the latest Oculus Rift S have been extremely well received by the investment community. However, aย slight slowdown in activity on its Instagram and Facebook platforms has created a degree of uncertainty in today’s announcement – we’ll have to see what comes out in the wash!