Initial Thoughts on Apple’s 4Q24 Earnings
Hello everyone. There’s a lot to say regarding Apple’s earnings. In this special Friday edition of Above Avalon Daily, we will go over my initial thoughts. The discussion will continue on Monday.
Initial Thoughts on Apple’s 4Q24 Earnings
Heading into Thursday, expectations facing Apple were a tad elevated versus what the market was needing to hear over the summer. Despite those higher expectations, Apple’s underlying business performance had positioned the company well to not disappoint. That’s pretty much exactly how Apple’s 4Q24 earnings release played out. Revenue and adjusted EPS were spot on to my estimates. Looking ahead at 1Q25 guidance, we can call Apple’s commentary as good. There was no need to add a disclaimer or asterisk to that either.
Looking at Apple’s performance at a very high level:
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Alphabet 2Q23 Earnings, Ruth Porat to Oversee Alphabet’s Other Bets, My Updated Apple Earnings Model
We begin with Neil’s thoughts on Alphabet’s earnings. The discussion includes commentary on Alphabet/Google CFO Ruth Porat transitioning to a new role at the company. We conclude with Neil’s updated Apple earnings model and how the model has changed over the past three months. Access to Neil’s Apple earnings model is a benefit associated with Above Avalon membership at no additional cost.
Hello everyone.
In keeping with our usual practice, tomorrow’s update (Thursday) will be pushed back a day so that we have a special Friday edition of the update to review Apple’s earnings. Apple will release earnings Thursday at 4:30 pm ET.
For today, we will focus on Alphabet’s earnings.
Alphabet 2Q23 Earnings
Alphabet reported a solid quarter as delays in some expenses and investments helped to boost CY2Q23 profitability.
Revenue was up 7% (up 9% excluding FX) with gross margins up 140 basis points year over year. Operating income was up 12%. Free cash flow was $22B.
While much of Alphabet’s earnings call was dedicated to AI, the more tangible takeaway was continued stabilization in the digital ads market. Like Meta, Google saw additional improvement in its core ads business. As macro issues subside, the purveyors over the most valuable pieces of digital real estate are positioned to see a return to ad revenue growth.
There is an asterisk found with the preceding statement.
An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this update. Members can read the full update here. An audio version of this update is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here.
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