April 25-29 | 5 Big Tech Stocks to Watch This Week
NewsApril is coming to an end!I And investors will be watching one metric very closely at the end of the month: inflation. Will it exceed the 7.5% level recorded in March for the eurozone? The soaring inflation rate is causing anxiety at the European Central Bank, which could be forced to take action in the coming weeks.
While we wait for this macroeconomic backdrop to clear up, we invite you to travel with us to Silicon Valley for some major earnings reports this week. Stocks in this sector have been particularly volatile lately due to inflation and supply chain problems.
Alphabet (Google) ready to report
This Tuesday, April 26th, Google’s parent company Alphabet could post earnings per share (EPS) of $27.27, which would be a 3% decline year-over-year. The bigger picture looks better, however, with analysts forecasting a 35% increase in EPS for the full year of 2022. More good news: Alphabet’s cash reserves are much higher than its debt levels which is reassuring for investors.
Future prospects for Alphabet? CEO Sundar Pichai recently announced that Alphabet will invest $9.5 billion in data centres to create 12,000 jobs.
Microsoft above the clouds
Microsoft is expected to deliver first-quarter revenue of $48.96 billion, up 17.4% year-over-year. A large part of that growth will come from the company’s cloud business, Azure. Microsoft also purchased gaming giant Activision-Blizzard this quarter which may have an impact on the financial health of the company. The results are published this Tuesday, April 26th. Don’t miss them!
Future prospects for Microsoft? Microsoft recently secured a partnership with NASA to use the Azure platform on the International Space Station.
Back to reality for Meta Platforms (Facebook)
Scheduled for Wednesday, April 27th, investors are watching Meta’s quarterly figures closely. Meta could suffer a difficult quarter due to the change in Apple’s privacy policy. The change makes it more difficult to target advertising on Facebook, which is the heart of the social network’s business.
Since the beginning of 2022, Meta’s share price has lost 36% of its value, and is the biggest loser in the Nasdaq index this year. Analysts estimate that earnings per share could fall 20.9% year-on-year.
Future prospects for Meta? Mark Zuckerberg’s company is currently testing sales tools in the metaverse and working on the development of a virtual currency.
Apple to increase dividend?
Apple will publish its quarterly figures on Thursday, April 28. Analyst estimates for earnings per share come in around $1.43, a small increase of 2.1% year-on-year. Analysts also expect a potential dividend increase of almost 10%. On the other hand, there is a concern that, with a record market cap of almost $3 trillion dollars, it is increasingly difficult for the group to generate very high returns.
Future prospects for Apple? The company is developing new products behind the scenes for release in Autumn 2022, including the iPhone 14.
The worst quarter for Amazon?
The e-commerce giant Amazon will publish its quarterly figures this Thursday, April 28th. Wall Street expects a 7.2% increase in revenue year-on-year, but a 46% drop in earnings per share. Some analysts believe it could be the worst quarter in Amazon’s history, due to severe supply chain difficulties.
Future prospects for Amazon? The company is reportedly working on integrating NFTs and crypto payments. There’s also rumours of a possible increase in price for Amazon Prime Video.
How to invest in tech
Tech companies often have very expensive share prices, which can be off-putting to investors with a small budget. Fortunately, at BUX Zero we have a solution! You can now buy a fraction of US tech stocks, starting with as little as €10.
Additionally, you can also invest in ETFs that track the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index:
Economic and earnings calendar
Monday – IFO Business Climate Index in Germany (April). Chicago Fed US National Activity Index (March). Index of consumer confidence in Ireland (April). Quarterly results of Deutsche Boerse, Coca-Cola, Philips, Vivendi.
Tuesday – Change in API crude oil inventory in the United States (weekly data). Quarterly results of Alphabet, Microsoft, Visa, General Electric, HSBC, PepsiCo, Santander, Michelin.
Wednesday – Consumer Confidence Index in France (April) and Germany (May). Quarterly results from Meta Platforms, PayPal, Boeing, STMicroelectronics, eBay, Deutsche Bank.
Thursday – Business climate in the Netherlands (April). First quarter unemployment rate and inflation rate (April) in Spain. First quarter GDP and inflation rate (April) in Belgium. Consumption inflation rate in the eurozone (April). Unemployment rate in France (March). Inflation rate in Germany (April). Quarterly results of Apple, Merck & Co, Intel, Amazon, Sanofi, Twitter.
Friday – First quarter GDP in France, Germany, Spain and the Eurozone. Inflation rate in the eurozone (April). Quarterly results of ExxonMobil, Chevron.
We’ll be back next week with another edition of the BUX Breakdown. In the meantime, have a great week on the markets!
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The BUX Breakdown was written by Clémentine Pougnet.
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All views, opinions, and analyses in this article should not be read as personal investment advice and individual investors should make their own decisions or seek independent advice. This article has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is considered a marketing communication.
