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Despite fears of an economic slowdown or recession, Wall Street’s first-quarter earnings season provided a ray of hope, as the results largely suggested that things may not be as bad as previously anticipated.
The data are in, and they reflect a narrative of resilience, with over 95% of S&P 500 businesses having reported as of Wednesday morning. Impressively, 78% of these firms have outperformed profits per share predictions, while 76% have beaten sales expectations.
This good performance has reduced the year-over-year loss in Q1 earnings to -2.2%, a far lower drop than the bleak -6.7% predicted on March 31.
Top 5 Earnings Winners in Q1:
1. Meta Platforms
On April 26, Meta Platforms posted surprisingly excellent first-quarter profits, including an unexpected gain in sales after three consecutive quarterly reductions. The parent firm of Facebook also outperformed forecasts for the second quarter.
Shares of the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm have risen with the tech-heavy Nasdaq, up 105% year to date, making META one of the year’s best-performing companies.
2. Palantir
On May 8, Palantir reported first-quarter profits that exceeded analysts’ expectations on both the top and bottom lines. CEO Alex Karp stated that the data analytics software firm intends to be profitable “each quarter through the end of the year.”
Shares of the data mining specialist have recovered this year and are up 96.9% in 2023. Despite the recent recovery, the stock is still nearly 70% below its all-time high of $45.
3. Uber Technologies Inc.
On May 2, Uber Technologies reported first-quarter profits and revenue that were substantially above analysts’ estimates, with revenues increasing 29% year over year. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated in a prepared statement that the company is off to a “strong start” for the year.
Shares of the mobility-as-a-service provider are up over 56% so far in 2023, considerably surpassing comparable gains from Lyft, which is down roughly 26% over the same span.
4.DraftKings
On May 4, DraftKings reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded analyst expectations. Revenue increased 84% year on year to $769.7 million, owing mostly to the company’s effective acquisition of new clients.
DKNG shares are up 113% year to date as investors become more optimistic about the online gaming specialist’s future prospects.
5. Chipotle Mexican Grill
On April 25, Chipotle Mexican Grill announced higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue. Same-store sales increased 10.9%, above consensus projections of 8.6%. Chipotle predicted that same-store sales will climb in the mid-to-high single digits for the rest of the year.
Shares of the Newport Beach, California-based fast-casual Mexican business have surged 47.5% year to far, considerably outperforming the S&P 500’s 8% gain over the same period.
