Reporter of the Economic Business: Li Menglin Reporter of the Economic Business Business: Tan Yuhan
On October 27th local time, Meta's stock price plummeted 24.56% after releasing disappointing third-quarter earnings and weak fourth-quarter expectations. Zuckerberg's net worth wiped out $11.2 billion in one day. Amazon net sales and cloud business AWS in the third quarter were lower than expected, and it is expected that profits in the peak consumption season in the fourth quarter may fall to 0 at the lowest level, causing its stock price to fall by more than 21% after the market. Apple revenue hit a new high, but iPhone and service business revenue was slightly lower than expected. Apple CEO Cook said that if had not strengthened the US dollar, Apple's third-quarter revenue should have double-digit growth.
On October 26th local time, after the U.S. stock market, Facebook parent company Meta (META, stock price of US$97.94, market value of US$263.2 billion) announced its third quarter financial report for the 2022 fiscal year. In addition to the decline in advertising business, which accounts for the majority of revenue, the revenue of Reality Labs, a core project of the meta-universe that Meta has high expectations, remains stagnant.
Meta's after-hours decline continued to the US stock trading session on the 27th. In the end, the company closed down 24.56%, and its stock price fell below the $100 mark for the first time since February 2016. According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Meta Chairman and CEO Zuckerberg's personal wealth shrank by US$11.2 billion to US$38.1 billion on the same day, which has shrunk by more than US$100 billion from its peak in September last year. is the richest man with the worst decline in personal wealth on the wealth list.
Zuckerberg's wealth shrinkage in the past 12 months Picture source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index
27 After the US stock market on the day of the day, Apple (AAPL, stock price of US$144.80, market value of US$2.33 trillion) released its financial report for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022 (end on September 24, hereinafter referred to as this quarter). Apple's total revenue and profit in the quarter were higher than analysts' expectations, but its core iPhone and service business revenue was lower than expected . Apple CEO Cook said that if the dollar had not strengthened, Apple's third-quarter revenue should have double-digit growth. After the release of
's financial report, Apple's stock price fell by more than 6% after the market trading, and then turned red. As of press time, it rose by 0.63%. At the close of the 27th, Apple's stock price fell 3.05%.
Specifically, Apple's operating income this quarter was US$90.1 billion, a record high in year-on-year revenue. increased by 8% year-on-year, higher than analysts' expectations of US$88.64 billion; net profit was US$20.721 billion, also hitting a new high in net profit in the same period, a year-on-year increase of 0.83%; diluted earnings per share (EPS) was US$1.29, a year-on-year increase of 4%, and analysts expected US$1.26.
From a business perspective, Apple's core product iPhone was still the largest source of revenue in the quarter, with revenue of US$42.626 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.67%, slightly lower than analysts' expectations of 9.78% to US$42.67 billion.
Since the iPhone 14 series was released in advance this year, this quarter included a 9-day new iPhone sales period. Analysts previously expected that although the sales of the basic iPhone 14 model are weak, the high-end iPhone 14 Pro model with higher-end chips and better camera performance will attract consumers to pay for it. iPhone 14 sales in the fourth quarter of this year will become one of the most concerned indicators for investors.
Apple's service business includes music and TV streaming services, payment services Apple Card, cloud storage iCloud, etc., which are regarded as the core source of sales growth. Apple's services business revenue for the quarter was $19.19 billion, up 4.98% year-on-year, slightly lower than analysts' expectations of $19.97 billion.
Changes in the macroeconomic environment are also reflected in Apple's financial report. The strong US dollar has adversely affected companies like Apple with a high proportion of overseas revenue.
"The headwind of exchange rate this quarter brought more than 600 basis points, so it was very significant. If there was no exchange rate impact, we could have achieved double-digit growth," Apple CEO Cook told CNBC.
Apple still did not provide performance guidance this time. Since the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, Apple has not provided performance guidance when the quarterly report was released, saying the reason is uncertainty about the outlook.
US e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN, stock price of US$110.96, market value of US$1.13 trillion) also released its third-quarter financial report after the market trading on the 27th, with net sales and cloud business AWS lower than expected.In addition, due to the fourth quarter including traditional US consumption peak seasons such as Thanksgiving and Christmas season, Amazon's fourth-quarter performance guidance was lower than expected, triggering a sharp drop of more than 20% after the market closed. As of press time, the after-hours decline in stock prices narrowed to 13.53%.
Amazon's after-hours trading situation Image source: CNBC
Specifically, Amazon's net sales in the third quarter were US$127.1 billion, a year-on-year growth rate of 15%, lower than the market's expectations of US$127.64 billion; net profit fell to US$2.9 billion, or US$0.28 EPS, higher than the market's expectations of US$0.22, but lower than the US$3.2 billion or US$0.31 EPS in the same period last year; AWS service revenue increased by 27% year-on-year to US$20.54 billion, lower than the market's expectations of US$21 billion, and the growth rate was also lower than the market's expectations.
It is worth noting that the strong dollar also had a negative impact on Amazon's performance. Amazon's international net sales fell 5% year-on-year to $27.7 billion, but it was a year-on-year increase of 12% if the exchange rate impact was deducted. Exchange rate changes caused $5 billion to overall revenue.
Looking ahead to the peak consumption season revenue in the fourth quarter, Amazon expects net sales to be US$140 billion to US$148 billion in the next quarter, lower than the market's expectations of US$155.52 billion; operating profit in the fourth quarter is expected to be US$0 to US$4 billion, significantly lower than the market's expectations of US$4.66 billion.
Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said Amazon is “optimistic about the holiday season, but it is also realistic to realize that multiple factors are squeezing consumers’ wallets.”
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