Big tech profits are just around the corner – MetaPlatform (NASDAQ:META)

Next week, some of the Magnificent 7, including Meta Platform (NASDAQ:META), Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) will be announced. will step into the revenue spotlight and show the world new insights into where the company is heading with its development of generative AI.

Meta’s fourth quarter results demonstrated the effectiveness of its profit improvement strategy.

In the fourth quarter, Meta exceeded expectations with exceptional performance. Fourth-quarter sales rose 25% year over year to his $40.1 billion, marking Meta’s fastest growth since mid-2021. Meta’s cost-cutting efforts reduced his costs by 8% on a year-over-year basis, and his operating margin more than doubled to 41%. This financial strength more than tripled net income to $14 billion, or $5.33 per share. Meta also performs well in managing its user base with 2.11 billion daily active users and 3.07 billion monthly active users, with an average revenue of $13.12 per user. Did. As for guidance, Meta said it is targeting revenue in the range of $34.5 billion to $37 billion for the first quarter of 2024.

Alphabet’s fourth quarter results showed a significant turnaround.

Google’s parent company posted a 52% year-over-year increase in net income to $20.7 billion ($1.64 per share) in the fourth quarter, with operating margins expanding from 24% to 27%. He reported that his condition had improved significantly. Google Cloud was a key growth driver, posting 26% year-over-year revenue growth, bringing the segment from a loss to a positive operating profit of $864 million in a highly competitive environment facing Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. I turned to .

But what investors really want to hear this time is how Google is incorporating AI into its services. During the last earnings report. CEO Sundar Pichai focused on the enduring strength of Google search and the growing power of cloud and YouTube, both of which are benefiting from Gemini era AI developments.

Amazon falls far short of expectations during record year-end sales season

With record fourth-quarter results for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, Amazon reported net sales of $170 billion, up 14% year over year, operating income of $13.2 billion, and net income of 2022. The company reported a profit of $10.6 billion after a loss in the fourth quarter of the year.

Overall in 2023, profitability returned with net sales up 12% and net income of $30.4 billion. Regarding its first quarter forecast, Amazon said it expects sales growth to continue in its 8% to 13% range and operating profit to exceed last year’s results.

Investors will focus on the company’s fastest-growing business segment, AWS, with the impact of automation efforts and expanded drone delivery on efficiency and costs, as well as advertising, which should benefit from advances in AI. Dew.

After a strong fiscal second quarter, Microsoft plans to reveal more about how advances in AI are driving innovation and improving productivity.

Microsoft beat analysts’ expectations for both revenue and bottom line profit in the second quarter. Microsoft announced an 18% increase in revenue to $62.02 billion and earnings per share of $2.93. Both operating income and net income increased by 33%. This strong performance was driven in large part by the success of our Intelligent Cloud business, with revenue up 20% year-over-year and an impressive 30% growth in Azure and related cloud services alone. Regarding guidance for the fiscal third quarter, Microsoft expects revenue to be in his $60 billion to $61 billion range. But what will be interesting to watch is how CEO Satya Nadella’s words translate into action. Nadella commented during the last earnings call that Microsoft has gone from talking about it to actually applying AI at scale.

These earnings reports not only indicate the financial health of a company, but also provide valuable insight into the health of the technology industry as a whole, providing a glimpse into where the world is heading as the new AI era continues to unfold. I can.

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This article was contributed by an unpaid external contributor. This does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.