From Macy’s Inc to Tencent: earnings result beat market expectations | Calamatta Cuschieri

Markets update

U.S. stocks rose Wednesday, with major indexes advancing in a broad rally as investors appeared to shake off fears of rising bond yields, helping equities resume a recent uptrend.

In a notable milestone for the day, an index of small-capitalization stocks jumped to a new record, extending a recent stretch of outperformance by small companies relative to their larger peer. Dow Jones Index rose 0.25%. The S&P 500 Index was up 11.01, or 0.4%. The day’s gains were broad, with nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ending higher. The Nasdaq Index advanced 0.63% to 7,398.30.

Macy’s earnings make investors elated

The retailer once again posted double-digit sales growth from digital sales, thanks in part to improvements the company has made to its website and app.

Macy's said that sales were healthy at physical stores for all its main brands as well, which include Bloomingdale's and makeup and beauty chain Bluemercury in addition to Macy's.

Overall sales rose 3.6% from last year, better than expected.

CEO Jeff Gennette said in the company's earnings release that the solid results were proof that "the winning formula" for Macy's is "a healthy brick & mortar business, robust e-commerce and a great mobile experience."

Gennette, who took over for longtime Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren in March 2017, added that consumer spending remained "healthy" and that there were "significant improvements in international tourism."

Macy's good quarter suggests that many consumers are still willing to actually go to stores to shop instead of just buying clothes on their phones and tablets.

Macy's stock is now up nearly 30% this year, a clear sign that many on Wall Street also believe that Macy's is back on track. Investors were elated. Shares of Macy's surged 7% on the news.

Tencent profit up 61% as result of boom in games business

Tencent reported first quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat market expectations, fueled by its booming gaming business. Tencent has a several number of different business area, including advertising and gaming, and is the owner of China's largest messaging app, WeChat.

The gaming business boosted Tencent's revenues in the quarter with a "double digit growth" in terms of daily active users for the game.

PC games revenues were flat year-on-year, but analysts said that there were tough comparisons with the first quarter of 2017, and overall the games business was in good shape.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the operating margin actually fell. But in the three months ended March 31, Tencent managed to raise its operating margin by 8 percent quarter-on-quarter. That's despite the company reporting that capital expenditure in the quarter was up 200 percent to 6.3 billion yuan.

Tencent's other earnings drivers included its video subscription service, which is similar to Netfilx. The Chinese giant said that mobile daily video views were up over 60 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. Total video revenues were 75 percent higher. The company's investment in original content helped drive paid video subscriptions up 85 percent on the year.

Tencent also runs two messaging services. One is an instant messanger known as QQ and the other is called WeChat, similar to WhatsApp but with payments, games and other services integrated. For the first time, WeChat's monthly active users surpassed 1 billion.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Linda De Luca, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.