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Luke Kawa2/12/25

CVS soars as fourth-quarter earnings exceed every Wall Street estimate

Shares of CVS Health are soaring in the premarket after the drugstore and insurance company delivered fourth-quarter earnings per share that surpassed every analyst’s estimate — the company’s EPS of $1.19 crushed the consensus estimate of $0.92 — and reported better-than-expected revenues to boot.

A bigger surprise on the bottom line than the top line usually means one thing: effective expense control.

The medical benefit ratio (that is, the share of premiums collected spent on medical care) in its insurance ratio was 94.8%, lower than projected. That’s a positive, since it means more money is left over for the company to claim as profits.

Its peer, Cigna, reported larger-than-expected outlays to cover patients’ costs when it released earnings in late January, sending shares sharply lower.

Management’s guidance for 2025, however, was a little on the low side. Adjusted earnings per share are projected to come in between $5.75 and $6.00, while the consensus estimate currently sits at the top of that range. Projected sales of “at least $385.9 billion” are a bit shy of where the sell side is at, too.

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Claire Yubin Oh37m

Brent crude futures break through $126 per barrel as fears of a prolonged supply crunch intensify

Brent crude prices jumped to a four-year high on Thursday after reports that President Trump is set to receive a briefing on potential military action against Iran, raising concerns that oil supply disruptions in the Middle East could extend further.

Citing sources with knowledge, Axios reported late on Wednesday that the US Central Command (CENTCOM) will brief a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran, in a bid to accelerate negotiations and weaken Iran's position. A ceasefire has held since early April but talks to resolve the conflict have been deadlocked in recent days, with Iran's leadership — a group that seems scattered and fractured — wanting some control over the Strait of Hormuz, with reparations for war damages also brought up two weeks ago. Yesterday, reports emerged that President Trump had rejected Iran's latest offer, maintaining the naval blockade in the region until an agreement about Iran's nuclear program is reached.

Brent crude futures jumped more than 7%, briefly touching $126 per barrel before retreating slightly — the highest price since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. US West Texas Intermediate futures also extended its 7% gain in the previous session, reaching past $108 a barrel.

Trump discussed ways to mitigate the impact of a prolonged blockade on American consumers with oil companies on Tuesday, the White House said.

US equity futures, meanwhile, have broadly shrugged off the news. Contracts on the S&P 500 point to a broadly unchanged open, as traders digest the bevy of mega tech earnings last night.

Qualcomm spikes despite poor forecast, citing progress with “leading hyperscaler” and an imminent return to growth in China

Qualcomm, a chip company seemingly left behind in AI, is trying to lean in more to the boom.

A crowd of visitors at the Qualcomm ( Qualcomm is an...

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Max Knoblauch14h

Ford raises its full-year guidance, receives $1.3 billion tariff refund

Ford reported its first-quarter results after markets closed on Wednesday. The automaker’s shares climbed roughly 7% in after-hours trading on the news.

For Q1, Ford reported:

Adjusted earnings of $0.66 per share, compared to the $0.18 per share expected by Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet. The figure includes Ford’s tariff reimbursement.
$43.25 in total revenue, vs. the $42.66 billion consensus forecast. Automotive revenue came in at $39.8 billion, compared to estimates of $38.9 billion.
A $1.3 billion tariff refund.

Ford boosted its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to between $8.5 billion and $10.5 billion, up from between $8 billion and $10 billion.

Late last year, Ford announced it would take $19.5 billion in charges — one of the largest write-downs ever — relating mostly to its EV business. Of those charges, $7 billion will be spread across this year and next, the company said.

Earlier this month, Ford recorded an 8.8% drop in Q1 sales from the same period last year, a similar result to Detroit rival GM, which posted a 9.7% sales drop.

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Microsoft beats on revenue and earnings in Q3, but only meets expectations for cloud growth

Microsoft shares dipped after the company reported strong Q3 earnings postmarket Wednesday, posting sales of $82.9 billion for the quarter, beating FactSet analyst estimates of $81.4 billion. Earnings per share were $4.27, handily beating estimates of $4.05.

In a closely watched number, Microsoft’s Azure cloud business increased 40% year on year, just above the 39.7% estimated. The metric technically beat expectations, but may not be the beat investors were looking for.

Total capital expenditure for the quarter was $31.9 billion, up 49% year on year, above estimates of $27.5 billion and down from Q2’s $37.5 billion.

One thing investors were eager to find out: how is the company doing in its effort to fulfill the billions in backlogged commercial bookings? Last quarter, the company reported a staggering $625 billion in remaining performance obligations, and 45% of that was for just one customer — OpenAI.

For the third quarter, Microsoft reported a backlog of $627 billion, up 99% year on year. The company said the RPO increase was 26% — in line with “historical seasonality” — when excluding OpenAI.

Breaking down the results by the company’s business lines:

☁️ 🤖 Intelligent Cloud (Azure, server products): $34.7 billion in revenue, up 30% year on year.
📝 📊 Productivity and Business Processes (Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Dynamics): $35 billion in revenue, up 17% year on year.
💻 🎮 More Personal Computing (Windows, Xbox, Bing): $13.2 billion in revenue, down 1% year on year.

Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said in the earnings release:

“We delivered results that exceeded expectations across revenue, operating income, and earnings per share, reflecting strong execution and growing demand for the Microsoft Cloud.”

Carvana reports better-than-expected Q1 sales, gross profit per vehicle

Carvana reported its first-quarter earnings after markets closed on Wednesday.

Carvana In Arizona

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