U.S. Movers: IBM, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Tesla, UPS

Scott Peters
30 Jan, 2025
New York City

Microsoft Corp dropped 4.6% to $421.85 despite the company posting strong results for its fiscal 2025 second quarter ending in December, helped by a 21% increase in cloud service sales.

However, the software company's revenue outlook in the current quarter disappointed some investors. 

Revenue increased to $69.63 billion from $62.02 billion; net income surged to $24.11 billion from $21.87 billion, and earnings per diluted share rose to $3.23 from $2.93 a year ago.

Cash and cash equivalents declined to $54.07 billion from $57.23 billion, driven by fewer short-term investments.

“Our artificial intelligence (AI) business has surpassed an annual sales run rate of $13 billion, up 175% year-over-year,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft.

Meta Platforms Inc surged 2.3% to $692 after the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp posted strong earnings for the fourth quarter ending in December.

Revenue climbed 21% to $48.38 billion from $40.11 billion; net income jumped 49% to $20.84 billion from $14.02 billion, and earnings per diluted share rose to $8.02 from $5.33 a year ago.

Cash and cash equivalents increased to $43.89 billion from $41.86 billion a year earlier, brining to significantly higher total assets and lower income taxes.

Looking ahead to fiscal first quarter of 2025, the company estimates revenue of $39.5 billion to $41.8 billion, despite higher infrastructure costs. 

In the fourth quarter total costs and expenses increased to $25.02 billion from $23.73 billion a year earlier. 

Tesla gained 3% to $400.86 after the electric vehicle maker posted mixed earnings in the fourth quarter ending in December.

Revenue decreased 8% to $19.8 billion from $21.56 billion; net income slumped 71% to $2.32 billion from $7.93 billion, and earnings per diluted share fell to 66 cents from $2.27 a year ago.

Cash flow from operating activities declined to $2.33 billion from $7.94 billion a year earlier.

For the full year, model Y became the best-selling vehicle in China, and overall car sales also climbed in Europe, South Korea and the Philippines. 

Semi-factory construction continued in the fourth quarter, with first truck builds scheduled to start by the end of 2025 and ramp beginning in early 2026.

The company is planning to ramp up Cybercab production at its Gigafactory in Texas in 2026.

IBM soared 9.4% to $250.29 after the legacy technology company reported fourth-quarter results that surpassed market expectations. 

The company said its software business expanded by double digits in the second half, and the generative artificial intelligence business order book increased by $2 billion to $5 billion. 

UPS plunged 14.2% to $114.72 after the parcel delivery company said it reached a deal with Amazon, its largest customer, to lower shipment volume by 50% by the second half of 2026. 

UPS was under pressure after the company reported better-than-expected earnings, but revenue fell short of market expectations in the fourth quarter.