The Long Term Investor

Come on Smokie and Road......you guys can talk about anything you want on here.....it is a free speech thread. As I have said I have ZERO control of what is done on this thread I am not a STOCKAHOLICS mod. AND....I do not care to control what is said on this thread even if I had that power.

Just because I am not interested in discussing something does NOT mean you guys have to stop. I have ZERO issue with how and what you guys have been posting about tariffs....or much of anything else over this thread. I may not agree but have no issue with others talking about it.

Any post I have made recently about "ME" not posting on some topic is just to let people know......not to think just because I dont respond or even if I "like" a post that I agree.....my silence on a post does NOT mean I agree with it.

AND....at the same time if I ignore a topic....that does not mean anyone else has to stop talking about it. I have no problem with others talking about topics that you think are relevant to investing.....or for that matter.....anything else.

Lately my posts have been fairly abrupt....I have had a lot going on with other "things" taking up my time. That is one problem with the internet there are no...."cues"....and posts can easily get misinterpreted.

As I said.....CARRY ON.

 

to continue.....HELL....I post stuff all day long that is probably me just talking to myself. That is just how it is.

I dont care if a topic gets a reply or response....if you want to document something on here or talk about it.....and see if anyone else is interested go ahead. Even if no one responds....go ahead...if it is of interest to you.

We ALL get along on here with little to no internet message board DRAMA. So dont CENSURE yourself.

This thread is a real SLACKER for drama......I have been on some sites with MASSIVE drama on the investing boards. This site is the exception.

 

OK.....back to the earnings today.

Apple reports light Services revenue, expects $900 million in costs due to tariffs

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/01/apple-aapl-earnings-report-q2-2025-.html

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"Key Points

• Apple reported second fiscal-quarter earnings Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations, but the company’s closely-watched Services division came up light versus estimates.
• Cook told CNBC that Apple is already sourcing about half of the iPhones for the U.S. from India, and most of its other products for the U.S. from Vietnam, where tariffs are lower than they are from China.
• Apple’s Services division revenue grew to $26.65 billion in the quarter, an annual increase of 11.65%. However, that came in slightly under StreetAccount expectations.

Apple reported second fiscal-quarter earnings Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations, but the company’s closely-watched Services division came up light versus estimates.

Shares of the iPhone maker fell more than 2% in extended trading.

Here’s how Apple did versus consensus estimates for the quarter ending in March:

• EPS: $1.65 vs. $1.63 estimated by LSEG
• Revenue: $95.4 billion vs. $94.66 billion estimated by LSEG
• iPhone revenue: $46.84 billion vs. $45.84 billion estimated, per StreetAccount
• Mac revenue: $7.95 billion vs. $7.77 billion estimated, per StreetAccount
• iPad revenue: $6.4 billion vs. $6.20 billion estimated, per StreetAccount
• Wearables, Home, and Accessories revenue: $7.52 billion vs. $7.95 billion, per StreetAccount
• Services revenue: $26.65 billion vs. $26.70 billion, per StreetAccount
• Gross margin: 47.1% vs. 47.1%, per StreetAccount

Apple typically provides data points about how it sees the current quarter shaping up on a call with analysts. Analysts are looking for third-quarter guidance of $1.48 in earnings per share on $89.45 billion of sales.

Cook provided Apple’s first comments on the impact of tariffs on its business on an earnings call with analysts, saying Apple saw “limited impact” in the March quarter because it was able to optimize its supply chain.

In the current quarter, Cook said, Apple said it expects tariffs to add $900 million to Apple’s costs, assuming no new tariffs or other major changes.

“For our part, we will manage the company the way we always have with thoughtful and deliberate decisions, with a focus on investing for the long term and with dedication to innovation and the possibilities it creates,” Cook said. “As we look ahead, we remain confident.”

Cook told CNBC that Apple is already sourcing about half of the iPhones for the U.S. from India, and most of its other products for the U.S. from Vietnam, where tariffs are lower than they are from China. Apple still makes the “vast majority” of its products for other countries in China, Cook said.

“If you look at the U.S., over half of the U.S. sales of iPhone come from India,” Cook said. “If you look at the other products, Mac and iPad and AirPods and the Watch, almost all of the country of origin is Vietnam.”

Cook said the iPhone uses a lot of chips made domestically, and that Apple is buying 19 billion chips this year from the U.S.

“With an iPhone, you really have to go a step lower and look at the individual parts and where they come from,” he said.

Apple said its board authorized up to $100 billion in share repurchases this quarter, down from $110 billion in authorization last year. Apple also said it would pay a dividend of 26 cents per share, a 4% increase.

“We continue to plan for annual dividend increases,” Cook said.

The company reported $1.65 per share on $24.78 billion of net income during the quarter, versus $23.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, in the year-ago period.

The company’s most important product line, iPhones, topped estimates at $46.8 billion in sales during the quarter. The overall product line’s sales were up just under 2% on an annual basis.

Apple’s profitable Services division includes iCloud subscriptions, services like Apple Music and Apple TV+, warranties and revenue from search licensing deals like its agreement with Google.

Cook, in a statement, hailed “double-digit” Services growth to $26.65 billion in revenue during the quarter, an annual increase of 11.65%. However, Services revenue came in slightly under StreetAccount expectations, and last year, Apple’s services division grew 14.2% during the March quarter.

Apple hardware generally did well during the quarter.

Mac sales rose nearly 7% to just under $8 billion, and iPad sales were up 15% on an annual basis to $6.4 billion. Apple introduced new mid-priced iPad Air and MacBook Air models in March.

However, Apple’s wearables division, which includes Apple Watch, AirPods and accessories sales, declined 5% versus the same period last year to $7.52 billion in revenue.

Sales in Greater China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, were down slightly year-over-year at $16 billion. Cook said that China sales were accelerating on a quarterly basis, and that Apple sales in the region would have been flat if not for foreign exchange rates.

On the other hand, sales in the Americas, Apple’s largest market that has seen some increased consumer demand ahead of tariffs, rose nearly 8%. Cook told CNBC’s Steve Kovach that Apple had not seen evidence of order “pull forward” because of tariffs.

“We don’t believe that there was a significant pull forward due to tariffs into the March quarter,” Cook said. “There’s no obvious evidence of it.”

During the quarter, Apple delayed some of its AI features announced last summer to the “coming year,” which some analysts said might reduce the appeal of Apple’s latest iPhones.

“We need more time to complete our work on these features so they meet our high quality bar,” Cook said on an earnings call with analysts."

MY COMMENT

This is about as good a beat as any company this big can expect.....a VERY NICE beat in just about every single category. the miss in services is so slight as to be meaningless....as is the very slight miss in wearables.

It is all bout the WHOLE.....and as a whole this is a very good BEAT. I dont care what the IDIOTS say.

AND.....this is another company throwing cold water of the impact of tariffs on their business.

In addition....this BEAT....is way better than all the media "experts" have been saying AAPL would do.

 

HERE is AMAZON.

Amazon’s ad business grew 19% in first quarter, topping estimates

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/01/ama...rcent-in-first-quarter-topping-estimates.html

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"Key Points

• Revenue in Amazon’s online ad business rose 19% to $13.92 billion.
• Amazon has emerged as a force in digital advertising, trailing only Meta and Google in the U.S.

Amazon reported a 19% increase in online ad revenue in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimates.

Ad sales climbed to $13.92 billion, while analysts on average were expecting $13.74 billion, according to StreetAccount.

The numbers were contained in Amazon’s first-quarter earnings report. The company reported total first-quarter sales of $155.67 billion, compared to Wall Street projections of $155.04 billion.

Although Amazon’s online ad business represents a fraction of overall sales, it has emerged in recent years to become the third-biggest platform in the global digital advertising market, behind only Alphabet
and Meta.

Online advertising is a particular area of focus for investors due to economic uncertainty and increasing tensions between the U.S. and China over trade. While President Donald Trump’s China tariffs will likely affect Amazon’s core retail business, the company’s online ad unit could also feel some pain.

So far, tech companies with online ad businesses have reported solid first-quarter earnings, but warned of potentially tougher times later in the year.






Meta reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings this week, but said ad sales in the Asia-Pacific region came in at $8.22 billion for the quarter, trailing analysts’ estimates of $8.42 billion.

The company’s finance chief Susan Li said during an earnings call that “Asia-based e-commerce exporters” have slowed their online ad spending likely due to the de minimis trade loophole ending this Friday.

When Alphabet reported first-quarter earnings last Thursday, it revealed that ad sales grew 8.5% year over year to $66.89 billion and YouTube ad revenue increased 10% to $8.93 billion. But Alphabet executives told analysts that it expects headwinds to its Asia-Pacific-focused advertising business.

Snap on Tuesday said it had “experienced headwinds to start the current quarter,” which resulted in the company saying it would not provide guidance.

Last week, Microsoft reported its latest quarterly earnings and said search and news advertising sales, minus payments to its affiliates, grew 15% year over year to $449 million.

Reddit also reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that beat on sales and guidance. The company’s first-quarter sales soared 61% year over year to $392 million.

Although Reddit’s second-quarter guidance topped analysts’ projections, CEO Steve Huffman said there is some economic shakiness.

“Ever-shifting macro environments like these create both challenges and opportunities,” Huffman wrote in a letter to shareholders. “We’ve grown through challenging times before — people need connection and information just as much in uncertain times.”"

MY COMMENT

This article goes off topic and into a discussion of ad revenue at various companies. I see these numbers as a CLEAR BEAT for Amazon. BUT....I can tell....the nit-pickers will be out in force.

 

This is what I mean about the nit-pickers.

Amazon beats on Q1 earnings, but light Q2 guidance sends stock sliding

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amaz...2-guidance-sends-stock-sliding-200554161.html

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"Amazon (AMZN) reported its first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, beating on the top and bottom lines, but offered lighter-than-anticipated guidance for its Q2 operating income.

For the quarter, Amazon saw earnings per share (EPS) of $1.59 on revenue of $155.7 billion. Wall Street was anticipating EPS of $1.36 and revenue of $155.1 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. The company reported EPS of $0.98 and revenue of $143.3 billion in Q1 last year.

AWS revenue came in at $29.3 billion inline with expectations.

For the second quarter, Amazon said it anticipates operating income of between $13 billion and $17.5 billion. Analysts were expecting $17.8 billion. The company saw operating income of $14.7 billion in Q2 2024.

The company also said it anticipates a 10-basis-point impact to its Q2 sales.

Amazon stock fell more than 4% following the report.

Amazon's announcement comes after a dustup with the Trump White House on Tuesday over a Punchbowl News report that the company was preparing to include the impact of tariffs on product prices.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the move "a hostile and political act," and CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene said President Trump personally called Bezos to complain about the plan.

Amazon has since denied that it was going to add tariff pricing to its main e-commerce site.

"The team that runs our ultra-low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products," Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said in a statement. "This was never approved and is not going to happen.”

During a Tuesday afternoon briefing, Trump commented on the matter, saying, "Jeff Bezos is very nice. Terrific. He solved the problem very quickly. He did the right thing. Good guy."

The episode highlights the precarious position tech companies face as they work to navigate the reality of Trump's tariffs and the threat of possible reprisals from the White House.

With goods imported from China facing a 145% tariff and other countries facing a blanket 10% tariff, UBS analyst Stephen Ju estimated in an investor note that some 50% or more of products sold on Amazon will face some kind of tariff-related price increase.

"Consumers therefore might have to make more difficult choices on where to allocate their dollars," Ju wrote.

"We also have to think that there could be second order impacts as exporters to the US are likely going to face lower revenue and as a result may have to make adjustments to their business/headcount needs, which may impact employment globally and downstream [gross merchandise value] growth internationally as well," Ju added."

MY COMMENT

I love how they let an......analyst....take over and dominate this little article in the last portion that I did not bold. TOTAL BS. As i said about AAPL...it is all about the whole and this is a clear BEAT for AMZN.

 

Pretty much.....you guys are long time trusted posters.....who are not going to go off into CRAZY-TOWN.

BUT....I have been on a few investing boards in the past that had some posters that were really off in the OZONE......way beyond CRAZY-TOWN. And they made things interesting.....when they left the board was really BORING.

 

I had a BIG GAIN today....as did many on here, no doubt. I ended with only two RED stocks.....PLTR and HD. I also beat the SP500 today by 1.28%.

MOVING ON UP.

 

The nice day today reduced my YTD loss to only.....(-6.66%).

BUT I just noticed that.......GASP....."666" number. We are probably now pretty much screwed going forward....for a long time. Is the thread now......possessed?

IMAGINE.....we now have....what is it.....7 or 8 GREEN days in a row for the SP500. BOOM.

Imagine if we had 7-8 days in a row that were RED.....the media would be going ballistic. As it is....I just looked and dont see a peep about this......imagine that.

 

I dont know what earnings this writer was seeing today....but....this is not what I got out of the AMZN and AAPL earnings reports today.

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures drift lower as Apple, Amazon results signal trouble ahead

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live...n-results-signal-trouble-ahead-230801485.html

WTF.

 

Oh yes.....I hate to tell them but the futures that I am seeing right now are GREEN for the DOW, GREEN for the SP500, and basically flat/zero for the NASDAQ.

Not that futures matter.

 

As has been happening a lot lately...I will miss a good portion of the morning tomorrow. We have a surgery follow-up visit tomorrow morning.

And I will be missing at times next week......an art event all afternoon on Monday......cataract surgery on Tuesday......surgery follow-up on Wednesday......the studio on Thursday. The next week is just as bad if not worse. I will finally get a break in about 3-4 weeks and somewhat get back to normal.

SO....GET ME OFF TO A GOOD START TOMORROW MORNING.

 

I see mention of....TDS....above. According to AI and GOOGLE:


"TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids, a measurement of the amount of dissolved inorganic and organic materials in a water sample"