Earnings season is the heartbeat of the market, and every day brings fresh signals about where money is flowing.
With each report, we learn not just how companies are performing, but how investors are reacting.
In the Daily Beat, we spotlight the most important S&P 500 earnings moves from the prior session: the winners, the losers, and the reactions that reveal what really matters to the market right now.
Whether itโs a bellwether with broad economic implications or a niche name making waves, we cut through the noise to focus on the setups that matter most.
Here are the top beats from the S&P 500 ๐
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Thursday's top beat came from the $94B specialty REIT stock, Equinox $EQIX. After missing headline expectations, shareholders were rewarded with a +7.13 reaction score.
In the 8-K, EQIX posted revenues of $2.42B, missing the expected $2.46B, and earnings per share were $2.69, well below the expected $3.71.
The big positive reactions from Exelon $EXC and Motorola $MSI also stood out to us.
Here are the bottom beats from the S&P 500 ๐
*Click the image to enlarge it
Thursday's bottom beat came from the $296B communication equipment stock, Cisco Systems $CSCO. Despite a big double beat, shareholders suffered a -8.99 reaction score.
CSCO reported revenues of $15.35B, beating the expected $15.11B, and earnings per share of $1.04, beating the expected $1.02.
The beat/beat/drop in Applovin $APP also stood out to us.
Let's talk about what else happened ๐
EQIX had its best earnings reaction in 8 quarters๐ฅ
Equinox had a +10.4% post-earnings reaction, and here's what happened:
During the quarter, gross bookings reached a new all-time high of $474M, up 42% year-over-year.
16 major projects opened across 14 markets since the last earnings call, with 52 major expansion projects underway globally.
In addition to the strong quarter, the management team issued strong forward guidance across the board.
This is one of the hottest growth stories in the entire real estate market, and the market is loving it.
The company is playing a key role in the rollout of AI infrastructure and has some of the world's largest companies as customers.
Not only is the earnings sentiment soaring, but the stock is pressing against the upper bound of a textbook accumulation pattern.
We're expecting EQIX to make a fresh leg higher to new all-time highs soon.
CSCO had its worst earnings reaction since Q2 2022๐ป
Cisco Systems had a -12.3% post-earnings reaction, and here's what happened:
Product orders grew 18% year-over-year, led by strong AI infrastructure and campus networking demand.
As margins tightened, operating cash flow fell 19% year over year.
While the management team's revenue forward guidance was pretty solid, the margin compression is outweighing it.
We highlighted this report in the latest Weekly Beat column, noting that the stock was reclaiming its .com bubble peak ahead of this week's earnings event.
We also noted that after four consecutive quarters of negative year-over-year revenue and EPS growth in 2024, the past four quarters have shown clean top- and bottom-line acceleration.
And the stock has been rewarded for 3 of the last 4 reports.
The market clearly liked what it was seeing...
But earnings sentiment changed significantly yesterday, and it is now a major headwind.
We expect CSCO to consolidate at the .com bubble peak for the foreseeable future.
Happy Friday!
-The Beat Team
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