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Wall Street JournalZacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Boston Scientific, Meta Platforms and Microsoft
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 2, 2025 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Boston Scientific BSX, Meta Platforms META and Microsoft MSFT.
These 3 Stocks Soared Following Quarterly Results
The 2025 Q1 earnings cycle is in full swing, with many companies on the docket to reveal quarterly results in the coming weeks.
Guidance is a key factor in this cycle, more so than we’ve seen in recent periods due to the overall level of uncertainty brought about by recent tariff announcements and other economic developments.
So far, several companies, including Boston Scientific, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, have all delivered positive results, with each seeing a bullish share reaction post-earnings. Let’s take a closer look at the positivity.
BSX Raises Guidance
Boston Scientific exceeded both top and bottom line expectations handily, delivering a strong 12% EPS beat alongside sales that were 2.3% ahead of expectations. Upgraded current-year guidance has provided a notably bullish outlook, with the stock also now sporting a coveted Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Analysts have adjusted their current year sales and EPS expectations accordingly following the favorable print, with BSX expected to see 16% EPS growth on 17% higher sales. The stock sports a Style Score of ‘B’ for Value.
Strong segment performance has aided the company’s bright outlook, leading to the above-mentioned guidance upgrade in an overall uncertain environment.
Meta Ad Revenue Remains Robust
Meta Platforms continued to fire on all cylinders throughout its latest period, again exceeding our consensus EPS and sales expectations handily and posting strong growth. Sales grew an impressive 16% year-over-year thanks to strong Advertising results, which totaled a solid $41.3 billion.
Notably, the company’s average price per ad climbed 10% year-over-year, with its family daily active people (DAP) also seeing a 6% move higher year-over-year. The company’s user base growth has continued to be outstanding, providing many clear benefits.
Microsoft Cloud Impresses
Concerning headline figures in Microsoft’s release, EPS of $3.46 and sales of $70.0 billion both handily exceeded our consensus expectations, continuing its recent streak of better-than-expected results. Sales grew an impressive 13% year-over-year, whereas EPS climbed 18%.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft Cloud and AI strength drove the strong results, with Microsoft Cloud revenue soaring 20% year-over-year to $42.4 billion. Demand has remained strong for the tech titan, with commentary alluding to the trend remaining for years to come.
Importantly, its Intelligent Cloud (includes Azure) revenue totaled a strong $26.8 billion, up 21% from the year-ago period. The Intelligent Cloud results snapped a small streak of misses on the metric.
Bottom Line
The 2025 Q1 cycle continues to roll along, with all three stocks above seeing a nice move higher following their respective quarterly releases.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).