AMD, Arista and Booking: after-hours moves tracked guidance more than beats
AMD, Arista Networks and Booking Holdings all beat second-quarter estimates. After-hours prices still split on guidance: AMD fell 8.8 per cent, Arista hit a record, Booking rose.
Economics & Markets··Midday
AMD beat estimates, then fell 8.8 per cent after hours
AMD reported 11.54 billion dollars of second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings of 1.66 dollars per share, against estimates of 11.28 billion dollars and 1.61 dollars. Guidance of about 13 billion dollars for third-quarter revenue also topped the 12.52 billion dollar consensus. According to Benzinga, the stock had risen 7 per cent to 518.58 dollars in Tuesday's session before the report, then fell 8.8 per cent to 472.94 dollars after hours. Daniel Newman of Futurum Group tied the drop to expectations, saying the market had wanted a far stronger guide resting on Helios. Shipments of Helios, the rack-scale artificial-intelligence system, are only beginning, with volume expected to ramp in the fourth quarter. Capital spending rose from 389 million dollars to 808 million dollars.[1]
Arista hit a high; Booking guided low and still rose
The same evening Arista Networks reported 3.04 billion dollars of second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings of 1.02 dollars per share, against estimates of 2.82 billion dollars and 0.89 dollars. Revenue grew 37.7 per cent year on year and passed 3 billion dollars for the first time. Third-quarter revenue guidance of about 3.3 billion dollars beat the 2.94 billion dollar consensus; adjusted earnings guidance of 1.06 to 1.08 dollars a share beat the 0.91 dollar consensus. The stock rose 7.68 per cent after hours to 205.51 dollars, an all-time high above the 114.52 to 194.35 dollar range of the past twelve months. Chairperson and chief executive Jayshree Ullal said customers see networking as the central nervous system for infrastructure from client to campus to data and artificial-intelligence centres. Booking Holdings reported second-quarter revenue of 7.35 billion dollars against estimates of 7.20 billion dollars, and adjusted earnings of 2.54 dollars a share against estimates of 2.45 dollars. Revenue rose 8 per cent year on year, room nights 5 per cent and gross bookings 9 per cent. The company generated about 3.7 billion dollars of operating cash flow and 3.6 billion dollars of free cash flow, repurchased 3.7 billion dollars of stock and ended with 17.2 billion dollars of cash and cash equivalents. It guided third-quarter revenue to 9.37 billion to 9.55 billion dollars, below the 9.71 billion dollars analysts had estimated. Shares were up 6.26 per cent after hours at 206.43 dollars at publication.[2], [3]
Three companies, three after-hours paths: guidance as the shared axis
All three releases beat second-quarter estimates and were priced in the same after-hours window. At AMD both the quarter and the third-quarter guide sat above consensus, yet the 8.8 per cent after-hours drop was read, as Benzinga reported, against a stronger Helios-linked guide the market had wanted. At Arista both the printed quarter and the forward guide cleared estimates; the stock rose 7.68 per cent to an all-time high. At Booking the quarter and cash generation were strong while the third-quarter revenue range sat below the 9.71 billion dollar analyst estimate; after-hours shares still rose 6.26 per cent. The reported quarter alone did not set after-hours direction. What investors punished or rewarded sat in the forward numbers: a Helios-tied guide reading at AMD, third-quarter revenue and earnings bands at Arista, and at Booking both the buyback-and-cash print and the soft third-quarter range. The three firms sit in different businesses — semiconductors, networking hardware, online travel — yet the after-hours split still centres the evening on guidance above the printed beat.[1], [2], [3]
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