Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), two of the biggest tech firms, will post their first quarter 2014 results today, Wednesday, April 23rd after the market close. Analysts are expecting Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to continue its growth trajectory. There has been a substantial increase in the mobile user base and advanced tools of advertisement for the social networker. Though Apple is expected to report rising numbers, analysts are not quite as excited about the numbers.
Facebook to continue with growth
According to consensus analysts estimates, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is expected to record net income of $613 million for the three month period ending March 31, compared to the $312 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Earnings per share are expected to come in at 24 cents after excluding one-time events, which is an increase of 99% from the same quarter, previous year.
Over the past three months, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has followed an aggressive investment strategy by acquiring WhatsApp for $19 billion, in February, and the $2 billion purchase of Oculus VR in March. However, the earnings will not reflect the effect of these acquisitions as none of them are finalized yet. In the first quarter, the social networking site has apparently brought in revenue of $2.4 billion, an increase of 61% from the corresponding quarter last year. Mobile ads would continue to drive growth in the total revenue of Facebook after being a substantial part of revenue, in the past quarter.
Apple results – nothing extraordinary expected
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) expects to post revenue in the range of $42-$44 billion for the March quarter. Taking the mid-point, it’s a year-over-year decline for the first time in almost 10 years. Analysts expect year-over-year decline of 0.2% in revenue to $43.53 billion. The Street estimates earnings per share to fall in the range $9.65 to $10.69. The company expects Gross Margin to come in at 37% or 38% in line with analysts’ estimates of 37.8%. Apple has earned straight profits in the past eight quarters, but income dropped year over year by an average of 3% over the past four quarters.
Last Quarter, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) earned major profits from the launch of iPhone in China and the addition of NTT Docomo in Japan, which helped the iPhone to post its highest-ever quarterly sales of 51 million units. However, in the quarter there might be some drop in the sales numbers of the iPhone and iPad, but some upside might be expected due to Apple-China Mobile deal earlier this year.
