LinkedIn Corporation, AbbVie Inc., and Starbucks Corporation Move Big on Earnings

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While some investors might be anxious to hit the town in their costumes for Halloween tonight, many have all eyes on quarterly reports as another week of earnings season comes to a close.

linkedin corporation abbvie inc starbucks corporation earnings moversBut before donning your costume of choice and spooking out your neighbors, take a look at today’s biggest earnings movers: LinkedIn (LNKD), AbbVie (ABBV) and Starbucks (SBUX).

LinkedIn (LNKD)

LinkedIn stock rocketed higher in the premarket on Friday, soaring as much as 10% after third-quarter results handily topped expectations. It was a welcome reprieve from mediocrity for LNKD stock, which before today’s gains was down about 16% in the last year alone.

The professional social network continues to grow and expand rapidly, with its user base growing 6.1% quarter-over-quarter to 332 million people. Sales surged 45% year-over-year in the third quarter, and earnings per share (excluding certain expenses) came in at 52 cents per share.

LNKD stock beat expectations on both sales and EPS, with the $568 million in revenue topping by $10 million and EPS coming in 5 cents ahead of the 47 cents Wall Street anticipated.

AbbVie (ABBV)

Chicago-based AbbVie also pleasantly surprised investors with third-quarter results, and ABBV stock was up more than 6% in premarket trading as the drugmaker beat on revenue and EPS. Wall Street expected EPS of 77 cents on sales of $4.82 billion, but ABBV had other things planned, clocking $5.02 billion in sales and an EPS of 89 cents.

The beat came on better-than-expected sales of AbbVie’s blockbuster arthritis drug Humira, a trend that should help ABBV stock retain its momentum going forward. The company also boosted its full year EPS guidance significantly from the $3.06 to $3.16 range to the $3.25 to $3.27 range.

Starbucks (SBUX)

Coffee magnate Starbucks wasn’t so lucky as the two preceding stocks on Friday, as shares shed around 4% in premarket trading. With SBUX stock already trailing the return of the S&P 500 by about 9 percentage points in 2014, investors should’ve smelled the desperation this summer when SBUX decided to roll out its autumnal Pumpkin Spice Latte coffee early. Debuting on August 25, the weak performance of the drink contributed to the Seattle business’ disappointing third-quarter sales.

SBUX and its $4.18 billion in sales fell short of Wall Street’s call for $4.24 billion in revenue, sparking CEO Howard Schultz to announce plans for a Starbucks delivery service that will be accessible through its mobile app in certain markets in 2015. It’s encouraging that the company has plans to revamp growth, but SBUX shareholders shouldn’t bet the barn on the vaguely outlined delivery ideas.

As of this writing John Divine held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter at @divinebizkid.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/10/linkedin-corporation-abbvie-inc-starbucks-corporation-earnings-movers/.

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