Fast Money Blog- 2/16/24
This was another busy week on Wall Street.
The Coca-Cola Company (KO) reported Q4 2023 earnings on Tuesday, February 13.
The company posted revenue of $10.8 billion, up 7% year-over-year.
Unit volume world-wide, year-over-year, broke down like this:
Sparkling soft drinks unit volume increased 2%.
Their trademark Coca-Cola reported 2% growth in unit volume.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar saw unit volume rise 4%.
Unit volumes for juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverages were up 6%.
Of note, Coca-Cola offers a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, and has raised their dividends for over 61 consecutive years.
KO has proven itself over time and this stock works best for covered call writing in your retirement account.
The overall Consumer Price Index was up 3.1% year-over-year, which was down from 3.4% in December.
However, after stripping out food and fuel, which bounce around in price from month to month, “core” prices held roughly steady on an annual basis, climbing 3.9% from a year earlier. This measure rose by the most in eight months on a monthly basis.
As an investor and stock market trader the CPI report will always be noteworthy but not necessary for success.
On Thursday, February 15th, Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT), reported outstanding Q1 2024 earnings with top-line revenue of $6.71 billion, flat year over year.
However, the data points listed below caused the stock to jump over 8% on Friday:
Their Applied Global Services segment, which provides equipment installation, warranty, and maintenance support for their manufacturing technologies, grew 8% in the quarter, year-over-year.
Free cash flow improved significantly from the previous quarter, coming in at $2.33 billion.
Revenue guidance for the next quarter also came in ahead of consensus.
It's worth noting that AMAT distributed $966 million to shareholders, including $700 million in share repurchases and $266 million in dividends.
Applied Materials manufactures the type of next-generation chips with better performance, power, and cost, that will be the driving force to unleash the potential of the high demand of AI.
In this market, and under these conditions, I think AMAT is an excellent stock to trade.
Stay Open! Stay Positive!
Tyrone Jackson
The Wealthy Investor