In this article, we will take a look at the 10 best Q3 earnings reports that crushed estimates. To see more such companies, go directly to 5 Best Q3 Earnings Reports That Crushed Estimates.
The third quarter earnings season boosted investors’ hopes that the recession that we all were hearing about since long might not come after all, thanks to strong consumer spending and the resilient state of economy. Analysts were already expecting a strong third quarter earnings season. In an October report, the Wall Street Journal said that industry estimates suggested that on average the S&P 500 companies were expected to report earnings that were 1.3% higher than a year earlier. This was a huge improvement when compared to the second quarter of this year when earnings on average declined by 2.8%.
Another WSJ report earlier this month shared data from FactSet which said that the S&P 500 companies were on a path to report a 3.7% rise in earnings for the year’s third quarter. The report said that this was the first such increase since the third quarter of the last year.
An important trend to note here is that so far the companies that are beating earnings estimates are overwhelmingly from the consumer discretionary and communication services sectors. Companies like Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) and Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) have all been saying in their earnings calls that the consumer sentiment and spending remains strong.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) management in its latest earnings call repeatedly said that the company continues to see a strong demand:
“Demand for Starbucks remains strong around the world. Here in the U.S., our largest market, we saw momentum sustain throughout the quarter. Revenue for the quarter was up a record 12%, underpinned by 8% comps. We had a remarkable fall launch that led to record-breaking average weekly sales. Our 90-day active Starbucks Rewards members reached a new record this quarter of nearly 33 million 90-day active members, and setting records in spend per member and total member spend.
Customers remain loyal to their favorite four menu classics that have stood the test of time, including the Pumpkin Spice Latte, which celebrated its 20th anniversary. In addition to very strong performance in our core offerings, we also have strong performance with new offerings, including our Apple-inspired beverages and food items. The results from the quarter, including the dynamic way we are driving ticket growth, give us great confidence in our menu innovation on both an individual product overall portfolio level. We have proven that complementary yet competing products and flavors can successfully coexist, such as pumpkin and Apple, with the right menu innovation, marketing mix, and strategic pricing strategies. As customer demands have evolved, we’ve delivered more beverages, food, and personalization and customization across existing and new formats to meet their expectations and grow the business.”
Our Methodology
For this article we analyzed several earnings reports and picked 10 important companies which beat EPS and revenue estimates for the third quarter of 2023. We tried to pick important companies that are often market movers.
Best Q3 Earnings Reports That Crushed Estimates
10. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) absolutely shined with its Q3 earnings. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR)’s adjusted EPS in the quarter came in at $0.07 beating estimates by $0.01. Revenue in the period jumped about 16.8% year over year to $558 million, beating estimates by $2.08 million. For the fourth quarter Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) expects its revenue to come in the range of $599 million and $603 million, better than the consensus estimate of $599.26 million.
As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 39 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR). The biggest stakeholder of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) was Catherine D. Wood’s ARK Investment Management which owns a $151 million stake in the company.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) talked in detailed about its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) and its AI-related platforms in Q3 earnings call.
“We’re on track to conduct boot camps for more than 140 organizations by the end of November, nearly half of those are taking place this month alone, which is more than the number of U.S. commercial pilots we conducted all of last year.
In these boot camps, our customers attack problems that have immediate impact and learn how to deploy AI into their unique operating environment in a matter of days. Our customers’ results speak for themselves. One attendee said that we achieved more in one day for them with AIP than one of the top three hyperscalers had accomplished over the last four months, and then presented their work with Palantir instead of the hyperscaler to the CEO the very next day. Another attendee said, we basically built 10x faster with 3x less resources, and yet another claimed, we have built in a day what they wouldn’t be able to get internally in months, and then it probably still wouldn’t meet the requirements. AIP is being used for a multitude of workflows at customers across the globe.
Just a few examples include the following: our partners in the health care space, including Tampa General, HCA and Cleveland Clinic, are using AIP for dynamic scheduling, turning software from a place of data entry into a provider of operating leverage. Aramark is using AI to procure more efficiently, generating custom proactive negotiating strategies. Panasonic North America is using AIP to scale its workforce and accelerate how quickly new engineers can level up. Eaton is using AIP to more efficiently deploy fixes by identifying available materials across different plants or assembly patterns. Carrefour Brazil is increasing the fill rate of online grocery orders with higher accuracy. The energy and engagement around AIP is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”
Read the full earnings call transcript here.
9. Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57
Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) smashed Wall Street’s estimates for Q3 earnings and revenue as the company saw a boost in financials thanks to a global surge in travel demand. Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)’s adjusted EPS in the third quarter came in at $5.41 surpassing estimates by $0.41. Revenue in the quarter increased by 8.6% year over year to $3.93 billion, surpassing estimates by $70 million.
Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) also announced its board approved a new $5 billion share repurchase program.
Patient Capital Management made the following comment about Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“At Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), we believe the market is underappreciating the company’s transformation. Over the past few years, the company has prioritized its top three brands (expedia.com, hotels.com, vrbo.com), successfully implemented a single technology stack, and officially rolled out OneKey their combined loyalty program, across all brands. With strong free cash flow generation, the company continues to buy back their stock, creating a positive flywheel of shareholder return.”
8. Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 62
Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) shares jumped in October after the company posted strong Q3 results. Earnings per share in the quarter came in at $0.01 beating estimates by $0.04. Revenue jumped about 11.5% year over year to $763.2 million, beating estimates by $19.87 million.
In the third quarter Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)’s global monthly users increased by 8% year over year to 482 million.
For the last quarter of 2023, Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) expects its revenue growth to come in the range of 11-13%.
ClearBridge Multi Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:
“The addition of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS), a social media platform for visual discovery which allows users to find ideas and inspiration, also acts to diversify our traditional media exposure. We believe the company is poised to take share in the large and growing market for online advertising. Under the direction of new CEO Bill Ready, we see levers for improved user engagement and monetization. While relatively new to the company, we are encouraged by Ready’s track record in prior company roles as well as early signs of progress from his efforts. Pinterest is profitable on a non-GAAP basis today, but we also see opportunities for meaningful margin expansion as revenue scales.”
7. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) investors are finally having a sigh of relief as the company begins to see positive effects of a turnaround in the PC market. Last month Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) posted Q3 results, surpassing both EPS and revenue estimates. Adjusted EPS in the quarter came in at $0.41, beating estimates by $0.19. Revenue in the quarter fell 7.7% year over year to $14.16 billion, beating estimates by $560 million.
For the fourth quarter Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) expects its revenue to come in the range of $14.6 billion to $15.6 billion versus the consensus estimate of $14.35 billion.
6. Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74
Canadian ecommerce technology platform company Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) ranks 6th in our list of the companies that recently crushed Q3 estimates for earnings. Adjusted EPS of Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) in the third quarter came in at $0.24 beating estimates by $0.10. Revenue in the quarter increased by 24.8% year over year to $1.71 billion, surpassing estimates by $40 million.
Gross Merchandise Volume, or GMV, increased by 22% in the period to total $56.2 billion.
Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)’s management talked in detail about Q4 guidance and future expectations during Q3 earnings call:
“Our expectations for the rest of the year are as follows, first on revenue. We expect revenue for the full year to grow to mid-20s percentage rate on a year-over-year basis, driven by fourth quarter revenue growth in the high-teens on a GAAP basis, which translates into a year-over-year growth rate in the low- to mid-20s, when excluding the 400 to 500 basis points impact from the sale of our logistics business.
Our expectations for growth in Q4 reflect the continued strength of our business and the year-over-year growth rate reflects a tougher comparison to Q4 of last year, which was our highest quarterly growth rate last year and included particularly strong Black Friday, Cyber Monday weekend. Q4 gross margin percentage is expected to be up 300 to 400 basis points over Q4 of last year, with a clear driver being the removal of the dilutive margin impact of our logistics business, which was itself approximately 300 to 400 basis points. Excluding that impact on logistics, Q4 gross margin is expected to be flat year-over-year. Other key factors contributing to our Q4 gross margin expectations are the benefit of the price increase in our standard pricing, which is offset by higher expected payments volume and penetration.”
Read the full earnings call transcript here.
Here is what Baron Global Advantage Fund has to say about Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“Shopify Inc. is a cloud-based software provider for multi-channel commerce. Shares gave back some of their strong performance from the first half of 2023, declining 15.5% on the back of rising concerns related to the health of the consumer and the expansion of TikTok and Temu into the U.S. While we are cognizant of these near-term risks, we believe that Shopify will continue to benefit from its position as the commerce operating system for its merchants. Rather than replacing Shopify, various selling channels, including TikTok, are managed within the platform, which should enable Shopify to maintain its competitive advantage over the long term. During the quarter, Shopify announced an agreement with Amazon that will allow merchants to offer Buy with Prime within the Shopify ecosystem, enabling Shopify to act as the payments provider for these transactions and alleviating a key concern. Lastly, the company also reported strong financial results, including 17% year-over-year gross merchandise volume growth, 31% revenue growth, and consensus-beating non-GAAP operating income that outpaced estimates by over $90 million. We remain shareholders due to Shopify’s strong competitive positioning, innovative culture, and long runway for growth, as it still holds less than a 2% share of the global commerce market.”
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Disclosure: None. 10 Best Q3 Earnings Reports That Crushed Estimates is originally published on Insider Monkey.
