ABF, Airbus, Persimmon and Microsoft are amongst the FTSE 350 and other companies reporting earnings for the week of 28 April.
- Associated British Foods is hoping to improve performance at Primark
- Airbus could start to see some turbulence in supply chains
- Microsoft isn’t immune to the trade fallout
- Is AI tech reaping rewards at Meta?
- Tariffs could put a spanner in the works at Apple
- Persimmon’s sitting on solid ground in early 2025.
Associated British Foods, Half Year Results, Tuesday 29 April
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown: Investors will be paying close attention to Associated British Foods’ LON:ABF first-half results next week. The spotlight’s on Primark after it reported a drop in revenue and market share in the UK over the crucial Christmas period. While overseas growth helped to offset this, analysts will be keeping an eye out for any further signs of struggle. Especially amid the growing economic uncertainty stemming from recent US tariff policy. Whether the recently lowered full-year guidance of low single-digit revenue growth remains on track will be a key metric to watch.
ABF also has a host of other food and commodity businesses under its wing to help diversify revenue streams. But it’s the Sugar division that has really caught headlines recently. A sharp fall in sugar prices is set to see underlying operating profits in this cyclical business more than halve, from £199mn to between £50-75mn this year.
Airbus, Q1 Results, Wednesday 30 April
Aarin Chiekrie: Airbus [EURONEXT:AIR] is set to report first-quarter results next week, and markets are keen to hear just how much turbulence tariffs are causing. Guidance to deliver around 820 commercial aircraft in 2025 disappointed markets at the time. And, as expected, early news flow indicates that first-quarter deliveries have got off to a slow start. Tariffs are likely to weigh on production throughout the supply chain, so the delivery target could be lowered at some point in the year.
Investors are also keen to hear how the Defence and Space division is doing. This has been a major source of pain in recent times, but recent write-downs and operational changes look to be the reset needed. And with Europe looking to ramp up its defence spending in the coming years, Airbus will be hoping to benefit from the shifting landscape.
Microsoft, Q3 Results, Wednesday 30 April
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown: The ubiquity of Microsoft’s NASDAQ:MSFT products keeps it in a resilient position amid the tariff-induced turmoil which has hit the tech sector. It is an omnipresent force in homes and businesses around the world. Nevertheless, it’s still not immune to the trade fallout, given that uncertainty is set to make corporates and consumers alike more reticent about signing on the dotted line for new products and services.
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Microsoft is in one of the strongest positions to benefit from the AI revolution, given that artificial intelligence can be integrated into the majority of Microsoft’s existing products. Within Azure, its Cloud services division, demand for AI services has been a big growth area, attracting new clients as Microsoft competes against rivals like Amazon’s AWS. Because of this, it’s set to stay sensitive to concerns about lower demand for AI technology amid the uncertainty. It has already reduced the scale of some data centre projects in the US and Europe, and any hint of a further reduction in demand could lead to further volatility in the share price.
Meta, Q1 Results, Wednesday 30 April
Susannah Streeter: Meta NASDAQ:META has been a big spender when it comes to AI investments, so the pressure is on to show the technology is reaping rewards. Although Meta is still expected to post solid top line growth, investors may still baulk at how much it’s pouring into artificial intelligence ventures. There will also be concern about the extent to which the tariff war could hurt its revenues.
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Big Chinese retailers, such as the fast fashion giants, Temu and Shein, have been hugely helpful buyers of adverts targeting US consumers, but given the onerous duties now imposed, they will lose their competitive edge and may decide it’s a market not worth going after. Given that Meta has become increasingly reliant on China for its ad sales growth, investors will be keen to find out the extent to which the company could be affected in the coming months, and how Meta hopes to mitigate the effects.
Apple, Q2 Results, Thursday 1 May
Susannah Streeter: There have been high hopes that Apple’s NASDAQ:AAPL new AI features in its phones would power a rush of sales, but Trump’s tariff plans look set to put a spanner in the works. Full year revenue expectations are edging down, given the upset US trade policy is provoking. Although Apple managed to wriggle out of the worst of the tariff moves, with Trump having excluded smartphones and other electronics goods from super-high tariffs on Chinese imports, the company is likely to be bracing for a bite to be taken out of sales.
- What we learned from last week’s Big Tech earnings marathon
- Five things you need to know about this week’s mega tech stock earnings
There is still uncertainty about what the future will hold, given that the exemptions may still be temporary, especially as Trump ultimately wants more phone manufacturing to be based in the US. Given that the furore has also knocked consumer confidence around the world, shoppers may still be more cautious about spending big on little devices in the months ahead, whatever AI promises are dangled.
Apple still boasts enviable brand power, but iPhone sales have underwhelmed in the US, due to fewer upgrades than hoped. Growing hardware sales is also crucial to propel growth in Apple’s Services segment. With competition in key markets, especially China, increasing, Apple could still be facing crunch time in terms of growth.
Persimmon, Q1 Trading Statement, Thursday 1 May
Aarin Chiekrie: Persimmon LON:PSN looked to be sitting on fairly solid ground last we heard, reporting double-digit revenue and profit growth in 2024. Recent industry data and reports from peers have been positive, with demand holding up well. That’s underpinning the group’s expectation to complete more homes this year, somewhere in the 11,000-11,500 range – up around 5.5% at the midpoint.
Being a UK-focused name, US-led tariffs are expected to have little direct impact on Persimmon. Helped by improved buyer demand and a tight grip on costs, further improvements in profitability are expected this year. Markets are still pointing to full-year pre-tax profit growth of around 14% to £433mn, and investors are keen to hear just how much progress has been made towards this benchmark when first quarter results are released next week.
This article has been brought to you in association with Hargreaves Lansdown. All opinions expressed in this article are from the analysts and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Armchair Trader.
FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and selected other companies scheduled to report
| Friday 25-Apr | |
| Evoke [LON:EVOK] | Trading Statement |
| Monday 28-Apr | |
| Elixirr LON:ELIX | Final Results |
| Frenkel Topping LON:FEN | Final Results |
| Mpac LON:MPAC | Final Results |
| Tuesday 29-Apr | |
| Alfa Financial Software LON:ALFA | Q1 Trading |
| Animalcare LON:ANCR | Final Results |
| Associated British Foods LON:ABF | Half Year Results |
| AstraZeneca LON:AZN | Q1 Results |
| Beazley LON:BEZ | Q1 Trading |
| BP LON:BP. | Q1 Results |
| Breedon LON:BREE | Trading Statement |
| Coca-Cola NYSE:KO | Q1 Results |
| Coca-Cola Europacific LON:CCH | Q1 Trading |
| Elementis LON:ELM | Trading Statement |
| Entain LON:ENT | Q1 Trading |
| Focusrite LON:TUNE | Interim Results |
| Howden Joinery LON:HWDN | Trading Statement |
| HSBC LON:HSBA | Q1 Results |
| PayPal NASDAQ:PYPL | Q1 Results |
| Pfizer NYSE:PFE | Q1 Results |
| Pod Point LON:PODP | Final Results |
| Touchstar LON:TST | Final Results |
| Travis Perkins LON:TPK | Q1 Trading |
| Visa NYSE:V | Q1 Trading |
| Warpaint London LON:W7L | Final Results |
| Wednesday 30-Apr | |
| Aberdeen LON:ABDN | Q1 Trading |
| Airbus [EURONEXT:AIR] | Q1 Results |
| Aston Martin Lagonda LON:AML | Q1 Results |
| Barclays LON:BARC | Q1 Results |
| Caterpillar NYSE:CAT | Q1 Results |
| Coca Cola HBC LON:CCH | Q1 Results |
| Glencore LON:GLEN | Q1 Production |
| GSK LON:GSK | Q1 Results |
| Haleon [LON:HAL] | Q1 Trading |
| Meta NASDAQ:META | Q1 Results |
| Microsoft NASDAQ:MSFT | Q3 Results |
| OSB LON:OSB | Q1 Trading |
| PPHE Hotel LON:PPH | Q1 Trading |
| Prudential LON:PRU | Q1 Results |
| Segro LON:SGRO | Q1 Trading |
| Smith & Nephew LON:SN. | Q1 Trading |
| Spectris LON:SXS | Q1 Trading |
| Taylor Wimpey LON:TW. | Trading Statement |
| Thursday 01-May | |
| Amazon NASDAQ:AMZN | Q1 Results |
| Apple NASDAQ:AAPL | Q2 Results |
| Cameco TSX:CCO | Q1 Results |
| Eli Lilly NYSE:LLY | Q1 Results |
| Endeavour Mining [LON:EDV] | Q1 Results |
| Hiscox LON:HSX | Q1 Trading |
| Lancashire LON:LRE | Q1 Trading |
| London Stock Exchange LON:LSEG | Q1 Trading |
| Lloyds LON:LBG | Q1 Results |
| Mastercard NYSE:MA | Q1 Results |
| Morgan Sindall LON:MGNS | Half Year Trading |
| McDonald’s NYSE:MCD | Q1 Results |
| Persimmon LON:PSN | Q1 Trading |
| Whitbread LON:WTB | Full Year Results |
| Friday 02-May | |
| Chevron NYSE:CVX | Q1 Results |
| NatWest LON:NWG | Q1 Results |
| Pearson LON:PSON | Q1 Trading |
| Shell LON:SHEL | Q1 Results |
| Standard Chartered LON:STAN | Q1 Results |
