Boeing delivered another bad quarter as the company is handling the fallout from the 737 Max crisis. The company delivered negative $2.7bn in free cash flow on top of the almost negative $4bn free cash flow in the two previous quarters. Given the uncertain situation around Boeing estimates for 2020 almost seem too positive and we wonder whether the market is reflecting the downside risks still present.
Facebook delivered in Q4 against expectations but investors were still disappointed and the media was immediately ready with headlines such as “growth concerns” which we have seen before. Facebook still has the leading position in online advertising and still years ahead with high growth and monetization of other key assets such as Instagram.
Microsoft delivered 14% revenue growth in Q4 and net income rose a new record at $11.5bn with the cloud business driving the results. Microsoft has a 3.5% free cash flow yield and is expected to grow revenue at +10% annualized rate for the next couple of years as more corporate customers are shifting to the cloud business.
Overall the Q4 earnings from the US is a tale of technology companies delivering driving overall profit growth in the S&P 500.