Thematic Spotlight: Big Tech Submit Their 2024 Report Cards

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of volatility, with tariffs, trade tensions, and geopolitical risks dominating headlines. In such an environment, corporate earnings often take a backseat, but it’s important to cut through the noise and focus on the fundamentals. The Q4 2024 earnings season is now in full swing, with more than half of the S&P 500 having reported.¹ Leading the charge are the world’s largest companies—the so-called FANGs—which have mostly handed in their full-year report cards. Only Nvidia remains, set to release its results on February 26.² With that in mind, let’s break down the key takeaways from Big Tech earnings so far.

Netflix was the first of the group to report and the streaming service certainly put on a show. The company soared to a record high after its earnings thanks to its biggest quarterly subscriber gain in history, helped by live sports events and the second season of international phenomenon Squid Game.³ Netflix also grew its revenue by 16% to US$10.2 billion for the quarter and projected strong revenue growth for 2025.

Meta was next on the reporting line. After taking a hit from the DeepSeek reveal, the social media company excited investors by forecasting that 2025 would be a “really big year” for its AI services. Financially, the company reported Q4 sales of US$48.4 billion and US$8.02 earnings-per-share (EPS), both beating Wall Street expectations.⁴

Microsoft stock fell 6% on its quarterly release despite outperforming analyst expectations in both earnings and revenue – US$3.2 per share and US$69.6 billion respectively.⁵ Investors were more concerned over the company’s projected slowdown in its cloud-computing growth engine. Microsoft blamed the slower growth on its lack of data centres, which the company is now focusing on building to better handle demand for its AI products.

After a year of geopolitical concerns, Apple investors were soothed by a strong revenue forecast for Q1 2025. The company narrowly beat revenue and earnings expectations, reporting US$124.3 billion in sales and US$2.4 in EPS, despite a 11% decline in revenue from China.⁶

Google and Amazon were the most recent earnings reporters, but the two companies couldn’t have had more different results to share. Google struggled to hit revenue expectations but just barely met earnings forecasts.⁷ The company reported sales of US$81.6 billion and US$2.2 in EPS. Meanwhile, Amazon matched Wall Street’s sales estimates and smashed their earning expectations. The e-commerce giant reported US$187.8 billion in revenue and US$1.9 in EPS.⁸ However, investors showed some caution after the company reported similar issues to Microsoft, citing slower AWS growth due to data centre constraints.

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^{Forecasts are not guaranteed and undue reliance should not be placed on them. This information is based on views held by Global X as at  11/02/2025. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Diversification does not ensure a profit nor guarantee against a loss.}

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^{This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results. This information is not intended to be individual or personalised investment or tax advice and should not be used for trading purposes. Please consult a financial advisor or tax professional for more information regarding your investment and/or tax situation.}