Diamonds and Dogs

4/30/19

The golden arches shining brightly. McDonalds (MCD) is trading up 2% at new all-time highs following better than expected earnings. McDonald's is benefitting from menu additions like the new two for $5 deal, tweaking their breakfast menu to add donut sticks, and offering apple wood smoked bacon with a selection of its burgers and breakfast sandwiches. International operations also boosted business with 6% comparable sales growth led by the U.K. and France.

Google/Alphabet (GOOG) is down 8%, its worst one day drop in seven years, following earnings. The search-engine giant posted underwhelming results for the quarter. It generated $36.3 billion in revenue in the period, a rise of 16.7% from the same quarter last year and its slowest growth in four years. Wall Street had been expecting Alphabet to report revenue of $37.3 billion. Despite all its diversification, Google's advertising revenue, which rose 15.4% YoY in the first quarter, still accounts for 84.6% of its overall revenue. The company's ad business is now facing stiff competition not only from Facebook but also from Amazon, which has a booming ad business, among other companies.