Good Evening! Following robust quarterly results from Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL), which started off a massive tech earnings extravaganza this week, U.S. equities closed neutral on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 fell 0.38%. The Dow Jones dropped by 0.68%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.47%, paring earlier gains, after tech titans Microsoft and Alphabet reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue
AD REVENUE COMING BACK?
Meta (META) disclosed first-quarter earnings that were above expectations after the market closed, and the business also upped its outlook for the current quarter. In after-hours trading, Facebook and Instagram parent company shares rose 11%.
- Revenue: $28.65 Billion vs. $27.67 Billion Expected
- Ad Revenue: $28.1 Billion vs. $26.76 Billion Expected
- Earnings Per Share: $2.20 vs. $2.01 Expected
Ad Revenue coming back strong! Meta’s Family of Apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, saw a 26% increase in ad impressions year-over-year, contributing to the company’s ad revenue beat.
Update on expenses. In October, the company projected 2023 expenses to range between $96 billion and $101 billion. In the announcement, the company stated that it now expects expenses for this year, including restructuring costs, to range between $86 billion and $90 billion.
WAIT WHAT?
According to recent research, the labeling of sleepy-time candies (melatonin) typically overstates the amount of melatonin they contain.
How bad can it be? The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, discovered that 22 of the 25 melatonin products studied by researchers had incorrect labeling that often underestimated the quantity of melatonin they contained. One of them contained 347% of the specified quantity of melatonin.
If you are an adult then extra melatonin is generally nothing to be worried about. However, higher quantities of melatonin may be harmful to children’s health.
- According to a CDC study last year, the frequency of pediatric melatonin ingestions reported to poison control increased by 530% between 2012 and 2021. Over 4,000 children were hospitalized as a result of the 260,000+ incidences documented, five needed mechanical ventilation, and two died.
So, what can be done? Both industry representatives and the FDA agree that the dietary supplement industry requires a regulatory makeover. Supplement manufacturers are not required by current US legislation to undertake clinical studies or gain FDA clearance before placing their supplements on the market. Meanwhile, melatonin is only available with a prescription in the EU, the UK, Canada, and other countries.