US Index Futures rose on Wednesday morning, buoyed by quarterly
results and awaiting Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
data. European markets also operate high on Thursday, a day
after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in the United
States and awaiting the decision of the European Central Bank
(ECB).
By 6:58 AM, Dow Jones (DOWI:DJI) futures were up 17 points,
or 0.05%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.55%, while Nasdaq-100
futures were up 1.21%. The 10-year Treasury yield was at
3.867%.
In Europe, investors await the ECB’s decision, at 8:15 am, which
should increase the basic rate by 25 basis points, according to
market consensus, taking interest rates to 4.25%. At 8:45 am,
the president of the institution, Christine Lagarde, will discuss
the decision and should give some indication about the future.
Despite some recent indicators pointing to a slowdown in
inflation and activity in the bloc, the services segment continues
to show resilience, which reinforces the need to increase interest
rates there as a way to contain the increase in costs, both for
families and for the productive sectors.
In Germany, the consumer confidence index stood at -24.4 in
August, slightly below the consensus of -24.7, showing that
pessimism regarding the purchasing power of the population and the
situation in the country has marginally diminished, although it
still persists.
On Thursday’s American economic agenda, investors will follow
the release of the first reading of the US quarterly GDP for June,
at 8:30 am, data for which the consensus forecasts growth of 1.80%,
showing some recovery of the American economy.
Also at 8:30 am, the durable goods orders for June will be
released, as well as wholesale inventories and the weekly
unemployment insurance order. For the latter, the market
consensus is 250,000 new orders. The government is also going
to hold, at 1 pm, an auction of seven-year Treasuries.
In commodities markets, West Texas Intermediate crude for
September is up 0.85% to trade at $79.45 a barrel. Brent crude
for September is up 0.63% near $83.44 a barrel. Iron ore
futures traded in Dalian, China, fell 1.91%, at US$118.75 per
tonne, in a realization movement after a firm rise recorded in
recent days.
By Wednesday’s close, the Dow was up 82.05 points, or 0.23%, to
35,520.12 points, extending its 13-session high streak. The S&P
500 was down 0.71 points, or 0.02%, to 4,566.75 points, and the
Nasdaq Composite fell 17.27 points, or 0.12%, to 14,127.28
points. The yield on the government bond maturing in 2 years
reached more than 10 basis points during the session. Still,
shorter yields, up to one year, rose. This reflected increased
market bets that the Fed might hike the Federal Funds Rate
again. Yesterday’s FOMC decision, as expected, came with a
0.25 pp rise in the FFR, taking it to the 5.25% – 5.50%
range. There didn’t seem to be any doubts in the market about
this decision, what remained to be seen were the Fed’s future
steps.
In this sense, Powell’s speech brought little news. The Fed
chairman has stressed on several occasions that the choice to raise
or hold the rate at the next meeting has not yet been made and that
it will be completely dependent on the data to come, with “greater
emphasis” on the inflation data, although the committee is looking
at the data set.
Ahead of Wednesday’s corporate results, traders await reports
from Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Southwest
(NYSE:LUV), Mastercard (NYSE:MA), Valero (NYSE:VLO), Crocs
(NASDAQ:CROX), Abbvie (NYSE:ABBV), Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)
and Honeywell (NASDAQ:HON), prior to market
opening. Post-close, widely anticipated reports are Intel
(NASDAQ:INTC), Ford (NYSE:F), Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU), First Solar
(NASDAQ:FSLR), T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS), United States Steel
(NYSE:X), among others.
Wall Street Corporate Highlights for Today
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon.com’s cloud
division has attracted thousands of customers to its artificial
intelligence service, competing with Microsoft
(NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). They
announced new AI tools, including Amazon Bedrock, which lets you
build apps with varying AI models, and Agents for Amazon Bedrock,
which builds custom chatbots. The company also launched AWS
HealthScribe for transcribing and analyzing medical
conversations. In other news, Amazon is cutting jobs at its US
Amazon Fresh stores as part of an internal
restructuring. Hundreds of employees have been laid off, but
the company offers the option of looking for new roles within the
company or accepting severance.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) – Netflix is
overhauling its advertising partnership
with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), reducing
guaranteed revenue due to slowing ad growth. The streaming
company also held discussions with other partners to sell ads and
offered better deals. Recently, some advertisers paid between
$39 and $45 per 1,000 viewers. Netflix reported a lackluster
revenue increase last week, sparking concerns about the growth of
its new initiatives.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) – Workplace
messaging Slack is experiencing messaging issues, with thousands of
users reporting difficulties. The company is investigating the
issue and is asking customers to be patient. Tests have
confirmed that messages are not being sent.
Banks – According to a report
by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), US banking
giants can take up to four years to book profits and meet new
capital requirements under new rules known as the “Basel III
endgame”. The largest US lenders,
including Citigroup (NYSE:C)
and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), will need
to fund higher capital requirements within three to four years,
while JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM)
and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) could do
so in less than two years.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) – JPMorgan Chase
will purchase approximately $2 billion in mortgages to facilitate
the merger of PacWest
Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) and Banc of
California (NYSE:BANC). The investment bank
struck a deal to buy $1.8 billion in discounted home
loans. The merger will create a bank with $36 billion in
assets and is expected to close in late 2023 or early 2024.
Santander (NYSE:SAN) – Santander plans to
hire approximately 150 bankers, primarily in the US, as part of its
efforts to expand the investment banking business. Hiring aims
to diversify earnings and double the franchise in the US. The
bank is also taking the opportunity to recruit bankers from Credit
Suisse, with which it is struggling. Nominations will be valid
from September.
Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) – Deutsche Bank
has hired 50 senior bankers to boost its origination and advisory
business at global investment banking as it seeks to weather a
slump in activity. Origination and advisory fees have already
shown signs of picking up, and CEO Christian Sewing predicts a
“significant recovery” in 2024. The company has increased its
administrative headcount by 4%.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) – India’s Jio
Financial Services and BlackRock Inc will form a 50:50 joint
venture to launch asset management services in India, with an
initial investment of US$150 million each. The partnership
will seek to leverage BlackRock’s expertise in investment and risk
management along with Jio’s technological capability to deliver
products digitally. India’s asset management industry has been
growing rapidly, but penetration of investment products is still
low relative to the size of the economy.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) – Mastercard has
ordered financial institutions to cease transacting marijuana on
debit cards, hurting an already marginalized industry in the US
financial system. Marijuana is illegal at the federal level,
although states have legalized its use. The industry fights
for reform such as the SAFE Banking Act.
MaxLinear (NASDAQ:MXL), Silicon
Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) – Chip company
MaxLinear has ended its pending acquisition of Silicon Motion
Technology in a dramatic turnaround. Approval from Chinese
regulators was a major hurdle, and MaxLinear cited unsatisfactory
conditions and an adverse effect on Silicon Motion as reasons for
the cancellation.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) – Seven major
automakers have announced the creation of a new company to provide
electric vehicle charging in the US, competing with Tesla and
seeking the Biden government subsidies. The project aims to
launch 30,000 chargers and support EV growth. The deal, which
could raise antitrust concerns, has the backing of the White House
but will be reviewed by the Justice Department. Tesla has the
largest network of chargers, influencing industry
standards. Automakers face the challenge of catching up and
competing with established companies in the industry.
Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) – Carlos Tavares, head
of Stellantis, stated
that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
profitability is declining as it faces challenges from
competition and actual manufacturing. Tesla went from a
profitability of more than 17% in the first half of 2022 to 10.5%
in the first half of 2023. Tavares pointed out that all automakers,
including Tesla, will face competition from Chinese electric
vehicle manufacturers. Tesla has already cut prices in
response to competitive pressure.
XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) – US-listed shares of
XPeng rose 27% on Wednesday
after Volkswagen (USOTC:VWAGY) said it
would invest $700 million in the Chinese electric vehicle
maker.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) – Lockheed
Martin has won a contract from the US Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a nuclear-powered spacecraft for
exploration and national defense. The project, called DRACO,
aims to advance nuclear thermal propulsion technology to provide
faster transit times between destinations, especially for human
missions to Mars. The demonstration flight into space is
scheduled to take place by 2027.
RTX (NYSE:RTX) – Airline executives are
concerned about new problems with RTX’s Pratt & Whitney
engines, affecting approximately 1,200 engines, which could take up
to 60 days for inspection and repair. The situation also puts
pressure on repair facilities and affects engine
availability. Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ:HA)
warned of possible adjustments to capacity,
while Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) cut
earlier capacity estimates due to a lack of running
engines. JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) also
faces similar problems, and Wizz Air
(USOTC:WZZZY) expects capacity reduction in the first
half, although demand can maintain profitability.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) – Boeing has announced
that the first delivery of the 737 MAX 7 has been postponed to 2024
due to certification issues. The company still expects MAX 7
certification and MAX 10 flight testing in 2023, with the first
delivery of the MAX 10 scheduled for 2024. The delay will affect
carrier Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)
and its planned expansion.
United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) – United
Airlines will reduce about 15 daily flights in Newark in August and
September, affecting less than 4% of travelers. The decision
comes after operational issues and the airline will also
temporarily end service between Honolulu and Newark through
September 4. The FAA has granted waivers to allow flight
reductions at congested airports due to a shortage of air traffic
controllers. United CEO Scott Kirby met with the FAA to
discuss operational issues.
United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) – Sean
O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, reached an interim agreement with UPS after threatening
a multibillion-dollar strike. The deal includes “historic pay
increases” and raises the bar for all workers. O’Brien hopes
to use that success to organize other businesses, including
Amazon’s warehouses.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) –
Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to lay off hundreds of corporate
employees in the US, representing less than 2% of its employees,
due to declining sales of Bud Light and Budweiser in the US, which
it has attributed to a controversial social media promotion
featuring a transgender influencer.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) – Global
consumer products maker Procter & Gamble has withdrawn its
earlier pledge not to buy pulp from degraded forests, sparking
investor discontent. The new policy could put it at odds with
a European Union law against deforestation. Environmental
groups and investors express concerns about its forestry
practices.
Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) – Mattel expects the
“Barbie” movie to boost doll sales in the second half after its
box-office success. The company posted a surprising profit in
the second quarter, boosted by the film. She plans to expand
her movie-related toy line and will release other Disney Princess
and Hot Wheels movies soon. However, the stock fell as
consumers postponed purchases in anticipation of future spending
during the holiday season. Mattel COO Richard Dickson has been
named CEO of Gap (NYSE:GPS) and will
leave the company in August.
Earnings
McDonald’s (MCD, MCDC34) – Sales recovery in
China and the success of the Grimace mascot boosted US visits.
Adjusted earnings per share were $3.17 versus $2.79 expected, and
revenue was $6.5 billion versus $6.27 billion expected. Global
same-store sales increased 11.7%, with the Chinese market driving
growth in internationally operated units. In the U.S., same-store
sales grew 10.3%, and site visits increased for the fourth
consecutive quarter. The company attributed some of this growth to
marketing efforts, such as the Grimace Birthday Meal promotion.
Shell (NYSE:SHEL) – Shell posted a 56%
drop in second-quarter profit to $5 billion due to lower oil and
gas prices and refining profit margins. The company reduced
share buybacks and raised dividends. The lower-than-expected
results followed the high profitability of 2022, driven by the
crisis in Ukraine. Shell plans to invest less in low-return
renewable energy and keep oil production steady. Shell reduced
its debt to $40.3 billion, lowering its debt-to-equity ratio to
17%.
eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) – eBay forecast
third-quarter profit below market expectations due to additional
spending in categories such as auto parts, refurbished goods and
collectibles. Second-quarter revenue was $2.54 billion, versus
expectations of $2.51 billion. Gross merchandise value, a key
industry metric that denotes the total value of goods and services
sold in the marketplace, fell 2% to $18.2 billion in the second
quarter.
Barclays (NYSE:BCS) – Barclays reported
second-quarter net income of $1.68 billion, in line with
expectations, but analysts called the results “modestly
disappointing”. The bank expects to earn lower interest on its
UK division and has announced plans for a share buyback of up to
£750m. Group CEO CS Venkatakrishnan said the expected drop in
net interest margins is due to some customers using their savings
to pay off mortgage loans, which is positive for the bank.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) – The
Luxembourgish steelmaker posted sales of US$18.61 billion in the
second quarter, down 16% from 2022. Quarterly net profit was
US$1.86 billion, down 52% in the year, but exceeded analysts’
expectations. The company forecasts more moderate growth in
global apparent steel consumption, due to factors such as lower
selling prices and higher interest rates in some regions.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) – Meta
announced a strong increase in advertising revenue in the second
quarter, beating Wall Street’s financial targets. The company
also projected third-quarter revenue above market
expectations. However, Target predicted that expenses would
increase in 2023 and 2024 due to costs such as legal fees and
infrastructure spending for the technology sector’s artificial
intelligence race. Shares in Meta were up 7.9% in premarket
Thursday.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) – Shares
in burrito chain Chipotle Mexicana were flat premarket despite
selling below Wall Street expectations. The company reported
adjusted earnings of $12.65 per share on revenue of $2.51
billion. Analysts had expected earnings per share of $12.31
and revenue of $2.53 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) – The
orthodontics company was flat premarket even after reporting
second-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share, beating
estimates of $2.03 per share, according to to
Refinitiv. Revenue for the quarter also beat estimates, and
the full-year revenue outlook was above analyst expectations.
Imax (NYSE:IMAX) – Shares of Imax rose
4.14% premarket after reporting better-than-expected quarterly
results. The entertainment technology company posted adjusted
earnings of 26 cents a share, beating analysts’ forecast of 16
cents, according to Refinitiv. Revenue reached US$98 million,
beating the expected US$86.6 million.
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) – Shares
in data storage company Seagate Technology were flat in premarket
trading. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue hit $1.60 billion,
missing analyst forecasts of $1.68 billion, according to
FactSet.
ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) – The cloud
computing company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of
$2.37 per share, beating estimates of $2.05, and revenue hit $2.15
billion, up of the US$ 2.13 billion expected by
analysts. Additionally, ServiceNow announced the launch of new
generative AI tools.
Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) – Shares in Lam
Research were up 2.8% premarket after the company reported a strong
quarter. Lam posted adjusted earnings of $5.98 a share,
beating estimates by 0.91 cents a share, according to
Refinitiv. Revenue of $3.21 billion also beat expectations of
$3.13 billion. In addition, the company’s financial projection
was also higher than the estimates.
L3 Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) – Shares
in aerospace and defense company L3 Harris Technologies were flat
premarket despite earnings beating expectations. The company
posted adjusted earnings of $2.97 per share on revenue of $4.69
billion and raised its revenue and earnings forecast. Analysts
had forecast earnings per share of $2.94 and revenue of $4.37
billion for the latest quarter, according to
Refinitiv. Meanwhile, shares of Aerojet
Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD) were also flat following news
that the Federal Trade Commission will not block its takeover by
L3Harris.
Takeda Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TAK) –
Japanese company Takeda Pharmaceutical beat analyst estimates with
first-quarter operating profit of $1.2 billion, up 12% driven by
strong drug sales and the launch of dengue vaccine. The
company maintains the operating profit forecast for the year,
despite the losses of drug patents.
Sunnova Energy (NYSE:NOVA) – Shares in
solar energy company Sunnova fell 8% premarket on
lower-than-expected second-quarter financial results. Sunnova
posted a loss of 74 cents a share, greater than the expected loss
of 42 cents a share, according to FactSet. Revenue reached
$166.4 million, compared to expectations of $195.5 million.
Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) – Union Pacific
has named Jim Vena, a former chief operating officer, as its next
CEO, hoping he will solve the rail company’s operational
problems. The change comes after criticisms of the company’s
performance and its operating index. The company’s operating
income fell to $5.96 billion in the second quarter from $6.27
billion a year earlier. Union Pacific posted second-quarter
earnings of $2.54 per share, below the average analyst estimate of
$2.75 per share.
General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) – General
Dynamics raised its annual revenue forecast, driven by continued
demand for business jets and military equipment. The
manufacturer now expects revenue of around $42.45 billion in 2023.
Sales of marine systems and weapons also contributed to the
growth. In the second quarter, total revenue increased 10.5%
to $10.15 billion, beating expectations.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) – Boeing is ramping up
production of the 737, but stabilizing facilities will take time,
even with future increases planned. The company will already
produce 38 jets a month, with plans to increase to 42, but it needs
to ensure stability during growth. In the second quarter,
Boeing achieved free cash flow of $2.58 billion, compared to a cash
burn of $182 million a year earlier. The adjusted loss was 82
cents per share, against an expectation of 88 cents per
share. The company’s revenue rose 18% to $19.75 billion,
beating expectations of $18.45 billion. Boeing reaffirmed its
plans to generate free cash flow of $3 billion to $5 billion this
year, in addition to delivering at least 400 single-aisle 737s and
70 787 Dreamliners in 2023.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) – Coca-Cola raised its
full-year revenue and profit forecasts after better quarterly
results due to higher prices and resilient demand for its soft
drinks despite consumers cutting back on essential
spending. Coca-Cola expects organic revenue growth of 8% to 9%
for the full year. Second-quarter net income attributable to
shareholders was $2.55 billion, or $0.59 per share, up from a year
earlier of $1.91 billion, or $0. .44 per share.
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