Monday’s Wall Street Highlights: Alibaba, Tesla, Kenvue, Boeing, and more

US index futures are higher in pre-market trading on Monday, even with continued uncertainty about the global economy. The week will be marked by the monetary decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) and American inflation data, influencing Federal Reserve’s decisions.

At 6:53 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) rose 71 points, or 0.20%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.36% and Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.55%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 4.296%.

On Monday’s U.S. economic agenda, investors are awaiting the consumer monthly inflation expectation index at 11:00 AM. If the data appears balanced, Fed might keep interest rates in the range of 5.25% to 5.50% next week and delay a decision to increase them until November, in order to consider indicators over a longer horizon. Later, at 1:00 PM, the government will hold a Treasuries auction with a three-year maturity.

Last week, European indicators, such as the PMIs, which assess the activity of various sectors, suggested that the ECB might keep its interest rate at 4.25% annually, despite rising inflation. The decision on the rate will be revealed on Thursday.

In Asia, markets had mixed performances, observing possible movements by the Bank of Japan in relation to interest rates and Chinese inflation, which registered an increase of 0.30% in August, as expected.

Recent Chinese indicators point to an unstable economic recovery, even with stimulus to encourage the sector. Following this line of stimulus, Chinese financial authorities on Sunday reduced the risk rating for insurance companies’ investments in shares of large companies and technology, as well as in real estate funds, aiming to boost the stock market.

As for Japan, Kazuo Ueda, leader of the Bank of Japan, mentioned in an interview with Yomiuri that the suspension of the current negative interest rate policy could be considered if there is sustainable growth in wages and prices.

In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for October fell 0.55% to $87.03 per barrel. Brent crude oil for November fell 0.28% to US$90.40 per barrel. Iron ore with a concentration of 62% rose 2.41%, to close at US$ 116.48.

At Friday’s close, Dow Jones rose 75.86 points or 0.22% to 34,576.59 points. S&P 500 rose 6.35 points or 0.14% to 4,457.49. Nasdaq Composite rose 12.69 points or 0.09% to 13,761.53 points. Last week, Dow Jones fell 0.8%, S&P 500 fell 1.3%, and Nasdaq fell 1.9%. Anticipation that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates again has investors wary. Despite this, after consistent declines in August, assets showed signs of improvement.

Ahead of Monday’s corporate earnings, investors are watching reports from FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Bowlero Corp (NYSE:BOWL). After the market closes, results from Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), Casey’s (NASDAQ:CASY), Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO), Skillsoft (NYSE:SKIL), Bioceres (NASDAQ:BIOX) and Matrix Service Company (NASDAQ:MTRX) will be awaited.

Wall Street Corporate Highlights for Today

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Apple shares rose 0.76% in pre-market trading ahead of the company’s annual fall event called “Wonderlust” this year. The launch of the iPhone 15 is expected to be the highlight. The main change to the device should be the transition from Apple’s exclusive Lightning connectors to the common USB-C port. In other recent news, Apple supported a California bill for large companies to annually disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. Proposed by Senator Scott Wiener, the project applies to companies with annual revenues above US$1 billion. Other companies, such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), have also expressed support.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Alphabet rose 0.3% as the Department of Justice moves toward adjudicating the three-year antitrust case against Google starting Tuesday. The DOJ maintains that the Alphabet division maintains an illegal dominance in the online search sector.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) – Meta Platforms is developing AI to surpass the OpenAI model, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Facebook parent company’s new system, scheduled for 2024, aims to be more advanced than Llama 2, competing with ChatGPT and Bard.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) – Nvidia has formed AI partnerships with Reliance Industries and Tata Group in India to develop cloud solutions and generative applications. These collaborations strengthen Nvidia’s position in India as it faces export restrictions in the US.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) – This week, Congress will hold three hearings on artificial intelligence, featuring leaders from Microsoft and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). The legislation seeks to mitigate AI risks, promoting transparency and consumer protection. CEOs of Meta (NASDAQ:META) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will also participate in separate discussions.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) – Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer could increase Tesla’s market capitalization by $600 billion, according to Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). Started in July, Dojo aims to advance AI for self-driving cars. Analyst Adam Jonas upgraded Tesla to “Buy” from “Hold” with a price target of $400 per share.

Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) – Alibaba shares fell 4% in Hong Kong following the resignation of former CEO Daniel Zhang, prompting concerns about the spin-off of the cloud unit. New CEO Eddie Wu takes over on an interim basis ahead of a planned IPO of Alibaba’s cloud unit. Analysts fear disagreements among Alibaba’s leaders. The restructuring of the cloud unit will continue. The Hong Kong initial public offering of its supermarket chain Freshippo has been suspended due to weak market sentiment. Valued at US$4 billion, below initial expectations, the company is waiting for more favorable market conditions.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) – Roblox will launch its platform on Sony‘s PlayStation devices (NYSE:SONY) in October and on Meta‘s Quest (NASDAQ:META) this month. Roblox plans to be available on AR/VR, mobile and desktop devices. With 66 million daily users, the company is also looking to expand its offerings and tools, including an AI chatbot.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) – Oracle has benefited from interest in AI stocks this year, with its shares rising 50%, outpacing Microsoft. This is due to expectations regarding Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and its role in AI. Oracle will report after the market closes today. The company projects solid growth and has strong partnerships, such as with Nvidia.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) – Netflix has reinstated Susan Rice, former UN ambassador and former White House staffer, to its board of directors. Rice, who served on the board from 2018-2020, highlighted the company’s commitment to global storytelling.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) – Football fans could miss Monday Night Football if the dispute between Walt Disney and Charter Communications is not resolved. ESPN and other Disney channels were removed from Charter’s Spectrum, affecting 15 million subscribers.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) – On Sunday, Comcast Corp’s Xfinity faced outages, frustrating customers wanting to watch NFL games, according to Downdetector.com.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) – Walmart is considering buying a majority stake in senior care facility operator ChenMed. Bloomberg reported that the deal could be worth billions of dollars, but terms are still under negotiation.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) – Coca-Cola shares faced eight days of underperformance through Friday due to concerns in the consumer sector. In 2022, the company had growth of 7.4%. However, in 2023, shares fell 8.3%, impacted by the inflationary slowdown and exchange rate issues.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) – Executives from US and Vietnamese companies met during Biden’s visit to Hanoi, seeking partnerships in semiconductors, aviation and technology. The White House confirmed that Vietnam Airlines will buy 50 737 Max jets from Boeing for US$7.8 billion. The US aims to strengthen Vietnam’s global role and diversify chip supplies, reducing dependence on China. Biden and Vietnamese leaders highlighted bilateral cooperation.

JM Smucker (NYSE:SJM) – JM Smucker is in talks to buy Hostess Brands (NASDAQ:TWNK), owner of Twinkies, for around $5 billion. Hostess saw a market capitalization increase after exploring a sale due to interest from major food manufacturers. According to Reuters, the value of the agreement excludes Hostess’ net debt of around $900 million.

Instacart – Instacart is seeking a valuation of between $8.6 billion and $9.3 billion in its IPO, down from $39 billion in 2021, during the peak of the pandemic. The company reported revenue of $1.48 billion through June, a 31% increase from the previous year.

Arm – SoftBank’s chip design company Arm could reach a $54.5 billion valuation in its IPO due to high investor demand. The company considers raising the share price, but will keep the share supply constant.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) – Following strikes at projects in Australia, Chevron has begun pulling workers from its Gorgon LNG facility. The dispute involves pay, safety and work rules. The strike could impact more than 5% of global LNG supply.

Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) – A Nikola electric semi-truck caught fire in Phoenix, marking the second incident in a week. After previous incidents and a recall in August, Nikola shares fell 55%. No one was injured in the fires.

General Motors (NYSE:GM), Ford Motor (NYSE:F), Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) – The president of the United Auto Workers union, Shawn Fain, expressed a desire to avoid strikes at Detroit assembly plants but threatens a strike next week if contract counterproposals do not improve. Negotiations continue, with a focus on salary increases and benefits.

Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) – Stellantis plans to expand its battery capacity to 400 GWh, supporting the production of electric vehicles. Micky Bly, vice president of the company, stated the commitment of six global gigafactories. Recently, Stellantis invested US$43 million in a technology center in Turin.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) – Barclays plans to cut hundreds of jobs, possibly up to 400 in domestic retail. While the bank evaluates the positions, some may be reassigned or opt for voluntary redundancies.

HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) – HSBC has suspended commercial payments to corporate clients linked to Russia and Belarus, due to increased sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The measure makes operations with these countries “increasingly challenging” for the bank.

UBS (NYSE:UBS) – After announcing second-quarter results, UBS executives sold shares totaling more than 14 million Swiss francs ($15.68 million). These sell-offs come as shares hit their highest values since 2008. In other news, UBS Group AG plans to cut hundreds of jobs in Asia due to the economic slowdown in China and reduced client activity. Many of the cuts will come from Credit Suisse teams in Hong Kong and Singapore, but final details are still pending. The Chinese economy has been growing slowly, impacting banks and their investments in the region.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Morgan Stanley challenged the Treasury’s bearish outlook by advising the purchase of US debt. The bank states that inflation could slow down and growth remain robust. Contrary to other banks, they suggest the acquisition of five- and thirty-year bonds. Their optimistic stance distinguishes them on Wall Street.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) – Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have divergent outlooks for the Polish zloty following an unexpected rate cut. While Goldman predicts continued weakness, JPMorgan sees strong economic fundamentals in Poland. The cut, before the elections, raises political and inflation concerns.

Oppenheimer (NYSE:OPY) – John Stoltzfus, from Oppenheimer, believes that the downturn in US stocks is not over and advises adjusting investor expectations. Despite the optimism surrounding artificial intelligence, concerns about higher rates have pressured the S&P 500 index.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) – Deutsche Bank AG may pause significant parts of DWS Group’s IT overhaul due to delays and high costs. Led by CEO Stefan Hoops, DWS is reconsidering the “Proteus” project, possibly scaling it back, deviating from the original objective.

Nasdaq Inc (NASDAQ:NDAQ) – Nasdaq has received approval from SEC to launch an artificial intelligence-based order to improve market efficiency. This new order type, using reinforcement learning, can optimize trading results and adjust trades in real time.

Visa (NYSE:V), Riskified (NYSE:RSKD) – Credit card disputes on Visa have been growing since the start of the pandemic, reaching over 90 million in 2022. This increase is attributed to the growth of e-commerce and recent inflation. Even with the implementation of fraud prevention software, the problem persists. These disputes, in addition to being a problem for card companies, are costly for merchants, especially when they lead to chargebacks. The current scenario favors companies specializing in preventing fraud, such as Riskified Ltd, which sees significant growth as it seeks to solve this growing challenge in the payments sector.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NASDAQ:GT) – Goodyear plans to cut 1,200 jobs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, following criticism from investor Elliott Investment Management. The restructuring aims to achieve significant savings by 2025. The company faced losses in the last quarter.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) – Kenvue appreciated 3.52%, reaching US$22.05, in Monday’s pre-market. The company had its rating upgraded to “Buy” instead of “Hold” by Deutsche Bank, maintaining the target price at US$27.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX)
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