US Index Futures reversed higher after the latest inflation reading. Dow Jones futures were up 0.2%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were up more than 0.3% each.
The consumer price index, which measures the cost of a wide range of goods and services, rose 0.4% in April, despite more than a year of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. The annual increase came in at 4.9%, below the 5% estimate. Core CPI excluding volatile food and energy categories rose 0.4% and 5.5% year-on-year, in line with expectations.
On Tuesday, inflation expectations and the debt ceiling stalemate continued to weigh on market sentiment, sending US risky assets lower. The Dow Jones dropped 0.17% at 33,561.81 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.46% to 4,119.17 points and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.63% to 12,179.55.
New York Fed President John Williams said yesterday that he is assessing the underlying strength of the U.S. economy against the risk of a credit crunch as he considers whether the central bank will pause its historic monetary tightening campaign next month. Williams is a permanent voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee. Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said the meeting with President Joe Biden to address the impasse involving the debt ceiling did not result in “no further movement”. The authorities will meet again on Friday. Yields on short-term bonds maturing in one month soared 23.8 basis points the day before, given the threat of default. With regard to the banking system, despite the situation being far from resolved, regional bank stocks performed well yesterday.
On the quarterly earnings front, Airbnb and Twilio fall premarket on weak forecasts. Rivian rises at a smaller-than-expected loss. The earnings season continues on Wednesday with results from Roblox, Teva, Blackstone, Toyota, and Wendy’s before the open, and Robinhood, Disney, Unity, Beyond Meat, among others, after the market close.
Wall Street Corporate Highlights for Today
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft has invested in Builder.ai, a “no-code” and “low-code” startup that helps companies build apps with no coding experience. The collaboration will see Builder.ai’s AI assistant, Natasha, integrated with Microsoft’s Teams video and chat software and enhanced with Microsoft’s AI algorithms. Builder.ai will have access to Microsoft’s Azure cloud toolset and network of experts.
Ford (NYSE:F) – Ford has unveiled its redesigned Ranger pickup truck for the US, including a high-performance Raptor model starting at $56,960. The company expects the Raptor to account for about 10% of Ranger’s US sales and increase its profitability as it invests billions in electric vehicles. Ford CEO Jim Farley said specialty models like the Raptor have 30% higher contribution margins and increase capital efficiency.
HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) – HSBC attracted customers and employees of Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) following the Swiss bank’s hasty takeover by rival UBS (NYSE:UBS). According to Bloomberg, the UK bank took in $22 billion in net new cash in the first quarter, with two-thirds coming from Asia, while boosting its wealth management business and its Credit Suisse talent recruitment campaign.
Shell (NYSE:SHEL) – Shell has won a UK High Court case over one of the biggest oil spills off the coast of Nigeria. British judges rejected arguments that the company could still be held liable more than a decade after the incident.
Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) – Chevron Corp’s renewed oil operations in Venezuela begin a new phase next month that will increase production with the aim of accelerating a plan to recoup the OPEC member’s entire $3 billion debt by the end of 2025, according to to Reuters.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) – Bud Light retail sales nationwide were down 23.4% year-on-year for the week of April 29 – worse than the 21.4% decline suffered in previous week, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ. The company’s flagship brand, Budweiser, was down 11.4%.
Babylon Holdings (NYSE:BBLN) – Babylon was down more than 45% in premarket trading on Wednesday after announcing plans to go private with backing from AlbaCore Capital. The company said it has entered into an amendment and revamp of its senior secured loan with AlbaCore for up to $34.5 million in financing on similar pricing terms to an original bridge agreement.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) – Bank of America has hired former BNP Paribas banker Benoit Nevouet to manage a newly created branch in Luxembourg as the US lender looks to expand its business in Europe. The US bank is also hiring a dedicated money laundering reporting officer, as well as an initial handful of other support staff in roles such as compliance, risk and legal, to support the Luxembourg branch.
Twitter – Elon Musk revealed that new features like “voice and video chat” will be coming to Twitter. Fired Fox News (NASDAQ:FOX) host Tucker Carlson just announced that he would relaunch his show on Twitter, which will help bolster the platform’s creator community through subscription and advertising revenue.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Google executives will take the stage at their annual I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif., on Wednesday to unveil more artificial intelligence in their products to respond to the latest competition from Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), which threatened its position at the top of the nearly $300 billion search advertising market.
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) – Paramount has announced that it is laying off approximately 25% of its staff and is closing the MTV News unit. The news comes on the heels of a disappointing first-quarter earnings report for the corporation.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon is offering US customers $10 to pick up a purchase instead of having it shipped to a home address. Amazon said the promotion is not a cost-cutting measure and that it applies to customers who have never used Amazon Pickup or have not used the service in the past 12 months.
Volkswagen (USOTC:VWAGY) – Activists attacked Volkswagen at a shareholder meeting over the carmaker’s controversial factory in Xinjiang, reflecting similar investor concerns about allegations of human rights abuses in the region. Investors also reiterated their longstanding criticism of Oliver Blume’s dual role as head of Volkswagen and Porsche and the low valuation of Volkswagen’s stock, which has been in freefall for the past two years.
Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) – Shares fell 2.8% after a Wall Street Journal report that said the Biden administration is investigating whether the industrial technology company exposed U.S. military, infrastructure and government assets in an attack through one of its facilities in China.
Earnings
Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) – Airbnb shares fell more than 14% premarket despite beating consensus estimates. The company shared a softer-than-expected second-quarter outlook and warned of lower year-over-year comparisons.
Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) – Shares of Twilio are down more than 16% premarket after providing a lighter-than-expected forecast for the current quarter. The company recorded revenue of US$ 1.01 billion, against US$ 1.00 billion expected by analysts.
Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) – Electric vehicle stock rose more than 6% in premarket. Rivian posted a smaller-than-expected loss and revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations. The company also reaffirmed its EV production target.
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) – The oil giant lost 1.6% premarket with gains slightly below Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet. Earnings were also down year-on-year as oil prices plummeted.
Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) – Shares were up 4.7% in extended trading but were flat in premarket Wednesday after reporting strong first-quarter gains. The cloud company also raised its full-year guidance and shared strong cybersecurity revenue.
Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) – The hotel and casino operator’s shares were flat premarket after reporting quarterly results. Wynn posted earnings and revenue that beat consensus expectations, according to Refinitiv. CEO Craig Billings highlighted the “significant return on visitation and demand” in Macau.
Toast (NYSE:TOST) – The cloud-based restaurant software provider was up 5.1% in premarket trade. Toast posted a larger-than-expected first-quarter loss, according to FactSet, but beat Wall Street revenue estimates. The outlook for the second quarter and full year was also better than expected.
Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) – The Buy-now-pay-later shares were down more than 8% premarket despite sharing a lower-than-forecast loss and higher revenue. Losses in the quarter, however, tripled compared to last year. Affirm shared better-than-expected guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) – The gaming software maker was flat in premarket after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue, according to Refinitiv, as part of a mixed financial results update. EA also posted a loss of 4 cents per share, although that number is not comparable with analysts’ estimates.
Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) – Shares in Upstart surged more than 30% premarket after the AI lending firm reported a lower-than-expected loss for the latest quarter. The company reported an adjusted loss of 47 cents per share. Analysts polled by Refinitiv anticipated a loss of 81 cents per share.
Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) – Virgin Galactic shares fell nearly 4% premarket after reporting first-quarter results. The company reported a net loss of $159.4 million, or $0.57 per share, compared with a loss of $93.1 million, or $0.36 per share, a year earlier. The space tourism company posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $140 million, compared to a loss of $77 million in the prior-year period.
Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) – Coupang Inc reported better-than-expected revenue growth after spending to expand and sustain customer demand during a slowdown in online shopping. Revenue increased 13% to $5.8 billion in the quarter ended March. That beat analysts’ estimates of $5.6 billion. Coupang posted an operating profit of US$106.8 million, while active customers grew 5% to 19 million.
First Citizens (NASDAQ:FCNCA) – First Citizens on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $9.5 billion, or $653.64 per share, well above year-ago earnings of $264 million, or $16.70 per share. The bank said the acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank from Federal Reserve Insurance Co. on March 27 included a preliminary net-tax gain of $9.8 billion.
GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) – GoPro shares fell 5% premarket after announcing that it will return to pre-pandemic pricing structures on its camera lineup, cutting $50 to $100 on most models. The news comes after GoPro revealed it was unprofitable in the first quarter, its first quarter at a loss in two years, and revenue was down nearly 20%. The company posted a loss of $29.9 million, or $0.19 per share, on sales of $174.7 million, down from $216.7 million a year earlier.
GoodRx (NASDAQ:GDRX) – The digital healthcare platform lost 8.3% after providing a weaker-than-expected outlook for current-quarter and full-year revenue. However, GoodRx beat expectations for Q1 revenue.
Alcon (NYSE:ALC) – Ophthalmic products stock surged 5.1% after beating expectations in the first quarter. Alcon reaffirmed its full-year revenue guidance and said core diluted earnings per share for the year should be in a range that encompasses the consensus estimate of analysts polled by StreetAccount.
Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) – Shares rose 2% premarket ahead of the video game maker’s earnings report, expected ahead of the open. Wall Street analysts are predicting earnings per share of 40 cents and revenue of $766 million, according to Refinitiv.
Market vision
Dutch Bros (NYSE:BROS) – Shares fell 7.6% after the company reported same-store sales and revenue for the first quarter, below expectations. The company broke even for the quarter, as analysts polled by StreetAccount had expected a loss of 3 cents a share. JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral overweight as a result of the report.
Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ:CELH) – The beverage company jumped 11.1% after a strong earnings report. Celsius posted 40 cents earnings per share for the first quarter, more than doubling the consensus estimate of 19 cents from analysts polled by StreetAccount. Revenue was also well above analyst expectations. As a result, Bank of America raised the shares to buy from neutral.
Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) – Shares of the biopharmaceutical rose 1.9% after the company reaffirmed its full-year earnings outlook. That helped investors overlook a loss of revenue in the first quarter. Piper Sandler raised the stock to overweight from neutral after the report.