Nasdaq falls ahead of Big Tech earnings

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• Tue, January 30, 2024 at 4:13 PM EST

  Microsoft, Alphabet, AMD feature on busy afternoon for Big Tech earnings

  Microsoft (MSFT) shares spent time on both sides of the flatline in after-hours trading after Big Tech giant reported earnings after the bells that beat on both the top and bottom lines. Cloud revenue also came in above expectations. Guidance will be released on the earnings call, the company said.

  Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), meanwhile, saw shares fall roughly 5% as fourth quarter ad revenue missed expectations. The company did surpass expectations for both quarterly earnings and overall revenue.

  Chipmaker AMD (AMD) fell about 2% after hours after the company reported fourth quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that met analyst expectations. For the first quarter, AMD expects revenue to be approximately $5.4 billion, plus or minus $300 million; analysts had expected Q1revenue to come in closer to $5.7 billion, the high end of that range.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 4:02 PM EST

  Stocks close mixed

  Stocks closed mixed as investors await a slew of key earnings reports after the bell.

  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the day’s declines, falling about 0.8%.

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.4% while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded flat. Notably, the benchmark failed to nab another record closing high.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 3:37 PM EST

  Here comes Microsoft and Alphabet earnings…

  It’s a big earnings day as Microsoft and Alphabet gear up to report results after the bell.

  Data from FactSet, as noted by Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer, showed how important Big Tech earnings will be for the health of the S&P 500.

  Excluding Tesla, the other “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks are expected to be the top earnings drivers for the benchmark index, contributing year-over-year earnings growth of 53.7%

  Here’s what to expect from the lead-off hitters…

  Microsoft (MSFT): As Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley points out, the tech giant will report its second quarter earnings as Wall Street looks for signs that the company’s vast artificial intelligence investments continue to pay off. Microsoft shares have been on a tear amid the AI boom with the stock jumping 50% over the past year to push the company’s market capitalization over $3 trillion.

  Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL): Similar to Microsoft, Alphabet’s earnings will be focused on the AI race as investors also seek answers regarding the company’s cloud business, in addition to insight into Google’s recent layoffs, as noted by Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 2:15 PM EST

  Stocks trending in afternoon trading

  Here are some of the stocks trending on the Yahoo Finance homepage in afternoon trading on Tuedsay:

  United Parcel Service (UPS): Shares of the package delivery company fell about 7% on Tuesday after the company reported weak revenue guidance for 2024 amid stiff competition from e-commerce companies like Amazon (AMZN). UPS also revealed it will be slashing 12,000 jobs as part of a new cost-cutting initiative to save $1 billion.

  General Motors (GM): The auto giant saw shares rise 8% in afternoon trading after the company reported a beat on both the top and bottom lines and issued full-year 2024 profit guidance that matched its initial forecast for 2023. As Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports, the upbeat results come as GM looks to shake off the effects of the UAW strike and recalibrate its electric vehicle rollout.

  Pfizer (PFE): The vaccine maker reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings that beat expectations, although the stock fell a little over 1% after it missed on the top line as revenue tied to its COVID-19 vaccine fell 53% year over year. Still, the company reaffirmed full-year guidance for 2024 with CEO Albert Bourla saying in the earnings release, “We believe our commitment to execution, maximizing the performance of our new products, and delivering the next wave of pipeline innovation will fuel Pfizer’s growth and make a difference in the lives of patients everywhere.”

  Apple (AAPL): Shares of the tech giant fell nearly 2% after TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo warned of a decline in iPhone shipments this year amid weak China demand. As Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reports, Kuo argues that a drop in iPhone sales in China, coupled with the emergence of generative AI-powered and foldable smartphones, will put pressure on iPhone sales throughout the year. The analyst expects year-over-year declines of about 15%.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 1:29 PM EST

  Yahoo Finance Chartbook: Higher bond yields aren’t always a bad thing for stocks

  A drastic upswing in the 10-Year Treasury yield spelled trouble for stock investors in 2023. Charles Schwab chief investment strategist Liz Ann Sonders thinks as investors become more confident in the Federal Reserve’s path forward, and inflation keeps falling, these drastic swings are likely subside in the year ahead.

  “Some of that volatility and those really dramatic swings in such a condensed period of time are probably not going to be repetitive this year,” Sonders told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday.

  And while Sonders highlights that doesn’t mean all volatility in the bond market will be removed, it does mean last year’s stock-to-bond correlation, where yields rose and stocks sank, isn’t a sure thing to continue to moving forward.

  Sonders’ submission to the Yahoo Finance Chartbook shows that in recent years higher inflation has driven yields higher, which she says isn’t typically a good setup for equities. In the past, though, good economic data has driven higher yields (see green shades in below chart) and this has been OK for stocks as the economic growth powered better performances for corporates.

  A noticeable shift occurred in the past year in Sonders’ chart, reflecting that we’re closer to higher yields being OK for stocks than we are to a rise in yields spelling trouble for investors.

  Read more from the Yahoo Finance Chartbook: 33 charts tell the story of markets and the economy to start 2024 here.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 12:56 PM EST

  ‘Suits’ success highlights comeback of content licensing

  “Suits” was the most-streamed title of 2023 — a sign that licensed content is here to stay.

  According to third-party rating service Nielsen, the USA Network series was viewed for nearly 58 billion minutes last year after it spent 12 consecutive weeks at the top of Nielsen’s viewership charts.

  Netflix (NFLX) acquired the drama in July. It’s also available to stream on Comcast’s Peacock (CMCSA).

  The resurgence of licensed content seems to have brought the streaming wars full circle after companies spent billions to create original IP in a bid to edge out competitors and attract subscribers.

  Although Netflix has certainly led that charge — the company recently revealed 45% of all viewing on Netflix stemmed from licensed titles from January to June 2023 — it’s actively shut down licensing out its own content.

  “Our large subscriber base and our recommendation system [knew] to put ‘Suits’ in front of people who were going love it the most,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on a call with reporters late last year. “I do not think that that necessarily would happen in reverse. I do think that we can add value when we license content. I’m not positive that that’s reciprocal.”

  Disney (DIS) has been one competitor embracing the change.

  ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” has been highly successful on Netflix while Disney acquired the international broadcasting rights to “Bluey,” the No. 2 most-viewed acquired title, from BBC Studios in 2019.

  However, similar to Netflix’s refusal to license out its original series, Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s latest earnings call that core brands like Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars and all likely off-limits as they offer “real competitive advantages” and are “differentiators” for the company.

  But analysts have described that thinking as a double-edged sword, citing high debt loads and streaming profitability challenges.

  Read more here.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 12:31 PM EST

  Nasdaq drops ahead of Big Tech earnings

  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) saw losses accelerate on Tuesday as investors await key earnings reports from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT).

  The Nasdaq dropped more than 0.7% while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) bounced around with the benchmark index dropping roughly 0.1% as the Dow inched up about 1%.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 11:08 AM EST

  JetBlue, Spirit seek expedited appeal of blocked merger

  JetBlue Airways (JBLU) and Spirit Airlines (SAVE) are filing for an expedited appeal of a court ruling that blocked their $3.8 billion merger.

  Shares of Spirit rose nearly 4% in early trading while JetBlue fell 6%.

  “The appeal is a formality of what investors already expected,” Seaport Research Partners analyst Dan McKenzie told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday following the news.

  “I think the airlines have a really good case,” he said, noting both JetBlue and Spirit are not profitable airlines. “The airlines that perform best are the airlines that are the most profitable. …When you’re losing money it’s very hard to provide a competitive product.”

  Looking ahead, McKenzie said JetBlue will likely rely on its strong presence in the New York City and Florida markets, but that the airline will ultimately survive.

  “JetBlue losses are narrow enough that they can reverse those,” he said. Still, the company is “having to reinvent itself and that’s proven to be a really painful process in the near-term.”

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 10:13 AM EST

  Consumer confidence hits highest level since December 2021

  In a busy week for the stock market, early readings on the economy are showing continued signs of resilience.

  The Conference Board’s consumer confidence came in at a reading of 114.8 in January, up from 108 last month and in line with economist expectations. It marked the highest reading for the index since December 2021.

  Elsewhere in economic data, the the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, released Tuesday revealed the US labor market ended December with 9.03 million job openings, an increase from the 8.93 seen last month and above Wall Street estimates for 8.8 million.

  The print marks a reversal from November’s report, which had shown fewer openings and signs of the “better balance” between supply and demand that Fed Chair Jerome Powell has often mentioned.

• 

  Tue, January 30, 2024 at 9:38 AM EST

  Stocks take breather

  US stocks opened moderately lower on Tuesday — just ahead of a slew of Big Tech earnings.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded flat after delivering another all-time high on Monday. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell about 0.1%.