Shortly before noon Friday, the Dow Jones industrials traded 0.13% higher, the S&P 500 down 0.29% and the Nasdaq down 0.46%. Weak reports for Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Ford got the day off to a sluggish start.
After U.S. markets closed on Thursday, Amazon missed the consensus earnings per share (EPS) estimate on revenue that was $3.5 billion higher than expected. The company is attempting to get back in its groove by cutting costs (read: firing people). Shares traded down 5% Friday.
Alphabet missed both top-line and bottom-line estimates. Like Meta and Amazon, Alphabet is looking to become more efficient (i.e., firing people). It is worth noting that the company believes it is in the driver’s seat when it comes to artificial intelligence. It better hope so. Shares traded down 0.8% Friday morning.
Apple, like Alphabet, missed on both the top and bottom lines. The company expects iPhone sales to pick up in the current quarter. In the prior quarter, iPhone sales were down by $3 billion. Foreign exchange rates shaved eight points from revenue. Still, if Apple can sort out its supply issues, a one-quarter dip may be a buying opportunity. The stock traded up 3.15% at noon.
Qualcomm beat the consensus EPS estimate but missed on revenue and traded up about 0.6% Friday.
Ford missed the consensus EPS estimate but posted better-than-expected revenue. After telling investors that the company left $2 billion on the table last year, CFO John Lawler said Ford needs to “improve quality and lower costs.” To that end, Ford will be “very aggressive” in firing people. The stock traded down 6.7% Friday morning.
Starbucks missed top-line and bottom-line estimates, largely due to plummeting sales in China, where government lockdowns kept people out of the company’s stores. Now that the lockdowns have ended, sales are picking up again but were still below year-ago levels for January. Shares traded down 3.6%.
U.S. Steel reported solid beats on both profit and revenue. The company posted the second-best annual financial performance in its 122-year history, trailing only 2021. Shares traded up 3.8% at noon Friday.
ON Semiconductor and Tyson Foods are due to report quarterly results first thing Monday morning. Later in the day, look for reports from NOV, Pinterest and Simon Property Group.
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