In the first hour of trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrials were down 0.28%, the S&P 500 down 0.32% and the Nasdaq 0.59% lower.
After U.S. markets closed on Tuesday, Netflix reported earnings per share (EPS) that beat the consensus estimate by a penny but missed on revenue. The company said it will roll out its restrictions on password sharing for U.S. customers and shut down its DVD mail business. Shares traded down by about 2.7% in early trading Wednesday.
United Airlines posted a smaller-than-expected per-share loss and missed on revenue. The company also issued in-line second-quarter EPS guidance and reaffirmed full fiscal year guidance. Shares traded up 3.6%.
Western Alliance Bancorp beat the consensus EPS estimate and commented that deposits were up $2 billion in the first two weeks of April. Net interest income was $610 million, down from the year-ago total of $639.7 million. Shares traded almost 17% higher Wednesday morning.
Before markets opened on Wednesday, Morgan Stanley beat EPS and revenue estimates even though investment banking revenue fell by 24% year over year. Total revenue was down 1.9% year over year, and profit dropped 19% compared to the first quarter of 2022. Shares traded down 0.4% early Wednesday.
Abbott Labs also beat top-line and bottom-line estimates and projected full-year organic sales growth “at least” in the high single-digit range. Sales of COVID-19-related testing products are forecast at $1.5 billion. Shares traded up about 6.6%.
ASML also beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker also raised revenue guidance for the current quarter and forecast gross margin of 50% to 51%. ASML said it intends to declare a dividend increase. The stock traded down 3.6%.
Baker Hughes beat EPS and revenue estimates and reported that orders increased by 12% year over year in the first quarter. Shares traded up about 2% early Wednesday.
After markets close on Wednesday, IBM, Kinder Morgan, Las Vegas Sands and Tesla are expected to report quarterly results. Look for results from American Express, AT&T and Taiwan Semiconductor on Thursday morning.
Here are previews of five companies set to report results after U.S. markets close on Thursday or before they open on Friday.
CSX
Shares of railroad operator CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) have fallen by about 12.5% over the past 12 months. That is not as bad as rival Norfolk Southern, which is down more than 20% and nearly 15% this year since a February derailment in Ohio leaked toxic chemicals. But the impact of that incident will be felt by every railroad as the federal regulators tighten safety measures for the companies. The company reports first-quarter results after markets close on Thursday.
The industry lost in an effort to reduce the crew required on a train from two to one, even before the Ohio derailment. On the plus side, CSX reached an agreement with four of its unions on a new sick leave policy. CSX has repurchased $4.7 billion in stock over the past four quarters while borrowing $2 billion to help pay for it.
Analysts remain bullish on the stock, with 17 of 28 having a Buy or Strong Buy rating and 11 more rating it at Hold. At a recent trading price of around $30.40, the upside potential to a median price target of $34.00 is about 11.8%. At a high price target of $39.00, the upside potential rises to 28.3%.
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