US equity futures inched higher this morning, alongside stocks in Europe, as investors weighed a new batch of corporate earnings against projections involving next week’s Federal Reserve interest-rate decision.
Tech-giants Amazon.com (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Intel (INTC) will be the latest of Wall Street’s forerunners to be put through their paces today; in a mostly positive earnings environment, where investors continue to watch for any hints of a slowdown in companies’ bottom lines.
These early-morning market moves look to retrace upon yesterday’s declines, where the S&P 500 retreated from a record high as adverse reactions to a handful of corporate results countered a dovish assessment of monetary policy by the European Central Bank.
The leading US equities benchmark ended the session -0.48% lower, owing to poorly-received results from a number of Material (-0.72%)
and Technology (-0.41%) sector companies.
Ahead, in today’s economic calendar, traders will look to inspect the Q2 GDP report at 8:30am EST, which will be the last major economic data piece to be released prior to the Fed meeting, held next Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the earnings arena, reports are expected today from; McDonald's (MCD), Twitter (TWTR), AbbVie (ABBV), Phillips 66 (PSX), Charter Communications (CHTR), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) and Weyerhaeuser (WY).
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Economy: US growth could be weakest in more than two years. (CNBC)
The US economy is expected to show GDP growth below 2%, the weakest in more than two years.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today's Economical Announcements.
08:30AM - ★★★ - GDP (QoQ) (Q2) (Previous: 3.1%)
10:00AM - ★★☆ - Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Previous: 98.2)
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.
Alphabet (GOOGL): [EARNINGS] Earned an adjusted $14.21 per share for the second quarter, well above the consensus estimate of $11.30 a share. The Google parent’s revenue also beat estimates, with the company’s results boosted by its continued dominance in internet search.
Twitter (TWTR): [EARNINGS] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of 20 cents per share, beating forecasts by a penny a share. Revenue exceeded estimates, as well. Twitter also reported 139 million monetizable daily users, more than the 135 million than analysts had anticipated.
Amazon.com (AMZN): [EARNINGS] Reported quarterly profit of $5.22 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $5.57. The company’s revenue beat forecasts, however. It was the first time in five quarters that Amazon did not post record profits, with shipping costs escalating during the quarter.
Starbucks (SBUX): [EARNINGS] Came in 6 cents a share ahead of estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 78 cents per share. The coffee chain’s revenue beat estimates as well, with global same-store sales posting a 6% increase, the most in 3 years.
Mattel (MAT): [EARNINGS] Lost an adjusted 25 cents per share for its latest quarter, less than the 40 cents a share Wall Street had been expecting. Revenue was well above estimates for the toy maker, boosted by sales of action figures based on “Toy Story 4,” and growth for its “Barbie” and “Hot Wheels” brands.
Intel (INTC): [EARNINGS] Beat consensus estimates by 17 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.06 per share. The chipmaker’s revenue also came in above forecasts. Intel’s traditional PC business saw a 1% revenue increase compared to an expected decline. The company also raised its full-year outlook.
Expedia (EXPE): [EARNINGS] Came in 10 cents a share ahead of estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.77 per share. Both revenue and quarterly bookings for the travel services website operator came in slightly ahead of forecasts.
Apple (AAPL): [NEWS] Apple is buying Intel’s (INTC) smartphone modem chip business for $1 billion.
T-Mobile (TMUS): [EARNINGS] Earned $1.09 per share for the second quarter, 12 cents a share above estimates. The mobile carrier’s revenue missed Street forecasts. T-Mobile also reported a larger-than-expected number of subscriber additions.
Charles Schwab (SCHW): [NEWS] Charles Schwab announced a deal to acquire assets of USAA’s Investment Management, including brokerage and managed portfolio accounts, for $1.8 billion in cash.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): [NEWS] Berkshire raised its stake in Bank of America (BAC) to 950 million shares from the prior 896.2 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: DBD, VC, NVCR, MAS, CRI, NOC, UPS, SNAP, SHW
DECLINERS: ALGN, SAVE, AIMC, PTC, OII, INVA, CARA, VAR, NKTR
TODAY'S IPOs
Blue Hat Interactive (BHAT) (Price: 4) (Est. Vol: $7.2M)
Switchback Energy (SBE.U) (Price: 10) (Est. Vol: $300.0M)
Vista Oil & Gas (VIST) (Price: 9.25) (Est. Vol: $95.2M)
Wanda Sports (WSG) (Low: 9, High: 11) (Est. Vol: $280.0M)
