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Pre-market futures are mixed to kick off a new week, with another more-than-impressive earnings season from AI-related Tech keeping the Nasdaq in the green at this hour, while the Strait of Hormuz headlines are keeping the Dow and S&P 500 in the red presently. The Dow is -186 points, the S&P 500 is -11, the Nasdaq +8 points and the small-cap Russell 2000 is -8 currently.
Differing reports are competing this morning, with Iranian state media declaring a U.S. Naval ship was struck trying to pass the Strait of Hormuz, which was denied by the U.S. In fact, the U.S. reported that two ships were successfully able to pass through while we were sleeping. Time will tell, ultimately, if either of these, or both, are truthful statements. WTI spot oil prices are around $103 per barrel (/bbl) this morning; Brent crude is $110/bbl.
Expectations from “Jobs Week”
Here is the first full week of a new month, we’re once again in “Jobs Week.” This kicks off tomorrow a month in arrears with the March results from Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Headline is expected to drift down slightly, to 6.8 million job openings from 6.9 million the prior month. Lately these numbers have been fairly volatile: the 12-month high from January, 7.24 million, directly followed the yearly low 6.55 million from December.
Wednesday brings us private-sector payrolls from Automatic Data Processing (ADP) for April: +98K new private-sector jobs filled last month would be the highest since +104K back in July of 2025. Trends are up, on average, in the past four months from the four months prior: +45K versus -3.5K (August through November ’25). A stronger number for April may go some way toward quelling fears about an unravelling employment market.
Thursday morning, as most Thursday mornings, we’ll see the latest Weekly Jobless Claims for the prior week. This figure is expected to bump back up above +200K following last week’s print of +189K — the lowest single-week read on new jobless claims since 1969. This is a remarkable statistic when we consider how radically different the U.S. economy was back then: Equipment Manufacturing was the #1 industry back then.
On Friday, the Big Kahuna: the Employment Situation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are expected to yield +53K new jobs in April, well off the ADP forecast and less than a third of the +178K reported in March. The Unemployment Rate is expected to remain at a still-low +4.3%, with Wage Growth expected up +30 basis points year over year to +3.8%.
Earnings Results & Expectations at a Glance: TSN, NCLH, PLTR, PINS
Ahead of today’s open, meat-producing giant Tyson Foods TSN posted a healthy bottom-line beat in its fiscal Q2 report this morning, with earnings of $0.87 per share easily surpassing the $0.76 in the Zacks consensus, for a +14.47% positive surprise. Revenues of $14.31 billion improved over the $13.80 billion anticipated. Shares are +1.3% on the news, adding to the stock’s +8.6% gain year to date.
Norwegian Cruise LinesNCLH reported mixed Q1 results this morning, surging past earnings estimates by +53.3% to $0.23 per share, while revenues in the quarter reached $2.33 billion, -0.5% below expectations. But a deep cut to forward guidance is sending shares down -5% in today’s pre-market, deepening the stock’s -15.7% hole from the start of the year. For more on NCLH’s earnings, click here.
After today’s close, cybersecurity staple Palantir PLTR and social media platform Pinterest PINS report earnings. Palantir is expected to continue the Big Tech/AI narrative of huge year-over-year growth: +123% on earnings, +74.2% on revenues. Pinterest is projected to come in -4.35% on earnings from a year ago and +12.73% on revenues.
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Expanding AI and enterprise exposure, strong embedded storage growth, and product innovation support sustained revenue growth and improving profitability outlook.
Silver Standard Resources (SSRM)Upgraded: 04/30/26
SSR Mining stands to gain from improving production cadence, a durable U.S. platform, a strong silver cash engine, a visible pipeline and disciplined capital returns.
End-to-end product lifecycle management, technological prowess, customer-oriented strategy and strong liquidity position are major growth drivers for Sanmina.
Radian is poised for long-term growth on strong persistency, solid in-force premium yield, lower levels of paid claims and financial strength, which reflect an improvement in its operating environment.
Record backlog, sustained technology demand, expanding modular capacity, margin discipline and strong liquidity support growth, returns and continued selective acquisitions.
Roper is benefiting from strength across each segment and accretive acquisitions. The company’s efforts to reward its shareholders through dividend payments are encouraging.
Match Group benefits from Hinge’s rapid global growth, disciplined turnaround progress, AI-driven engagement gains and strong cash generation supporting long-term shareholder value..
Weak housing demand, margin compression, cost inflation and competitive pressure are reducing earnings visibility and limiting near-term recovery potential for the business.
Harmony faces financial strain from its high-cost structure, rising royalties, escalating labor and electricity costs, and ongoing labor and supply issues despite efforts to manage expenses.
High leverage, intense competition, and ongoing retail margin compression can limit earnings visibility and constrain capital allocation flexibility over time.
WBD faces structural decline in linear TV, intense streaming competition, volatile studio revenues and ARPU pressure, raising concerns over long-term earnings visibility.
Tariff swings and input inflation pressure margins, while cautious U.S. retail demand and potentially higher freight costs create earnings volatility in the near term.
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. (FMS)Downgraded: 04/25/26
Fresenius Medical faces challenges in 2024, including high patient mortality, severe weather, rising costs, and reimbursement risks, which impact short-term growth. Strategic initiatives affect sales.
Persistently mounting expenses due to investments in franchises are likely to hurt Blackstone’s bottom-line growth. The sustainability of the company's capital distribution actions is less.
Brighthouse Financial's increasing expenses weighing on margin expansion, high debt level leading to higher leverage coupled with lower interest coverage keeps us on the sideline.
Strength in the Energy Generation/Storage business, balance sheet strength, and focus on autonomous driving, robotics and artificial intelligence are set to drive Tesla.
Kroger drives growth with digital expansion, private label success, fresh offerings and strategic partnerships, while investments in AI and value creation fuel long-term scalability.
AT&T is witnessing a healthy momentum in its core market areas, driven by strength in 5G and fiber, as it aims to better harness edge computing capabilities with core business focus.
Strength across all product groups is a positive catalyst for Edwards Lifesciences. The company’s bullish long-term growth strategy buoys optimism on the stock.
US market leadership, disciplined pricing, recurring software revenue, steadier China profits, and sustained buybacks support returns for shareholders amid cyclical uncertainty.
Intel’s leading position in PC market, strength in servers, growing clout in software, IoT & ADAS domains and headway in process technology are positive indicators of future growth prospects.
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