We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Qualcomm, MGM Resorts, eBay and Etsy
Read MoreHide Full Article
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 2, 2024 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Qualcomm (QCOM - Free Report) , MGM Resorts (MGM - Free Report) , eBay (EBAY - Free Report) and Etsy (ETSY - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Markets Sink After Powell Presser; Big Earnings Post-Bell
Markets surged yesterday on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference. It came after the Fed’s press release kept interest rates at the same 5.25-5.50%, with the same commitments to a +2% inflation target. Powell explained how the Fed would be slowing the pace of decline in securities on the balance sheet. This was taken as a sign of good news in real-time trading, but markets could not hold those levels, and stocks fell to session lows by the closing bell on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
By the time Powell had taken the podium, the S&P 500 was on a straight trajectory up 60 basis points (bps) or so. Toward the end of his Q&A session, markets ticked down a tad, and took the ramp off those session highs before falling all the way back down. The Dow was slightly up at the close, as was the small-cap Russell 2000. Powell assured the press that interest rates will eventually come down, but not until the Fed has greater confidence that the economy is progressing toward the +2% target. “And the data is just not there yet,” he said.
Powell also made an interesting point about inflation. While he noted Q4 2023 GDP had gotten up to +3.4% and the first read of Q1 GDP was only +1.6%, he said taking a look at Private Domestic Purchases (PDP) — which is defined as “total demand less government purchases and exports” — shows a much less drastic pullback: +3.1%. That’s a 30 bps downshift month over month, and purposeful for Powell in discussing that inflation is still notably too high to start cutting rates.
He saw the slowing pace of runoff for securities as providing a smoother transition toward the Fed’s dual mandate. Further, Powell said, “…(We’re) not seeing acceleration in (inflation) growth…” which basically takes any notion of a rate hike off the table. Smaller gestures like these allowed market participants to bid up markets in real time, but apparently they had second thoughts once the presser was over, even though Powell’s address was far from the doom and gloom scenario many investors had feared.
Qualcomm shares were up +4% in the late session Wednesday. Fiscal Q2 earnings results of $2.44 per share posted a +13% positive surprise over the $2.30 expected, which itself represented +17% growth year over year. Revenues of $9.386 billion surpassed the $9.32 billion analysts were looking for. Next-quarter guidance was nicely bumped up on both top and bottom lines, as the company appears to be in good shape to take advantage of an advancing A.I. market.
MGM Resorts also strode past expectations yesterday afternoon. Earnings of 74 cents per share zoomed past the 60 cents anticipated and the year-ago tally of 44 cents per share. Revenues came in at $4.4 billion, outperforming the $4.18 billion in the Zacks consensus. Unsurprisingly, MGM China revenues bounced up +71% over the past year, and this report makes it six straight earnings beats in a row for the gaming giant. Shares are up +1.7% in late trading, though had fallen from recent highs over the past month.
eBay beat on both top and bottom lines, but still trades down. Earnings of $1.25 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by a hard nickel, with revenues in the quarter coming in at $2.6 billion, ahead of the $2.53 billion expected. Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) brought in $18.6 billion, for a +1% raise from a year ago. But next-quarter guidance was light on both top and bottom lines, helping move shares down a disappointing -4% in the after-market.
Etsy took it on the chin. The distinctive e-commerce company was light on revenues: $645.9 million versus the $648.22 expected. Gross merchandise sales came down -3.7% year over year, from $3.10 billion to $2.986 billion. The company also said it expects Q2 results to be similarly challenging, and this is why we already saw shares tumble -13% on the news yesterday afternoon.
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Qualcomm, MGM Resorts, eBay and Etsy
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 2, 2024 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Qualcomm (QCOM - Free Report) , MGM Resorts (MGM - Free Report) , eBay (EBAY - Free Report) and Etsy (ETSY - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Markets Sink After Powell Presser; Big Earnings Post-Bell
Markets surged yesterday on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference. It came after the Fed’s press release kept interest rates at the same 5.25-5.50%, with the same commitments to a +2% inflation target. Powell explained how the Fed would be slowing the pace of decline in securities on the balance sheet. This was taken as a sign of good news in real-time trading, but markets could not hold those levels, and stocks fell to session lows by the closing bell on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
By the time Powell had taken the podium, the S&P 500 was on a straight trajectory up 60 basis points (bps) or so. Toward the end of his Q&A session, markets ticked down a tad, and took the ramp off those session highs before falling all the way back down. The Dow was slightly up at the close, as was the small-cap Russell 2000. Powell assured the press that interest rates will eventually come down, but not until the Fed has greater confidence that the economy is progressing toward the +2% target. “And the data is just not there yet,” he said.
Powell also made an interesting point about inflation. While he noted Q4 2023 GDP had gotten up to +3.4% and the first read of Q1 GDP was only +1.6%, he said taking a look at Private Domestic Purchases (PDP) — which is defined as “total demand less government purchases and exports” — shows a much less drastic pullback: +3.1%. That’s a 30 bps downshift month over month, and purposeful for Powell in discussing that inflation is still notably too high to start cutting rates.
He saw the slowing pace of runoff for securities as providing a smoother transition toward the Fed’s dual mandate. Further, Powell said, “…(We’re) not seeing acceleration in (inflation) growth…” which basically takes any notion of a rate hike off the table. Smaller gestures like these allowed market participants to bid up markets in real time, but apparently they had second thoughts once the presser was over, even though Powell’s address was far from the doom and gloom scenario many investors had feared.
Qualcomm shares were up +4% in the late session Wednesday. Fiscal Q2 earnings results of $2.44 per share posted a +13% positive surprise over the $2.30 expected, which itself represented +17% growth year over year. Revenues of $9.386 billion surpassed the $9.32 billion analysts were looking for. Next-quarter guidance was nicely bumped up on both top and bottom lines, as the company appears to be in good shape to take advantage of an advancing A.I. market.
MGM Resorts also strode past expectations yesterday afternoon. Earnings of 74 cents per share zoomed past the 60 cents anticipated and the year-ago tally of 44 cents per share. Revenues came in at $4.4 billion, outperforming the $4.18 billion in the Zacks consensus. Unsurprisingly, MGM China revenues bounced up +71% over the past year, and this report makes it six straight earnings beats in a row for the gaming giant. Shares are up +1.7% in late trading, though had fallen from recent highs over the past month.
eBay beat on both top and bottom lines, but still trades down. Earnings of $1.25 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by a hard nickel, with revenues in the quarter coming in at $2.6 billion, ahead of the $2.53 billion expected. Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) brought in $18.6 billion, for a +1% raise from a year ago. But next-quarter guidance was light on both top and bottom lines, helping move shares down a disappointing -4% in the after-market.
Etsy took it on the chin. The distinctive e-commerce company was light on revenues: $645.9 million versus the $648.22 expected. Gross merchandise sales came down -3.7% year over year, from $3.10 billion to $2.986 billion. The company also said it expects Q2 results to be similarly challenging, and this is why we already saw shares tumble -13% on the news yesterday afternoon.
Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>
Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
support@zacks.com
https://www.zacks.com
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.