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We take a pause from the heavy Q3 earnings season inflow for a moment — especially seeing as, to this point, we haven’t seen any sort of spur to the upside 1/3 of the way through September quarter reports — to bring some new economic data ahead of the opening bell today. Plenty of grist for the mill today, even without considering new earnings reports.
As per typical every Thursday morning, Initial Jobless Claims hit the tape. And, as per typical going back at least as far as most of calendar 2018, results remain nothing short of fabulous: 215K new claims were tallied last week, up 5000 from an unrevised previous week’s total, but still the best overall jobless claims picture we’ve seen since Lucille Ball still ruled TV.
Continuing Claims fell even further, to a near-preposterous 1.636 million. These numbers are insanely good, and not even major storms, such as Hurricane Michael ripping through the Florida panhandle, appear able to tame them.
September Durable Goods Orders were also reported this morning, with +0.8% on the headline lower than the robust +4.4% from the previous month, but much better than the -1.4% analysts had been expecting. Peel back some of these reads, however, and the numbers aren’t quite so amazing: ex-Transportation this dwindles to +0.1%, and melts even further to -0.1% Capital Goods Orders, non-Defense, ex-Aircraft to -0.1%; +0.5% was the estimate.
No doubt these orders numbers are very volatile month over month, but there’s no avoiding the +119% growth in commercial airlines for September. Non-Defense Capital Orders came in at a rather pedestrian -0.1%. So we see where the strength lay a month ago, subject to revision. The placid terrain elsewhere in goods trading also reflects questions companies have regarding further affects of the trade tariffs/trade war between the U.S. and China, as well as elsewhere around the globe.
Wholesale Inventories also came in below estimates, with a headline of +0.3%. Analysts had been looking for a +0.5% read ahead of the release. But overall, economic growth stemming from inventories is the least desirable, as they rely on future sales. If those sales don’t materialize, inventories grow and need to be worked off. Inventories are sort of like the fat cells of the economic body’s metabolism.
Now for the earnings front: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy)-rated Twitter sent Q3 earnings out of the park this morning, putting up 21 cents per share for 50% earnings beat on $758 million in revenues, outpacing estimates by 7.8%. Shares had been up year-to-date by about 14.7%, and are soaring again in today’s pre-market, +10%. For more on TWTR’s earnings, click here.
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) also outperformed on both top and bottom lines, with 65 cents per share surpassing the 61 cents expected and the 52 cents from the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $22.14 billion beat estimates by 1.78% and higher than Q3 2017’s $20.98 billion. Shares had been down 14.8% year to date, but are now surging back 4.34% ahead of the opening bell. For more on CMCSA’s earnings, click here.
Pharmaceutical major Merck (MRK - Free Report) posted a 3-cent beat to $1.19 per share, or revenues of $10.79 billion which also slightly outperformed expectations. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has not put up a negative earnings surprise in nearly 5 full years. However, with shares having traded up more than 25% year to date, today’s pre-market session is selling on the news by roughly 2%. For more on MRK’s earnings, click here.
Oil & Gas supermajor ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) , on the other hand, is up 2% in early trading following its strong Q3 earnings results: $1.36 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus of $1.17 by 16%, while revenues of $10.17 billion in the quarter represents a 7% beat. Shares of the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company were already up just shy of 20% year to date, with more room to in the pre-market. For more on COP’s earnings, click here.
And American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) , a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) ahead of its Q3 earnings reports, ekes out a modest beat on top and bottom lines this morning. Earnings of $1.13 per share beat estimates by a penny, and $11.56 billion in sales was technically a beat, up 0.06% for the quarter, and up respectably from the year-ago quarter’s $10.88 billion. Thus, following a year-to-date performance -41.7%, American shares are clawing back 4.7% in today’s pre-market. For more on AAL’s earnings, click here.
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Earnings Data Deluge
We take a pause from the heavy Q3 earnings season inflow for a moment — especially seeing as, to this point, we haven’t seen any sort of spur to the upside 1/3 of the way through September quarter reports — to bring some new economic data ahead of the opening bell today. Plenty of grist for the mill today, even without considering new earnings reports.
As per typical every Thursday morning, Initial Jobless Claims hit the tape. And, as per typical going back at least as far as most of calendar 2018, results remain nothing short of fabulous: 215K new claims were tallied last week, up 5000 from an unrevised previous week’s total, but still the best overall jobless claims picture we’ve seen since Lucille Ball still ruled TV.
Continuing Claims fell even further, to a near-preposterous 1.636 million. These numbers are insanely good, and not even major storms, such as Hurricane Michael ripping through the Florida panhandle, appear able to tame them.
September Durable Goods Orders were also reported this morning, with +0.8% on the headline lower than the robust +4.4% from the previous month, but much better than the -1.4% analysts had been expecting. Peel back some of these reads, however, and the numbers aren’t quite so amazing: ex-Transportation this dwindles to +0.1%, and melts even further to -0.1% Capital Goods Orders, non-Defense, ex-Aircraft to -0.1%; +0.5% was the estimate.
No doubt these orders numbers are very volatile month over month, but there’s no avoiding the +119% growth in commercial airlines for September. Non-Defense Capital Orders came in at a rather pedestrian -0.1%. So we see where the strength lay a month ago, subject to revision. The placid terrain elsewhere in goods trading also reflects questions companies have regarding further affects of the trade tariffs/trade war between the U.S. and China, as well as elsewhere around the globe.
Wholesale Inventories also came in below estimates, with a headline of +0.3%. Analysts had been looking for a +0.5% read ahead of the release. But overall, economic growth stemming from inventories is the least desirable, as they rely on future sales. If those sales don’t materialize, inventories grow and need to be worked off. Inventories are sort of like the fat cells of the economic body’s metabolism.
Now for the earnings front: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy)-rated Twitter sent Q3 earnings out of the park this morning, putting up 21 cents per share for 50% earnings beat on $758 million in revenues, outpacing estimates by 7.8%. Shares had been up year-to-date by about 14.7%, and are soaring again in today’s pre-market, +10%. For more on TWTR’s earnings, click here.
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) also outperformed on both top and bottom lines, with 65 cents per share surpassing the 61 cents expected and the 52 cents from the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $22.14 billion beat estimates by 1.78% and higher than Q3 2017’s $20.98 billion. Shares had been down 14.8% year to date, but are now surging back 4.34% ahead of the opening bell. For more on CMCSA’s earnings, click here.
Pharmaceutical major Merck (MRK - Free Report) posted a 3-cent beat to $1.19 per share, or revenues of $10.79 billion which also slightly outperformed expectations. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has not put up a negative earnings surprise in nearly 5 full years. However, with shares having traded up more than 25% year to date, today’s pre-market session is selling on the news by roughly 2%. For more on MRK’s earnings, click here.
Oil & Gas supermajor ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) , on the other hand, is up 2% in early trading following its strong Q3 earnings results: $1.36 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus of $1.17 by 16%, while revenues of $10.17 billion in the quarter represents a 7% beat. Shares of the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company were already up just shy of 20% year to date, with more room to in the pre-market. For more on COP’s earnings, click here.
And American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) , a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) ahead of its Q3 earnings reports, ekes out a modest beat on top and bottom lines this morning. Earnings of $1.13 per share beat estimates by a penny, and $11.56 billion in sales was technically a beat, up 0.06% for the quarter, and up respectably from the year-ago quarter’s $10.88 billion. Thus, following a year-to-date performance -41.7%, American shares are clawing back 4.7% in today’s pre-market. For more on AAL’s earnings, click here.