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Netflix Earnings Preview and Results from MS, TSM, FAST, & PPG

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On today’s episode of Free Lunch, Ryan McQueeney recaps earnings results from industry bellwethers Morgan Stanley, Taiwan Semi, Fastenal, and PPG. Later, he previews the upcoming earnings report of video streaming giant Netflix.

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Free Lunch is presented by Zacks Investment Research. It is streamed live, four times per week, and features breaking news and analysis from Zacks strategists. Free Lunch is available on YouTube, Twitter, and other major streaming platforms.

Wall Street had a handful of bellwether earnings reports to digest on Thursday morning, with companies that serve as indicators for the financial, industrial, and tech sectors all filing quarterly results recently.

Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) disappointed investors, missing EPS and revenue expectations on the back of poor performances in key segments, including wealth management. Nevertheless, Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman pledged that these quarterly results would not be the “new normal” for the company.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM - Free Report) also failed to satisfy investors, despite beating estimates on the top and bottom lines. It was the chip giant’s poor outlook that had people worried, as TSM guided for current-quarter sales of just $7.4 billion, more than $1 billion below Street estimates. This underscored existing sector-wide fears about weak demand for smartphones.

Things were a bit better for industrial and manufacturing bellwethers Fastenal (FAST - Free Report) and PPG (PPG - Free Report) . Fastenal, a maker of fasteners and other parts for all sorts of equipment, matched EPS estimates and tallied profit growth of 11%. PPG also cruised past earnings per share projections, inspiring a healthy rally in morning trading today.

Now, the attention will turn to Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , which is scheduled to release its latest quarterly earnings results after the bell today. The video streaming company has a solid history of beating EPS figures, but most who follow the stock prefer to hear about subscriber additions and profit margins.

The uncertainty of these types of results tend to create volatility ahead of and after Netflix’s report, and the stock has indeed seen some wild swings in recent quarters. Moreover, this report feels especially important after the company’s recent announcement that it plans to raise prices for its subscription plans.

What should investors expect from Netflix this afternoon? Make sure to check out today’s Free Lunch to hear Ryan’s answer to that very question!

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