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Jobless Claims Fall, Q4 GDP at 4.0%; Plus Q4 from CMCSA, MCD, MA
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Thursday, January 28, 2021
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for new Initial Jobless Claims data for the previous week. These figures continue to improve slightly from the post-holiday bust-out to the upside, scaling 927K new claims only a few weeks ago. For the past week, we see 847K new jobless claims — down 67K from the upwardly revised 914K the previous week. This represents roughly the median initial claims figures we’ve seen over the past eight weeks.
Continuing Claims quietly past through a new lower threshold, below 5 million to a downwardly revised 4.97 million three weeks ago, to 47.7 million two weeks ago in this latest read (Continuing Claims always reports a week in arrears from Initial Claims). While this also represents a strong downward slope in long-term unemployment (although absorbed to a notable measure by Pandemic Unemployment Assistance [PUA]), it is leveling out here around 5 million — well below the 200K we were seeing here a year ago.
Gross Domestic Product for 4th quarter 2020 (Q4 GDP) came out with its initial read this morning: +4.0%. This is a bit shy of the +4.3% analysts were looking for, and a great deal below the record-setting +33.4% set in Q2. Obviously, this record high was a bounce-back from the record drop we’d seen previously when pandemic conditions first got its grip on the domestic economy. A 4% gain in GDP without additional aid from the government to help out families and small businesses in the quarter looks pretty strong in hindsight.
Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) beat Q4 earnings estimates this morning, posting a 14.3% earnings beat to 56 cents per share on revenues of $27.71 billion, which topped estimates by 3.5%. Comcast has not missed a consensus earnings estimate in five years. Shares are up 3.9% in today’s pre-market on the Q4 release, making up most of the 4.4% loss the company has posted year-to-date. For more on CMCSA’s earnings, click here.
McDonald’s (MCD - Free Report) , on the other hand, missed estimates by 5 cents to $1.70 per share in its Q4 report this morning, on $5.31 billion which was flattish but down 0.11% in the quarter. The quick-service restaurant giant has only topped earnings estimates once in the past five quarters, with an earnings actual 27 cents below last year’s figure. Yet shares are up slightly in today’s pre-market, keeping the stock in the green year-to-date as of now. For more on MCD’s earnings, click here.
Mastercard (MA - Free Report) posted solid beats on both top- and bottom-lines during today’s pre-market, with $1.64 per share beating the $1.51 expected (though notably below the $1.96 per share reported a year ago). Revenues of $4.12 billion beat the estimate by 3.23%, and the company has now topped estimates in four of the last five quarters. Shares have gained 4% on the news, pushing the stock into positive territory for the year. For more on MA’s earnings, click here.
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Last year's 2020 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as +386.8%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys.
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Jobless Claims Fall, Q4 GDP at 4.0%; Plus Q4 from CMCSA, MCD, MA
Thursday, January 28, 2021
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for new Initial Jobless Claims data for the previous week. These figures continue to improve slightly from the post-holiday bust-out to the upside, scaling 927K new claims only a few weeks ago. For the past week, we see 847K new jobless claims — down 67K from the upwardly revised 914K the previous week. This represents roughly the median initial claims figures we’ve seen over the past eight weeks.
Continuing Claims quietly past through a new lower threshold, below 5 million to a downwardly revised 4.97 million three weeks ago, to 47.7 million two weeks ago in this latest read (Continuing Claims always reports a week in arrears from Initial Claims). While this also represents a strong downward slope in long-term unemployment (although absorbed to a notable measure by Pandemic Unemployment Assistance [PUA]), it is leveling out here around 5 million — well below the 200K we were seeing here a year ago.
Gross Domestic Product for 4th quarter 2020 (Q4 GDP) came out with its initial read this morning: +4.0%. This is a bit shy of the +4.3% analysts were looking for, and a great deal below the record-setting +33.4% set in Q2. Obviously, this record high was a bounce-back from the record drop we’d seen previously when pandemic conditions first got its grip on the domestic economy. A 4% gain in GDP without additional aid from the government to help out families and small businesses in the quarter looks pretty strong in hindsight.
Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) beat Q4 earnings estimates this morning, posting a 14.3% earnings beat to 56 cents per share on revenues of $27.71 billion, which topped estimates by 3.5%. Comcast has not missed a consensus earnings estimate in five years. Shares are up 3.9% in today’s pre-market on the Q4 release, making up most of the 4.4% loss the company has posted year-to-date. For more on CMCSA’s earnings, click here.
McDonald’s (MCD - Free Report) , on the other hand, missed estimates by 5 cents to $1.70 per share in its Q4 report this morning, on $5.31 billion which was flattish but down 0.11% in the quarter. The quick-service restaurant giant has only topped earnings estimates once in the past five quarters, with an earnings actual 27 cents below last year’s figure. Yet shares are up slightly in today’s pre-market, keeping the stock in the green year-to-date as of now. For more on MCD’s earnings, click here.
Mastercard (MA - Free Report) posted solid beats on both top- and bottom-lines during today’s pre-market, with $1.64 per share beating the $1.51 expected (though notably below the $1.96 per share reported a year ago). Revenues of $4.12 billion beat the estimate by 3.23%, and the company has now topped estimates in four of the last five quarters. Shares have gained 4% on the news, pushing the stock into positive territory for the year. For more on MA’s earnings, click here.
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Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2021
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 best buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2021?
Last year's 2020 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as +386.8%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys.
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