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We’ve got a healthy amount of grist for the trading mill ahead of today’s opening bell, with fresh Q1 earnings reports from major household firms joining housing data from last month. All major indices are up at this hour, led by the Nasdaq, which is +110 points roughly 40 minutes prior to the open. The Dow and S&P 500 are in-line with each other, points-wise: +22 and +20, respectively.
Housing Starts for March performed slightly better than expected on headline: 1.420 million versus the 1.4 million estimated, though lower than the downwardly revised 1.43 million from the previous month. This is also the weakest overall tally since January of this year (and June of last year before that), although gains in single-family homes built is a good sign of things to come for the housing market in general.
Building Permits came in lower than estimates — 1.413 million was notably below the 1.45 million, and also the slimmest headline since January — though the previous month’s revision was ramped up to 1.55 million. Again, we see gains in single-family homes on the permits side, too, which portend well for a stronger economy, as single-family homes are among the biggest drivers of economic growth that exist.
Another positive for housing in re new home construction data is that these new starts and permits are doing more of the work in the sector than they have in recent memory — maybe ever. New homebuilders, according to the group’s survey yesterday, now make up 30%+ of all homes for sale. That’s because existing homes simply aren’t going on the market like they used to, largely because homeowners interested in moving would rather wait until mortgage rates go down lower than +6.6%. In fact, we may see more business for homebuilders, especially large ones, to get more product on the housing market.
Johnson & Johnson ((JNJ - Free Report) posted a solid beat-and-raise in its Q1 earnings results this morning, with earnings of $2.68 per share outpacing the $2.51 expected for a +6.77% positive surprise. It even beat year-ago earnings by a penny, which was not expected this quarter. Revenues of $24.75 billion topped estimates by +5%, with top brass at the Consumer Staples firm stating Q1 growth was “much stronger than Q4.” The company now expects $1 billion more in sales by year-and than originally guided in January. EPS for full-year guidance is now listed at between $10.60-10.70 per share.
We’re still hearing from Wall Street banks, as well: Bank of America ((BAC - Free Report) posted a +19% positive beat with earnings of 94 cents per share surpassing the 79 cents in the Zacks consensus. Revenues of $26.26 billion outperformed expectations by +4.72%. Thus we continue to see the country’s biggest banks showing little-to-no negative affects from the regional bank contagion we saw late in Q1.
Goldman Sachs ((GS - Free Report) put up mixed results for its Q1 earnings ahead of today’s open: earnings of $8.79 per share came in +8% higher than the expected $8.14, while revenues of $12.22 billion was -6.16% shy of the Zacks consensus $13.03 billion. Results also reflect a -17% pullback from its stellar Q1 2022, but these Goldman numbers are likely not as painful as early market traders are making out, sending shares down -3%. For more on GS’ earnings, click here.
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Building Permits Declined in March
We’ve got a healthy amount of grist for the trading mill ahead of today’s opening bell, with fresh Q1 earnings reports from major household firms joining housing data from last month. All major indices are up at this hour, led by the Nasdaq, which is +110 points roughly 40 minutes prior to the open. The Dow and S&P 500 are in-line with each other, points-wise: +22 and +20, respectively.
Housing Starts for March performed slightly better than expected on headline: 1.420 million versus the 1.4 million estimated, though lower than the downwardly revised 1.43 million from the previous month. This is also the weakest overall tally since January of this year (and June of last year before that), although gains in single-family homes built is a good sign of things to come for the housing market in general.
Building Permits came in lower than estimates — 1.413 million was notably below the 1.45 million, and also the slimmest headline since January — though the previous month’s revision was ramped up to 1.55 million. Again, we see gains in single-family homes on the permits side, too, which portend well for a stronger economy, as single-family homes are among the biggest drivers of economic growth that exist.
Another positive for housing in re new home construction data is that these new starts and permits are doing more of the work in the sector than they have in recent memory — maybe ever. New homebuilders, according to the group’s survey yesterday, now make up 30%+ of all homes for sale. That’s because existing homes simply aren’t going on the market like they used to, largely because homeowners interested in moving would rather wait until mortgage rates go down lower than +6.6%. In fact, we may see more business for homebuilders, especially large ones, to get more product on the housing market.
Johnson & Johnson ((JNJ - Free Report) posted a solid beat-and-raise in its Q1 earnings results this morning, with earnings of $2.68 per share outpacing the $2.51 expected for a +6.77% positive surprise. It even beat year-ago earnings by a penny, which was not expected this quarter. Revenues of $24.75 billion topped estimates by +5%, with top brass at the Consumer Staples firm stating Q1 growth was “much stronger than Q4.” The company now expects $1 billion more in sales by year-and than originally guided in January. EPS for full-year guidance is now listed at between $10.60-10.70 per share.
We’re still hearing from Wall Street banks, as well: Bank of America ((BAC - Free Report) posted a +19% positive beat with earnings of 94 cents per share surpassing the 79 cents in the Zacks consensus. Revenues of $26.26 billion outperformed expectations by +4.72%. Thus we continue to see the country’s biggest banks showing little-to-no negative affects from the regional bank contagion we saw late in Q1.
Goldman Sachs ((GS - Free Report) put up mixed results for its Q1 earnings ahead of today’s open: earnings of $8.79 per share came in +8% higher than the expected $8.14, while revenues of $12.22 billion was -6.16% shy of the Zacks consensus $13.03 billion. Results also reflect a -17% pullback from its stellar Q1 2022, but these Goldman numbers are likely not as painful as early market traders are making out, sending shares down -3%. For more on GS’ earnings, click here.