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Markets Sink After Powell Presser; Big Earnings Post-Bell
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Wednesday, May 1st, 2024
Markets surged today 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 (QCOM - Free Report) shares are up +4% in the late session today. 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 (MGM - Free Report) also strode past expectations this 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 beat 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 (EBAY - Free Report) 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 (ETSY - Free Report) took it on the chin today. 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 are seeing shares tumble -13% on the news this afternoon.
Image: Bigstock
Markets Sink After Powell Presser; Big Earnings Post-Bell
Wednesday, May 1st, 2024
Markets surged today 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 (QCOM - Free Report) shares are up +4% in the late session today. 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 (MGM - Free Report) also strode past expectations this 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 beat 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 (EBAY - Free Report) 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 (ETSY - Free Report) took it on the chin today. 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 are seeing shares tumble -13% on the news this afternoon.
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