We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Q3 Productivity Slips to -0.3%, Labor Costs Rise 3.6%
Read MoreHide Full Article
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
U.S. Productivity in Q3 reported preliminary results (subject to future revisions) ahead of today’s opening bell, with a fairly disappointing outcome: -0.3% on the headline, well beneath the +0.6% expected and the upwardly revised +2.5% for the final print on Q2. This productivity report refers to non-farm goods produced domestically.
To see a negative headline read on U.S. Productivity is thankfully quite rare. The last time we saw this was nearly 4 full years ago, back in December 2015. From the Great Recession a decade ago onward, at 107.513 remains near multi-year highs on the index. From the December 2015 trough, we’ve seen a slow, steady climb from around 102 index points.
Q3 Unit Labor Costs, on the other hand, rose higher than anticipated, up 3.6% from an estimated 2.5% and last quarter’s final +2.6%. So while we see negative output in domestic goods produced over the last 3 months, costs for labor have jumped 100 basis points over the same time period. Here we see some initial signs of economic strain in an otherwise quite robust economy.
CVS Health (CVS - Free Report) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings this morning, with $1.87 per share beating estimates by 7 cents on revenues of $64.81 billion, which topped expectations by 2.83%. These figures compare favorably to the $1.73 per share and $47.27 billion, respectively, in Q3 2018. Shares are up nearly 3% in the pre-market, higher than CVS’ total year-to-date gains. For more on CVS’ earnings, click here.
Humana (HUM - Free Report) also impressed investors by surpassing estimates on its top and bottom line ahead of today’s open, with $5.08 per share beating by 50 cents on the bottom line and $4.58 billion coming in +0.55% on the top. the health insurance major has not missed on earnings since Q4 2015, and shares are up 2.5% on the earnings release. For more on HUM’s earnings, click here.
Papa John’s (PZZA - Free Report) put up a mixed overall Q3 with a miss on the bottom line by 2 cents to 21 cents per share, while $403.71 million in quarterly sales beat the Zacks consensus by 4.13%. Both Q3 figures compare favorably to the year-ago 20 cents per share and $364.01 million reported, respectively. Shares are up another 3.6% in pre-market activity, after already having zoomed up 43.7% year to date. For more on PZZA’s earnings, click here.
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >>
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Q3 Productivity Slips to -0.3%, Labor Costs Rise 3.6%
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
U.S. Productivity in Q3 reported preliminary results (subject to future revisions) ahead of today’s opening bell, with a fairly disappointing outcome: -0.3% on the headline, well beneath the +0.6% expected and the upwardly revised +2.5% for the final print on Q2. This productivity report refers to non-farm goods produced domestically.
To see a negative headline read on U.S. Productivity is thankfully quite rare. The last time we saw this was nearly 4 full years ago, back in December 2015. From the Great Recession a decade ago onward, at 107.513 remains near multi-year highs on the index. From the December 2015 trough, we’ve seen a slow, steady climb from around 102 index points.
Q3 Unit Labor Costs, on the other hand, rose higher than anticipated, up 3.6% from an estimated 2.5% and last quarter’s final +2.6%. So while we see negative output in domestic goods produced over the last 3 months, costs for labor have jumped 100 basis points over the same time period. Here we see some initial signs of economic strain in an otherwise quite robust economy.
CVS Health (CVS - Free Report) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings this morning, with $1.87 per share beating estimates by 7 cents on revenues of $64.81 billion, which topped expectations by 2.83%. These figures compare favorably to the $1.73 per share and $47.27 billion, respectively, in Q3 2018. Shares are up nearly 3% in the pre-market, higher than CVS’ total year-to-date gains. For more on CVS’ earnings, click here.
Humana (HUM - Free Report) also impressed investors by surpassing estimates on its top and bottom line ahead of today’s open, with $5.08 per share beating by 50 cents on the bottom line and $4.58 billion coming in +0.55% on the top. the health insurance major has not missed on earnings since Q4 2015, and shares are up 2.5% on the earnings release. For more on HUM’s earnings, click here.
Papa John’s (PZZA - Free Report) put up a mixed overall Q3 with a miss on the bottom line by 2 cents to 21 cents per share, while $403.71 million in quarterly sales beat the Zacks consensus by 4.13%. Both Q3 figures compare favorably to the year-ago 20 cents per share and $364.01 million reported, respectively. Shares are up another 3.6% in pre-market activity, after already having zoomed up 43.7% year to date. For more on PZZA’s earnings, click here.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
Click here for the 6 trades >>