IN NUMBERS
The 10-year Treasury yield rose on Friday, trading at around 2.9%, but below its recent high from late 2018. The Fed’s favorite inflation gauge was out before the bell. The core PCE price index for March rose 5.2% year-over-year, slightly lower than expected. But it’s still very strong, and it probably solidifies the central bank’s intention to raise interest rates by half a percentage point in May. (CNBC)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Amazon fell 10% in pre-market, after its Thursday evening announcement of weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings and lower guidance. Revenue in the quarter rose 7% year over year to $116.4 billion, essentially in line with expectations. It was the lowest sales increase of any quarter since the dot-com meltdown in 2001 and the second straight quarter of single-digit percentage growth. (CNBC)
* Investing Club: Amazon’s booming cloud business was unable to salvage a weak quarter
* Amazon’s cloud business grows nearly 37%, but slows from last quarter (CNBC)
* Amazon suffers $7.6 billion loss on Rivian stake after EV stock tumbles (CNBC)
Apple fell 1% in premarket Friday morning after warning that Covid-related supply constraints could hurt sales by $4 billion to $8 billion in its fiscal third quarter. The guidance overshadowed strong fiscal second-quarter results, including earnings, revenue and gross margins. While analysts were expecting a bit more from the services segment, it nevertheless recorded record revenues. Product sales hit a record high for the March quarter. (CNBC)
* Investment Club: Apple’s supply constraint warning doesn’t detract from a strong quarter
* Cramer: Bet against “superstar” executives like Tim Cook at your own risk (CNBC)
Elon Musk sold about $4 billion worth of Tesla (TSLA) stock in the days following his $44 billion bid to take Twitter (TWTR) private, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bulk of the CEO’s sales were made on Tuesday, according to filings. Tesla shares fell 12% that day but edged up Wednesday by less than 1 percentage point. (CNBC)
As the filings went public Thursday evening, Musk wrote on Twitter, “No further TSLA sales are expected after today.” Tesla stock rose more than 1.5% in Friday’s premarket. Twitter shares soared nearly 1% to more than $49 apiece, below Musk’s cash bid of $54.20 per share.
Shares of Chevron (CVX) fell 1% in Friday’s premarket after the oil giant reported that its profits had more than quadrupled in the first quarter due to higher oil prices and the ‘essence. Chevron’s revenue rose nearly 70% to $54.37 billion. West Texas Intermediate crude futures hit $130.50 in early March, a price last seen in 2008 as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked supply fears. Prices have since declined, but are still above $100, which is boosting trading by energy companies. (CNBC)
Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM) fell 1% in premarket after the company announced on Friday a first-quarter $3.4 billion after-tax charge related to its Sakhalin-1 operation in Russia. Profit doubled to $5.5 billion in the quarter. However, profit was down from $8.87 billion in the fourth quarter. Revenue rose more than 50% to $90.5 billion, although that was below expectations. (CNBC)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of trying to humiliate the United Nations by raining missiles on kyiv during a visit by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, an attack that shattered the capital’s tentative return to normality as Russia focused on its war unprovoked to the east. (AP)
* Russia cuts key interest rate to 14%, says inflation could hit 23% this year (CNBC)
Airbnb (ABNB) plans to let its employees live and work wherever they want. CEO Brian Chesky announced this Thursday on Twitter, saying staff compensation would not change. In a separate space email to staff, Chesky said employees will still need a permanent address for tax and payroll purposes. (CNBC)
Dubbed “Woodstock for Capitalists,” Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting takes place on Saturday and will be streamed live on CNBC.com. Chaired by Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, the event in Omaha, Nebraska gives shareholders the opportunity to hear from the two legendary investors and ask them questions.
STOCKS TO MONITOR
Intel (INTC) fell more than 3% after Intel issued a weak guidance for its fiscal second quarter, overshadowing stronger-than-expected earnings for the prior quarter.
Robinhood (HOOD) fell nearly 10% following a Q1 report that showed a drop in revenue and monthly active users. CEO Vlad Tenev said the company saw clients with smaller accounts trade less when the market fell.
Chinese tech stocks including Alibaba (BABA), Pinduoduo (PDD) and Baidu (BIDU) surged after Chinese policymakers signaled an easing of a crackdown on tech companies.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) fell 1.5% despite an earnings report that beat expectations. On Friday, Bristol-Myers Squibb reported earning $1.96 per share on revenue of $11.65 billion. According to Refinitiv, the company is expected to earn $1.91 per share on revenue of $11.36 billion.
Honeywell International (HON) jumped 2% after Honeywell reported earnings that beat expectations. Honeywell posted earnings of $1.91 per share on revenue of $8.38 billion. Meanwhile, analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting earnings per share of $1.86 on revenue of $8.29 billion.
WATER COOLER
James Cordon said he would bow out from his late-night show on CBS the next year, calling it “a good time to move on and see what else there might be.” Corden announced its decision during the taping of Thursday’s “The Late Late Show,” which he began hosting in 2015. (AP)
Comments are closed.