Markets News, April 25, 2024: Stocks Slump as GDP Data Adds to Economic Woes; Meta Tumbles

Stock Indexes Wrap: Meta Earnings Torpedo Cloud Providers But Boost Chip Stocks

The Dow

Merck (MRK) rose 2.9% after topping first-quarter earnings estimates amid strong demand for its cancer treatment Keytruda and HPV vaccine Gardasil. 

Intel (INTC) rose 1.8% ahead of its earnings report after the bell.

International Business Machines (IBM) tumbled 8% after it posted first-quarter revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. 

Caterpillar (CAT) dropped 7% after also missing sales estimates in the first quarter. 

Microsoft (MSFT), which reports earnings after the bell, shed 2.5% as Meta’s earnings raised concerns about soaring AI spending. Amazon (AMZN) slid 1.7% on the same worries.  

The S&P 500

Newmont (NEM) jumped 12.5% after reporting better-than-expected earnings, with revenue getting a boost from surging gold prices in March. 

Chipotle (CMG) climbed 6.5% after its earnings blew past analyst estimates amid a 7% increase in same-store sales in the first quarter.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) gained 4.3%, with the server and data center services provider getting a boost from Meta’s forecast that spending on AI infrastructure would surge this year. AI investment also lifted Nvidia (NVDA), up 3.7%, and Broadcom (AVGO), up 3%.

GE Vernova (GEV) ticked up 0.6% after reporting, in its first report since being spun-off from GE Aerospace (GE), that revenue increased 6% and its loss narrowed from the year-ago quarter.

Meta (META) tumbled 10.6% after increasing its full-year capital expenditures forecast while offering a disappointing revenue estimate for the current quarter. 

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) fell 8.6% after reporting it swung to a loss in the first quarter; it also announced plans to cut 2,200 jobs as part of a $1.5 billion cost-cutting effort. 

Southwest Airlines (LUV) dropped 7% after reporting a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter and saying delayed Boeing deliveries would limit capacity growth this year. 

The Nasdaq 100

AstraZeneca (AZN) gained 5.4% after exceeding Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines. 

Tesla (TSLA) rose 5%, continuing to gain after surging yesterday on Elon Musk’s assurances that the electric vehicle maker will release new models, including a low-cost option, by early next year.

Marvell Technology (MRVL) rode the AI chipmaker wave, closing 4.1% higher. It was trailed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and ASML Holding (ASML), up 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively. 

Comcast (CMCSA) fell 5.8% after reporting losing broadband and cable subscribers in the first quarter, overshadowing its better-than-expected earnings. 

Alphabet (GOOGL) slid 2%, weighed down by Meta’s quarterly results ahead of its earnings report after the bell.

Why Comcast Stock Is Tumbling Despite an Earnings Beat

Comcast (CMCSA) beat analyst estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit Thursday but shares fell as cable and broadband subscriber numbers continued to decline.

The company generated $30.06 billion in revenue in the first quarter, above the $29.87 billion analysts expected, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Comcast also reported $3.86 billion in net income, or earnings per share (EPS) of 97 cents, beating estimates of $3.63 billion and 91 cents per share, respectively.

The company reported solid subscriber growth in its mobile service division, adding 289,000 wireless lines in the quarter, but cable and broadband customers fell by 487,000 and 65,000, respectively.

Peacock continued to grow, reaching 34 million paid subscribers in the quarter. However, the streaming service still isn't profitable; Peacock generated $1.1 billion in revenue for the quarter, but Comcast reported an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $639 million for the service.

Shares initially rose in premarket trading after the earnings report was released, but reversed course and were down more than 5% with less than an hour left in the session.

-Aaron McDade

Analysts Stand By Meta, Praising AI Investment

Meta’s stock is down more than 10% after it disappointed investors with a sales forecast that missed expectations and news that spending is on the rise.

But analysts aren’t nearly as fazed as investors. Wedbush’s Dan Ives sees Meta’s AI investment as the right move at the right time.

“Meta is [in] a position of strength,” Ives said in a message to Investopedia. “Investors are in a risk-off mode but betting against Zuck and Meta has been the wrong move over the last decade.”

Ives said it was reasonable to expect other tech companies in similar positions to report increasing costs because of AI.

“It's a high-class problem with the AI Revolution and this arms race,” Ives said.

Bank of America analysts took a similar tack. “What is different on this investment cycle is that AI investments are already driving business results, and the Street is constructive on the AI opportunity,” analysts Justin Post and Nitin Bansal wrote. 

They expect Meta to maintain strong ad growth in the second quarter, and posited that AI improvements could power double-digit growth through 2025. The analysts reiterated their “buy” rating and maintained their $550 price target, representing 24% upside from Thursday’s levels. 

-Reporting contributed by Christiana Sciaudone

Merck Rises as Cancer Drug and Vaccine Sales Drive Better-Than-Expected Results

Merck (MRK) shares advanced in intraday trading Thursday after the pharmaceutical firm reported better-than-expected quarterly results, and raised and narrowed its guidance on strong sales of its blockbuster cancer-fighting treatments.

The company posted first-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.07, with revenue up 8.9% to $15.78 billion. Both easily beat forecasts.

Sales of its popular cancer drug, Keytruda, gained 19.9% to $6.95 billion. Revenue from Gardasil, its vaccine to prevent cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), advanced 14.0% to $2.25 billion on rising sales in both China and by the U.S. public sector, along with higher prices.

The company sees full-year adjusted EPS of $8.53 to $8.65, versus its prior outlook of $8.44 to $8.59.  It anticipates sales in the range of $63.1 billion to $64.3 billion, compared with its earlier estimate of $62.7 billion to $64.2 billion.

Shares of Merck were up 3.1% Thursday afternoon and have climbed about 20% in 2024.

-Bill McColl

Newmont Soars as Record Gold Prices Boost Earnings

Shares of Newmont (NEM) soared on Thursday after the gold miner topped Wall Street’s estimates with its first-quarter earnings on the back of robust product and higher gold prices. 

Newmont reported adjusted net income of $630 million, or 55 cents per share, on revenue of $4 billion. Gold production increased 32% year-over-year to 1.68 million ounces, beating analyst estimates, while the average realized gold price rose to $2,090. Production got a boost in the most recent quarter from Newmont’s acquisition of Australian mining giant Newcrest in November. 

Gold futures traded near record highs throughout the first two months of the year and surged in March as tensions in the Middle East reached a fever pitch and central banks, particularly the People’s Bank of China, scooped up the precious metal for their reserves. 

Newmont reiterated its full-year production and cost outlook on Thursday. It expects to produce 6.93 million ounces of gold, which it forecast will cost about $1,400 per ounce to produce. That’s slightly below the first quarter’s production costs of $1,439 an ounce. 

Though higher gold prices, which surged to a record above $2,400 per ounce last week, could offset higher-than-forecast production costs.

Newmont shares were up 11.3% Thursday afternoon, propelling them into positive territory for the year.

Caterpillar Stock Sinks as Lower Sales Offset Profit Beat

Caterpillar (CAT) shares fell sharply in intraday trading Thursday as lower-than-expected sales offset a stronger profit than analysts estimated.

The construction vehicle and engine manufacturer reported $15.8 billion in total revenue, short of analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha of $16.16 billion, but posted a profit of $2.86 billion, or $5.75 per share, topping estimates of $2.53 billion, or $5.02 per share.

Revenue across Caterpillar's equipment divisions was down $139 million compared with the first quarter of 2023. The company's sales especially suffered internationally, with construction equipment sales falling in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East (EAME) by 25% year-over-year, and 14% in the Asia/Pacific region.

For the current quarter, Caterpillar projects sales to decrease year-over-year, but adjusted operating margins should stay relatively the same thanks to higher prices.

Shares sank 7.2% to $337 midday Thursday. Still, the stock has gained 14% so far this year and 54% in the past 12 months.

-Aaron McDade

Nvidia Gains on Surging AI Hyperscaler Spending

One clear beneficiary of Meta’s spending spree: Nvidia (NVDA), shares of which climbed on Thursday as those of its hyperscaler customers tumbled amid concerns about spending on artificial intelligence offerings that are still years from meaningfully adding to the bottom line. 

Meta (META) on Wednesday evening raised its full-year capital expenditure (capex) forecast to a range of $35 billion to $40 billion from a prior range of $30 billion to $37 billion. The high end of the new range would represent a 50% year-over-year increase in spending. Between 2020 and 2023, full-year capex averaged less than $23 billion. 

And Meta plans to increase spending further in 2025, as “we invest aggressively to support our ambitious AI research and product development efforts,” said Chief Financial Officer Susan Li on the company’s earnings call.

Much of Meta’s expenses will come from investments in servers and data centers required to train large language models and run Meta AI, the company’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That will benefit Nvidia and other advanced semiconductor makers, whose products and services are the building blocks of AI systems. 

Nvidia shares were up 3% Thursday morning, while Meta tumbled nearly 12%. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL), two of Meta’s biggest competitors in the AI arms race, traded 4.4% and 2.7% lower, respectively. Meanwhile, shares of Nvidia peers Broadcom (AVGO) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were up 2.3% and 0.6%, respectively.

IBM Stock Drops After Confirming $6.4B HashiCorp Acquisition, Posting Q1 Revenue Miss

Shares in IBM (IBM) plunged more than 9% in early trading Thursday after the computing and consulting giant confirmed it will acquire cloud software maker HashiCorp (HCP) for $6.4 billion and posted quarterly revenue that came in short of Wall Street expectations.

The company said it plans to acquire HashiCorp for $35 per share in a cash deal, valuing the transaction at $6.4 billion, confirming a report in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that the two firms were closing in on a deal.

Turning to Big Blue’s quarterly results, the company posted first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.68 per share, above analysts’ forecast of $1.60 a share. While revenue in the period of $14.46 billion improved 1.5% from a year earlier, it came in below the $14.55 billion consensus view.

IBM's share price broke out from a multi-month rising wedge in late January but has failed to remain above the pattern’s top trendline, recently falling to its lower trendline. Amid news-related selling, investors should closely monitor the $165 level, an area on the chart that may attract buying interest near the prior December 2023 swing high and rising 200-day moving average.

-Timothy Smith

GDP Data Shows Economy Slowing, Inflation Accelerating

The U.S. economy as measured by the inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the first quarter, down from 3.4% in the fourth quarter of last year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday. That was below the median forecast of 2.2% according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal.

And in a setback in the fight against inflation, the report showed consumer price increases accelerated, rising to a 3.4% annual rate from 1.8% in the fourth quarter.

Consumer spending, the main engine of the U.S. economy, decelerated in the first quarter according to the GDP report, slowing to a 2.5% annual growth rate from 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Decelerating state and local government spending and exports also contributed to the slowdown.

Treasury yields jumped following the report as accelerating inflation shrank the odds the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates as soon as previously forecast. The 10-year yield, which influences rates across the economy, soared as high as 4.74%, its highest since October.

-Diccon Hyatt

Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket

Gains:

• Union Pacific (UNP): Shares of the railroad operator rose more than 4% after its quarterly results topped Wall Street estimates on the top and bottom lines despite what it called a “challenging freight environment.”
• American Airlines (AAL): Shares rose more than 3% after the airline reported a first-quarter loss but gave upbeat current-quarter guidance. 
• Merck & Co. (MRK): Shares of the pharmaceutical giant rose more than 2% after it beat expectations with its first-quarter earnings and raised its full-year outlook after a strong quarter for sales of its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda. 
  

Losses:

• Meta Platforms (META): Shares tumbled 15% after the Facebook parent offered a so-so current-quarter revenue forecast and raised its full-year capital expenditures forecast as it spends to build out artificial intelligence infrastructure.
• International Business Machines (IBM): Shares of the computing company fell nearly 10% after it missed first-quarter sales estimates and confirmed its plans to acquire cloud software maker HashiCorp (HCP) for $6.4 billion.
• Caterpillar (CAT): Shares of the industrial equipment maker shed more than 5% after its first-quarter revenue came up short of forecasts amid a decline in sales volume.

Stock Futures Lower as Meta Drags on Tech

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down about 0.6% in premarket trading on Thursday.

S&P 500 futures were off about 0.8%.

Nasdaq 100 futures traded 1.1% lower about an hour before markets opened.