Morning News: May 3, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 3rd, 2022 at 7:07 am

Australia Raises Interest Rates for First Time in More Than a Decade

Russia Dodges Default as Some Investors Receive Dollar Funds

Russia Turns on Spending Taps to Blunt Economic Impact of War and Sanctions

Russia Could Sell More Energy to Asia, but Has to Slash Prices

Get Ready for Another Energy Price Spike: High Electric Bills

Global Chip Shortage’s Latest Worry: Too Few Chips for Chip-Making

The Era of Cheap and Plenty May Be Ending

Big Money Backs Tiny Loans That Lead to Debt, Despair and Even Suicide

The Hot Housing Market Makes the Fed’s Inflation-Fighting Job Even Tougher

Amazon Workers Reject Union in New York After Labor Victory at Separate Facility

BP Takes $25.5 Billion Hit From Russia Exit

Spirit Airlines Rejects JetBlue Bid, Sticks With Frontier Deal

‘I Don’t Really Have a Business Plan’: How Elon Musk Wings It

Morgan Stanley Raided in Frankfurt in Tax Fraud Investigation

Another Firing Among Google’s A.I. Brain Trust, and More Discord

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Moody’s Earns $2.89 per Share
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 2nd, 2022 at 11:46 am

On Friday, the S&P 500 closed out April by falling 3.6%. This marked the worst four-month start to a year since 1939.

The Federal Reserve meets again this week, and we can almost certainly expect a 0.5% rate increase, and probably a 0.75% increase at the next meeting in June.

Our streak of earnings beats came to an end today as Moody’s (MCO) reported Q1 earnings of $2.89 per share. That was one penny below expectations.

The company also cut its full-year guidance range to $9.85 to $10.35 per share. That’s down from the earlier guidance of $10.75 to $11.25 per share.

“Moody’s trusted insights and breadth of integrated risk assessment solutions are increasingly relevant in times of heightened uncertainty and market volatility,” said Rob Fauber, President and Chief Executive Officer of Moody’s. “Growth in our KYC solutions and credit research led to another impressive quarter in Moody’s Analytics. This increased demand demonstrates the benefit of MA’s highly recurring revenue business model, which balances the more cyclical nature of Moody’s Investors Service. While we are focused on strong execution across the business, as a result of MIS’s first quarter performance and our expectation for continued market volatility, we have lowered our full year 2022 adjusted diluted EPS guidance range to $10.75 to $11.25.”

Also this morning, the ISM Manufacturing Index fell to 55.4. That’s down 1.7 from March. Any number above 50 means that the factory sector of the economy is expanding.

Morning News: May 2, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on May 2nd, 2022 at 7:07 am

-1.4% GDP Just Reminds Us of the Abject Stupidity of GDP

Americans Are Showing Inflation Fatigue, and Some Companies See a Breaking Point

As Inflation Eases Public Debt Load, Economists Sound Cautionary Note

Buffett Lures Omaha Disciples With Stock Buys, Inflation Warning

End of Easy Money Brings a $410 Billion Global Financial Shock

Fed Prepares Double-Barreled Tightening With Bond Runoff

Biggest Treasury Buyer Outside U.S. Quietly Selling Billions

The Extraordinary Wealth Created by the Pandemic Housing Market

The Fed Wants to Cool the U.S. Housing Market. Here’s What that Feels Like

Apple Faces E.U. Antitrust Charges over Apple Pay

How Technocrats Triumphed at Apple

How Twitter’s Board Went From Fighting Elon Musk to Accepting Him

The Party of Big Business Is Getting More Anti-Conservative by the Day

Disney’s Clash With Florida Has CEOs on Alert

In Bid to Boost Peacock, Universal Sending 3 Movies Straight to Streaming

For Instacart Shoppers, the Job Is Getting Harder, Slower

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Morning News: April 29, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on April 29th, 2022 at 7:04 am

Europe’s Economy Slows to A Crawl as War and Inflation Take a Toll

U.S. Economy Shrank in First Quarter, but Underlying Measures Were Solid

Market Volatility, Balance Sheet Surprises Raise Risk of Bumpy Fed Pivot

Labor Department Criticizes Fidelity’s Plan to Put Bitcoin on 401(k) Menu

War Is Making One of the Richest Countries Even Richer

Fracking Boom Turns Texas Into the Earthquake Capital of the U.S.

The Permian Basin Oil Field Is Running Out of Workers, Materials—and Cash

Texas Stumbles in Its Effort to Punish Green Financial Firms

F.D.A. Moves to Ban Sales of Menthol Cigarettes

Tech Stocks Lose $1.8 Trillion in a Month Thanks to Fed

Apple Says China Lockdowns Loom Over Sales

Jeff Bezos Loses $13 Billion in Hours as Amazon Shares Slump

Elon Musk Offloads $4 Billion of Tesla Shares, Pledges No More Sales

Inside Twitter, Fears Musk Will Return Platform to Its Early Troubles

Robinhood Abandoned by Fans of Crypto and Meme Stocks

McDonald’s Left With Millions Of Dollars Of Russian Food It Can’t Use. Here’s Why.

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Four Earnings Reports this Morning
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on April 28th, 2022 at 8:56 am

There’s a lot of news this morning. Let’s start with FactSet (FDS) which increased its dividend by 8.5% to 89 cents per share. This is the 23rd year in a row that FactSet has raised its dividend.

Now to earnings. We had four Buy List stocks report this morning.

Let’s start with Hershey (HSY) which had a big beat. The chocolate company said its earnings rose 31.8% to $2.53 per share. That beat expectations of $2.10 per share. Hershey increased its full-year guidance to a range of $7.91 to $8.05 per share. That’s growth of 10% to 12%. The previous range was 8% to 10%.

Church & Dwight (CHD) reported Q1 earnings of 83 cents per share. That beat expectations of 77 cents per share. The company had been expecting 75 cents per share. For the year C&D sees earnings growth of 4% which is at the low end of their 4% to 8% range.

Carrier (CARR) announced earnings of 54 cents per share. Expectations were for 47 cents per share. Carrier also reiterated its full-year guidance of $2.20 to $2.30 per share.

Thermo Fisher (TMO) earned $7.25 per share compared with estimates of $6.18 per share. On its earnings call, Thermo raised its full year guidance from $22.43 per share to $22.65 per share.

For economic news this morning. Jobless claims came in at 180,000 which matched expectations. Q1 GDP was -1.4%. The economy shrunk last quarter but a lot of that was due to inventories. Consumption rose by 2.7%.

Morning News: April 28, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on April 28th, 2022 at 7:00 am

Yen Hits New 20-Year Low After Bank of Japan Reinforces Low-Rate Policy

Yen’s Historic Fall Signals Rewrite of Global Currency Playbook

UBS Becomes Third Global Bank to Lose China Boss This Month

Indonesia Stuns Markets as It Widens Ban to Include CPO, Refined Palm Oil

Europe Sees Ambiguity in EU’s Advice on Russian Gas Demands

In the Top U.S. Oil Field, a Battle for Materials Crimps Growth

The Fed’s Racing to Raise Rates, But How High Remains an Open Bid

The Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class

Matt Levine: What Was Bill Hwang Thinking?

How Vanguard Founder John Bogle Changed Everything

Elon Musk Already Broke His Agreement with Twitter

Meta Shares Soar as Facebook Returns to User Growth

Disney Strategy Is to Stay Silent to Soften Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Blow

Boeing Looked for Flaws in Its Dreamliner and Couldn’t Stop Finding Them

Ford Posts $3.1 Billion First-Quarter Loss, Maintains 2022 Outlook

McDonald’s Leans on Price Hikes to Beat Earnings Estimates

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Earnings from AFLAC and FICO
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on April 27th, 2022 at 4:15 pm

After the closing bell, AFLAC (AFL) reported earnings of $1.42 per share. That was five cents more than estimates. The weaker yen/dollar exchange rate pinged earnings by six cents per share. Total revenues were $5.3 billion in Q1 compared with $5.9 billion last year. AFLAC’s U.S. sales increased by 19.0% to $299 million.

Commenting on the company’s results, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos stated: “The company generated solid earnings for the first quarter, supported in part by the continuation of low benefit ratios associated with pandemic conditions and better-than-expected returns from alternative investments, despite the weakening yen. We continue to remain cautiously optimistic as we continue to navigate the pandemic.

“Looking at our operations in Japan, persistency remained strong in the first quarter, but sales were constrained as we continued to operate in the wake of evolving pandemic conditions, including various states of emergency that were in effect through mid-March. These impacted our ability to meet face-to-face with customers, which continues to be key to a recovery in sales. Recognizing pandemic conditions in Japan, we expect stronger sales in the second half of the year assuming that those conditions subside, productivity continues to improve at Japan Post, and we execute on our product introduction and refreshment plans.

The stock is about flat in after-hours trading.

FICO (FICO) said it made $4.68 per share for its fiscal Q2. That beat estimates of $3.73 per share. Revenue increased to $357 million.

“We continue to deliver strong results in an uncertain economic environment,” said Will Lansing, chief executive officer. “We’re delivering strong top-line growth, and our focus on efficiency has enabled us to deliver expanded margins.”

FICO raised its full-year guidance from $14.12 per share to $16.08 per share. The company has already made $8.36 for the first six months of this year.

The stock is up 3.3% in after-hours trading.

Earnings from Fiserv and Silgan
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on April 27th, 2022 at 11:49 am

Hectic morning today in the markets. Stocks started off well, then dipped lower and now are back up again. I see that shares of Twitter are down to $48 per share. Perhaps there are some deal doubters out there.

We had two Buy List earnings report this morning. Fiserv (FISV) earned $1.40 per share. That’s up 20% from last year and it topped Wall Street by five cents. Adjusted revenue grew by 10% to $3.91 billion. Organic revenue growth was up 11%.

Fiserv stuck by its full-year forecast of $6.40 to $6.55 per share. That works out to growth of 15% to 17%.

Also this morning, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) said it made 78 cents per share for its Q1. That was two cents more than estimates. Business is going so well that Silgan raised its full-year guidance range to $3.90 to $4.05 per share. The previous range was $3.80 to $4.00 per share. In February, the company bumped up its quarterly dividend from 14 to 16 cents per share.

AFLAC and FICO will report after the close.

Morning News: April 27, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on April 27th, 2022 at 7:07 am

Russia Stops Gas to Poland and Bulgaria, Opens New Front in Economic War

Can Japan Keep the Lights On? The Ukraine War Upends a Big Energy Bet.

Four European Gas Buyers Made Ruble Payments to Russia

Oil Exporters Bagging $818 Billion Windfall Are Cautioned by IMF

Why U.S. Oil Companies Aren’t Riding to Europe’s Rescue

With Inflation, Gold Notes and Cards Find Their Way into America’s Wallet

Stock Market Meltdowns Have FAANGs Looking Increasingly Toothless

Alphabet Earnings Show Slowing Sales Growth on Digital-Ad Tumult

Facebook Parent Meta Expected to Post Slowest Revenue Growth Since IPO

Microsoft Earnings Rose Last Quarter With Demand for Cloud Services

Elon Musk Bets Twitter Users Will Like a More Freewheeling Platform

Musk Is a Problem Masquerading as a Solution

Hot Job Market, an Economic Relief, Is a Wall Street Worry

Deutsche Bank Joins UBS in Flagging Challenge of Soaring Pay

The 400 Airplanes That Russia Seized Have Become an Epic Insurance Struggle

The Biden Student Debt Question: Will He or Won’t He?

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Morning News: April 26, 2022
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on April 26th, 2022 at 7:08 am

Nuclear Power Could Help Europe Cut Its Russia Ties, but Not for Years

Beijing Starts Testing 20 Million to Try to Avoid a Lockdown Like Shanghai’s

Supply Chain Chaos Roars Back as Covid Grips China

The $67 Billion Tariff Dodge That’s Undermining U.S. Trade Policy

Inflation Got You Down? At Least You Don’t Live in Argentina.

Real Yields Wade Toward Positive Territory, Denting Stocks

Fidelity to Allow Retirement Savers to Put Bitcoin in 401(k) Accounts

Senate Tees Up Votes on Biden’s Fed Nominees

Twitter Takeover Was Brash and Fast, With Musk Calling the Shots

Twitter Employees Search for Answers as Musk Takeover Becomes Reality

Musk’s Twitter Deal Heralds Potential Social-Media Shift

UBS Beats Expectations for the First Quarter; Continues to Reduce Russia Exposure

Google Investors Warn Saudi Arabia Data Project Could Be Used By ‘Top Hitmen’

Facebook Is Opening Its First Showroom to Sell VR Headsets

Ford Hurries Out F-150 Lightning to Grab Share of Electrics Market

PepsiCo Beats Q1 Profit Forecast, Lifts 2022 Sales Outlook On Snacks Strength

Times Square Plots Its Comeback, and It Looks Like Las Vegas

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