Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Little Changed as Investors Digest Flurry of Earnings Reports

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Tuesday

19 minutes ago

Decliners

• Semiconductor stocks came under pressure after semiconductor equipment maker ASML (ASML) accidentally released its earnings report a day earlier than expected, revealing lower-than-expected net bookings and a lackluster sales guidance. ASML shares plunged 16.3%.
• ASML’s results, as well as a report on potential U.S. export restrictions, weighed on companies across the semiconductor industry, with heavy pressure on shares of fellow semiconductor equipment manufacturers. KLA (KLAC) shares dropped 14.7%, the steepest drop of any S&P 500 stock, while shares of Applied Materials (AMAT) and Lam Research (LRCX) were down 10.9% and 10.7%, respectively. Raymond James trimmed its price targets for all three stocks, as well as ASML.
• Shares of solar technology firm Enphase Energy (ENPH) sank 9.3% after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to “sector perform.” Analysts said tough industry competition could weigh on Enphase’s growth rate.

Advancers

• Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares surged 15.8%, marking the top performance in the S&P 500, after the pharmacy giant reported better-than-expected sales and profits for its fiscal fourth quarter. The drugstore and health care chain also announced a turnaround plan that includes closing around 1,200 stores over the next three years.
  
  
• Crude oil prices moved lower following some signs of easing geopolitical tensions and as the International Energy Agency cut its projection for oil demand growth. The prospect of lower fuel costs helped boost shares of cruise operators. Carnival (CCL) shares sailed 6.6% higher, while shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) were up 4.1%.
• Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares jumped 6.1% after the brokerage firm posted its results for the third quarter, exceeding revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts. Year-over-year increases in total client assets and the number of active brokerage accounts helped drive the strong performance.

–Michael Bromberg

Apple Hits Record High

1 hr 6 min ago

Apple (AAPL) shares rose Tuesday, briefly touching a new record high, as the tech giant unveiled another new product: its newest iPad Mini.

The newest version of Apple’s smallest tablet launches on Oct. 23, with preorders available starting Tuesday at $499. The new iPad Mini is available in a variety of colors and storage capacities, and will be powered by the A17 Pro chip—which was in the high-end models of last year’s iPhone 15 range of phones.

The A17 Pro chip means the new iPad will be able to use the artificial intelligence (AI) features that Apple showcased during last month’s iPhone 16 launch. The AI features are set to start being rolled out to Apple users sometime this month through an iOS update, and the new Mini will also be compatible with the newest Apple Pencil Pro, announced earlier this year.

Some analysts have raised questions about whether the delayed release of the AI features, coming at least a month after the iPhone 16 was released, could damp customer excitement about the new phones and lead to slower sales until the features are released.

Apple shares closed up 1.1% at $233.85 Tuesday, after briefly setting an intraday record high of $237.49 earlier in the session, surpassing the $237.23 intraday peak set in July. The shares have gained about 21% since the start of 2024, in line with the performance of the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 over the period.

–Aaron McDade

Wolfspeed Jumps 21% on Financing News

1 hr 53 min ago

Shares of Wolfspeed (WOLF) soared Tuesday when the maker of high-speed semiconductors reported it could receive as much as $2.5 billion in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and from an investment group.

The company noted that the U.S. Department of Commerce has proposed $750 million in direct funding from the CHIPS Act, and that it expects $1.0 billion in refunds from the tax credit included in the legislation.

It also announced that a consortium of investment funds led by Apollo, The Baupost Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Capital Group agreed to provide an additional $750 million.

Wolfspeed shares gained 21% on Tuesday. Even with today’s jump, the stock has lost two-thirds of its value this year. 

–Bill McColl

UnitedHealth Leads Dow Decliners

2 hr 41 min ago

Shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) tumbled Tuesday after the company lowered its full-year profit outlook to reflect the impact of a cyberattack against its Change Healthcare division in February.

The health insurer reduced its earnings per share (EPS) forecast to between $15.50 and $15.75 from $15.95 to $16.40.

On an adjusted basis, the company said it has absorbed an estimated 75 cents per share of disruption from the cyberattack, 10 cents more than its prior-quarter estimate. 

In February, the company announced that Change Healthcare’s information technology systems had been hit with “a suspected nation-state associated cyber security threat” that disrupted medical billing and care authorization portals.

UnitedHealth shares were nearly 8% lower late Tuesday, leading Dow decliners and trading at their lowest levels since mid-July. The stock is up 6% since the start of the year, compared with the Dow’s 13.5% gain over the period.

Charles Schwab Soars After Strong Earnings, Outlook Boost

4 hr 52 min ago

Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares soared Tuesday as the financial services company reported better third-quarter results than analysts had expected, and also lifted its projections for full-year revenue.

The investment management firm reported $4.85 billion in total revenue, up about 5% from the same time last year and higher than analysts had expected, per estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Profits were also higher than expected, and jumped 25% to $1.41 billion, while net interest income (NII) fell by a few million to $2.22 billion, narrowly above estimates.

The company also lifted its revenue projection for the full year, calling for a 2% to 3% increase, up from previous estimates of flat to up 2%.

Charles Schwab shares were up about 7% early Tuesday afternoon, trading at their highest level in three months. The stock is now back into positive territory for the year.

The stock plunged in mid-July following the firm’s second-quarter report, when CEO Walt Bettinger said it planned to reduce the size of its bank to improve profitability.

–Aaron McDade

J&J Rises as Results Top Expectations

5 hr 53 min ago

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) shares advanced Tuesday after the pharmaceutical and medical device company posted better-than-expected third-quarter sales and adjusted profit.

Johnson & Johnson reported $22.47 billion in revenue, up 5% year-over-year and better than analysts had projected, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. It registered $2.69 billion in net income, down 38% and well short of expectation, on billions in one-time expenses like legal costs and acquisitions.

After accounting for over $3 billion in one-time expenses like legal costs, “intangible asset amortization expense,” and the cost of acquisitions, Johnson & Johnson’s adjusted profit of $5.88 billion came in more than half a billion dollars higher than expected.

The company also adjusted its full-year outlook, lifting sales projections to $88.4 billion to $88.8 billion from the prior range of $88 billion to $88.4 billion.

The stock was up nearly 2% in recent trading.

–Aaron McDade

Walgreens Soars After Earnings, Store-Closing Plans

7 hr 26 min ago

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) said Tuesday that it is shutting around 1,200 stores over the next three years, as the drugstore chain moves to turn around its troubled U.S. business.

Walgreens also reported fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted profit that beat Wall Street estimates.

Shares of the company were up more than 15% in recent trading, leading S&P 500 gainers. Despite the gain, the stock has lost about 60% of its value since the start of the year.

Read the full article here.

–Nisha Gopalan

Banking Stocks on The Rise After Strong Earnings

9 hr 23 min ago

Shares of Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C)  and Goldman Sachs (GS) gained ground in premarket trading Tuesday after the financial services giants each reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.

The latest reports continue a stretch of strong big bank earnings kicked off last week by rivals JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

Bank of Amercia, Citi and Goldman were each up more than 2% ahead of the opening bell, while JPMorgan and Wells Fargo were both up slightly.

Major Index Stock Futures Little Changed

10 hr 13 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up less than 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were down less than 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were also down by less than 0.1%.