By Chris Matthews, MarketWatch , Andrea Riquier
Microsoft, Ford Motor, Tesla and EBay are due to report earnings
late Wednesday
Stocks eked out modest gains Wednesday after investors digested
a slew of earnings reports from some of America's largest
companies, including Dow components Caterpillar and Boeing, shares
of which rose despite both companies reporting weaker-than-expected
earnings declines.
Wall Street is also watching developments pegged to Brexit,
after a vote for a fast-track exit for Britain from the EU was
rejected by parliament on Tuesday, but the delay eases concerns
about the U.K. crashing out of the bloc without a deal on Oct.
31.
How did the major indexes fare?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45.85 points, or 0.2%, at
26,833.95, while the S&P 500 index added 8.53 points to reach
3,004.52 a gain of 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index, advanced 15.50
points, or 0.2%, hitting 8,119.79.
On Tuesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-drift-higher-as-one-of-the-busiest-weeks-for-corporate-earnings-unfolds-2019-10-22),
the Dow lost 39.54 points, or 0.2%, to 26,788.10, the S&P 500
index fell 10.73 points, or 0.4%, to 2,995.99, while the Nasdaq
shed 58.69 points, or 0.7%, to 8,104.30.
What drove the market?
Results from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and Boeing Co.(BA) initially
knocked the market lower in pre-market action on Wednesday, but
stocks turned higher in early trading as investors took positives
away from quarterly results from the blue-chip components.
Caterpillar missed both earnings and revenue estimates and cut
its full-year 2019 earnings outlook
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/caterpillar-cuts-profit-guidance-as-q3-sales-fall-2019-10-23).
Boeing reported a 50% earnings slide that badly missed estimates
and a revenue slide of 20% or less than expected, but also upheld
its forecast for its 737 Max airliner, grounded since March, to
return to service later this year
(http://www.marketwatch.com/articles/boeing-stock-737-max-to-fly-by-year-end-but-profits-will-fall-51571846882).
Caterpillar shares rose 1.2%, while Boeing's stock added 1%.
The poor results from Caterpillar and Boeing came amid a slide
in the semiconductor sector following a poor forecast from
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/texas-instruments-tanks-the-chip-sector-and-investors-hopes-for-a-rebound-2019-10-22)Texas
Instruments Inc. (TXN) in a late-Tuesday earnings report, with a
new revenue estimate range that fell as much as a half-billion
dollars below Wall Street's consensus forecast. That helped drag
the PHLX Semiconductor Index down more than 2%.
Equity markets swung from modest gains to modest losses in
afternoon trade, weighed by technology shares and consumer
discretionary stocks.
"The earnings bar was set very low for the third quarter and
it's been predictably easy for companies to step over it," Michael
Arone, chief market strategist at State Street Global Advisors told
MarketWatch. "The market reacted with a bit of mixed emotions with
these earnings, particularly with the U.S.-China trade overhang, as
investors looked past some weak earnings due to the expectation of
a trade resolution."
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/texas-instruments-tanks-the-chip-sector-and-investors-hopes-for-a-rebound-2019-10-22)Read:
Boeing, Caterpillar report disappointing earnings, but their shares
bounce back
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boeing-caterpillar-report-disappointing-earnings-but-their-shares-bounce-back-2019-10-23)
Thus far, of the 98 companies that have reported third-quarter
results in the S&P 500, 82.7% have delivered results above
analyst expectations, while 12.2% reported below analyst
expectations, according to research provider Refinitiv. By
comparison, 65% tend to "beat" estimates, and 20% fall below
consensus estimates, according to Refinitiv data going back to
1994.
That said, for companies that have fallen short of expectations,
the magnitude of misses have been great. During October, blended
earnings growth, which combines actual earnings results with
projections for companies that have yet to report, has fallen from
a 3% contraction to a 4.7% contraction, according to FactSet
data.
Meanwhile, Parliament's rejection of Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's legislative schedule
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uks-boris-johnson-inches-toward-securing-brexit-but-with-delays-2019-10-23)for
Brexit reduced the likelihood of a departure by Oct. 31 or a
no-deal exit from the EU. The U.K. government has already asked for
an extension to the end of January 2020, and European Council
President Donald Tusk said on Twitter that he would recommend that
request is granted.
For investors, this week is all about earnings though, even with
a Federal Reserve meeting set to kick off in less than a week, said
Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at the
Schwab Center for Financial Research. Companies are saying, "How we
did this quarter isn't as important as what we expect the future to
hold," Frederick noted.
The Fed announced earlier this month it will purchase more $60
billion a month in Treasury bills to prevent liquidity crunches
that took place earlier this year and is also expected to cut
interest rates for a third time this year next week.
"Investors have been more concerned about slowing growth, which
is reasonable, but I think there's been an overdose of pessimism
about how resilient consumers are," said Kate Warne, principal
investment strategist with Edward Jones. She pointed out that third
quarter earnings have a tough year-over-year comparison, since last
year corporations got a boost from the late-2017 tax cuts. From
that perspective, results that are slightly better than expected is
solid, the strategist said.
"In an environment of job growth, ultra-low interest rates and
central-bank stimulus, this is actually an okay environment and one
in which you need to be putting money into stocks because they can
continue to go higher," she said.
Which stocks were in focus?
Texas Instruments(TXN) shares tumbled 7.5% after it reported
earnings per
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hilton-worldwide-raises-profit-outlook-2019-10-23)
share of $1.40, excluding certain items, versus the $1.42 analyst
consensus and gave a forecast that was much worse than expected
late Tuesday.
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/texas-instruments-tanks-the-chip-sector-and-investors-hopes-for-a-rebound-2019-10-22)
Nike Inc. (NKE) shares retreated 3.4% after the sports apparel
company late Tuesday reported that longtime CEO Mark Parker was
stepping down, effective January of next year. He will be replaced
by John Donahoe.
Anthem Inc. (ANTM) reported a 23% increase in third-quarter net
income
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/anthem-tops-forecasts-on-growing-membership-premium-increases-2019-10-23)to
$1.18 billion, or $4.55 a share, as revenue rose 15% to $26.44
billion after increasing medical enrollment by 1.1 million and
increasing premiums. Adjusted for items, Anthem said it would've
earned $4.87 a share. The health-care company's shares gained
1.3%.
Shares of Facebook Inc. (FB) were in focus as CEO Mark
Zuckerberg will testify on the social-media giant's effort to
launch controversial digital-currency platform Libra. Facebook's
stock rose 2.1%.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT) revised its financial
targets for the year on Wednesday. The McLean, Va.-based company
said it now expects systemwide revenue per available room, or
RevPAR, to increase about 1% on a currency neutral basis compared
with 2018. The company had previously forecast an increase between
1% and 2%. Shares rose 5.5% on Wednesday.
Waste Management Inc. (WM)said Wednesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/waste-management-profit-tops-estimates-but-sales-miss-as-recycled-commodity-values-slide-2019-10-23)
it had net income of $495 million, or $1.16 a share, in the third
quarter, down from $499 million, or $1.16 a share, in the
year-earlier period. Shares of the company fell 3%.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. shares (CMG)
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chipotle-stock-climbs-after-earnings-beat-2019-10-22)
fell 5.2% after the fast-Mexican company on Tuesday reported
third-quarter net income
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chipotle-stock-climbs-after-earnings-beat-2019-10-22)
of $98.6 million, or $3.47 a share, compared with $38.2 million, or
$1.36 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for items such as
restaurant asset impairment expense and restructuring, among other
things, earnings were $3.82 a share.
After the market closes Wednesday, EBay Inc.(EBAY), Microsoft
Corp.(MSFT), Ford Motor Co.(F), and Tesla Inc. (TSLA). are due to
report results.
How did other markets perform?
The 10-year Treasury note yield fell to 1.761% on Wednesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasury-yields-edge-lower-after-hopes-for-immediate-brexit-breakthrough-wane-2019-10-23)
from 1.768% late Tuesday in New York.
Oil futures turned higher on Wednesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-futures-fall-1-ahead-of-eia-inventory-report-2019-10-23)
after a U.S. government report showed a decline in U.S. crude
supplies for the first time in six weeks. December WTI crude , on
its first full session as a front-month contract,rose $1.49, or
2.7%, to settle at $55.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Prices were likely to mark their highest settlement so
far this month.
Gold prices enjoyed a fillip from haven buying on Wednesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-attempts-to-halt-3-session-slide-and-creeps-back-toward-1500-2019-10-23)
as a retreat in assets considered risky, amid political
uncertainties like Brexit, underpinned gains in the yellow metal.
Gold gained for a second day. Gold for December delivery on Comex
rose $8.20, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,495.70 an ounce, after trading
little changed on Tuesday.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index , which tracks the performance of the
greenback against six major rivals, fell less than 0.1% to
97.453.
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 closed 0.1% at 395.03. In Asia,
China's CSI 300 index finished off 0.6% at 3,871.08 and the
Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.4% to 2,941.62, while Hong
Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% to reach 26,566.73. Japan's Nikkei
225 gained 0.3% to 22,625.38.
-- Mark Decambre contributed to this report
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 23, 2019 16:13 ET (20:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.