Stocks were mostly lower on Friday morning as big tech stocks continued to fall and the S&P 500 index fell below the 5,000 mark.
The S&P 500 Index (^GSPC) fell about 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) fell more than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.4%.
The S&P 500 fell for the fifth day in a row on Thursday as investors absorbed disappointing returns from Netflix (NFLX). This weighed on hopes that quarterly profits would meet high expectations leading to a rebound in stock price gains. Shares of the streaming giant, the first among big-cap tech companies to report, fell 7% during morning trading.
Other tech stocks followed suit. Market favorite Nvidia (NVDA) fell more than 3%, while Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) fell more than 1%.
The market rebounded from a deeper decline after Israel's retaliatory attacks on Iran spooked traders overnight, prompting a rush to safe-haven assets such as gold. However, although Iran acknowledged the drone attack and called it a failure, investors remain on high alert.
Stocks were already under pressure before the shock due to persistent uncertainty over whether the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut interest rates.
Procter & Gamble (PG) released its financial results on Friday, raising its full-year profit forecast despite missing quarterly sales estimates. Additionally, American Express (AXP) reportedly beat profits as its wealthy customers continued to spend.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasuries have rebounded almost entirely from their biggest rally this year. The yield on the safe-haven 10-year US Treasury (^TNX) fell 14 basis points to trade around 4.6%.
In the commodity market, Brent crude oil futures (BZ=F), the world oil benchmark, traded around $87 per barrel, up about 0.4%. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures (CL=F) rose 0.5% to about $83 a barrel. Gold (GC=F) rose 0.3%, but growth slowed slightly after its early gains.
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Stock prices rise in morning trading
Below are some of the stocks that topped Yahoo Finance's trend ticker page during Friday morning trading.
Super microcomputer (SMCI): The server maker's stock fell more than 16% Friday morning after the company announced the date of its third-quarter earnings but did not give an advance announcement, which investors took as a negative signal, Wells Fargo said. Securities writes.
Netflix (NFLX): The streaming giant's stock falls 7% after the company released a lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue forecast and announced it would stop reporting quarterly subscriber metrics closely watched by Wall Street. did.
Paramount (para): The entertainment company rose 8% on Friday morning following the report.new york times Sony Pictures Entertainment (SONY) has announced that it has entered into negotiations with Apollo Global Management (APO), the parent company of Yahoo Finance, to discuss a potential joint acquisition bid for Paramount. The companies plan to offer cash for Paramount stock through a joint venture and take the company private, according to the report.
American Express (AXP): The financial services company's stock rose nearly 5% after reporting first-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations with revenue up 11% from a year earlier. The credit card company also boasted that Gen Z and Millennial customers accounted for more than 60% of its global new account acquisitions in the quarter.
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from China's App Store
Apple has removed WhatsApp and Threads from China's App Store following a government order, citing national security concerns.
The censorship demands to restrict access to some of the most popular messaging apps mark the latest effort by the Chinese government to exert control through Apple's ecosystem. Reuters said the move signals China's central government's growing intolerance toward foreign online messaging services, giving iPhone makers less room to operate there.
“The Cyberspace Administration of China has ordered the removal of these apps from Chinese store shelves based on national security concerns,” Apple said in a statement.
Although China's Great Firewall blocks access to these apps, they are still commonly used by users in China through virtual private networks that circumvent the restrictions. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the Chinese government has expressed concern that citizens could use the app to disseminate information that is censored by the government or to cause social unrest. .
Stock prices begin to decline
Escalating geopolitical tensions, disappointing earnings results and uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates weighed on Wall Street, with downward pressure on stock prices barely abating on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down about 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) was down 0.3%.
Amex CEO to Yahoo Finance: Our consumers feel great
Inflation may be troubling and hurting many households, but wealthy households with American Express (AXP) cards still feel good.
AmEx's sales rose 11% in the first quarter, the company announced this morning.
Here's what AmEx CEO Steve Squeri told me over the phone:
“We have premium consumers. And our premium consumers are happy with the economy and happy with what they want to do. And yes, although inflation is still high, , it's not growing that fast. And the reality is that our consumers are going to spend.
Here are the most important points about Netflix
Netflix (NFLX) stock is taking a hit pre-market after a big quarter on just about everything.
It makes sense; prior to the report, the stock was perfectly priced.
But above all the noise, this point made by Pivotal Research's Jeff Wlodarczak is the most important thing to bring up on Netflix right now.
“Netflix delivered first-quarter subscriber growth across the board driven by core markets in the US and EUR, with better-than-expected average revenue per user (successful fourth-quarter price increases in US/UK/France) Once again, we reported high-quality results.” This means a powerful combo of significantly increasing subscribers, capturing prices and expanding margins.. ”
There's nothing in the report to suggest that Netflix's fundamentals are struggling, and one has to wonder if today's drop in the stock price will buy it. Some would argue that the stock isn't that expensive compared to its historical trading levels.
Check out Netflix's current valuation compared to what we saw from 2016 to 2021, when the company wasn't fundamentally as strong as it is today. Of course, all data is provided by the Yahoo Finance platform.
You can further analyze this data on Netflix by going to the statistics section of the Netflix ticker page.
Netflix stock may not be that expensive on the surface. (Yahoo Finance)
