Stock Market Futures Slide Following Fed Meeting Minutes Release
U.S. stock futures are on the decline in early morning trading today. This would follow somewhat of a seesaw day across the broader stock market yesterday. The likes of which are likely thanks to the latest update on consumer spending which soared by a whopping 3.8% in January. Chiefly, it is important to note that this is versus consensus economists estimates of a 2% rise. While this is great, investors also received an update on the Federal Reserve’s latest take on the economy yesterday.
According to the meeting minutes, the Fed is looking to accelerate its plans to tighten monetary policy. Evidently, the notes state, “participants generally noted that current economic and financial conditions would likely warrant a faster pace of balance sheet runoff than during the period of balance sheet reduction from 2017 to 2019.” Despite all of this, the more apparent factor for investors to consider now would be earnings. On this front, we have got plenty of news lined up today. As of 5:45 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 0.39%, 0.46%, and 0.62% respectively.
DoorDash Gains On Better-Than-Expected Revenue And Overall Growth In Quarterly Orders
Online food delivery firm DoorDash (NYSE: DASH) appears to be among the top stock market gainers today. Following the company’s latest quarterly earnings report, DASH stock is currently trading higher by over 25% in pre-market hours today. Diving in, DoorDash posted a loss per share of $0.45 on revenue of $1.3 billion for the quarter. For reference, this is versus estimates of a $0.25 loss per share and revenue of 1.28 billion. Sure, at face value the current movement in DASH stock may seem odd. However, investors should also take note of the company’s key operational metrics at the same time.
Namely, DoorDash set a new quarterly record for its total orders and Marketplace Gross Order Value (GOV). For total orders, the company raked in a whopping 369 million orders throughout the quarter. This adds up to a year-over-year gain of 35%. On top of that, the company also achieved record monthly active users of over 25 million. This translates to a year-over-year increase of about 22% by DoorDash’s estimates. Overall, the company cites strong demand for its core Marketplace service throughout the fiscal year as a growth driver. In particular, DoorDash notes that “Higher-than-expected consumer retention and new consumer growth drove the outperformance.”
Looking forward, DoorDash is guiding for a GOV of between $11.4 billion to $11.8 billion. This would be just above Wall Street estimates of $11.2 billion. Moreover, DoorDash also notes that it will be focusing on its current “areas of strength.” The company hopes to drive further sales for its merchants by doing so. In the larger scheme of things, we could be looking at a relief rally here following growth concerns with restaurants reopening for dine-in experiences. Regardless, I could see DASH stock turning heads in the stock market today.
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Nvidia Reports Solid Revenue Growth Alongside Upbeat Outlook Citing Surging Computer Chip Demand
Another company making waves in the stock market from its earnings today would be Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). In brief, the semiconductor titan posted stellar figures across the board in its fourth-quarter earnings call after yesterday’s closing bell. For the quarter, Nvidia saw earnings per share of $1.32 on revenue of $7.64 billion. This handily topped Wall Street’s estimates of $1.22 and $7.42 billion respectively. For year-over-year comparison, Nvidia is looking at sizable gains of 69% for earnings per share and 53% for total revenue.
Notably, the company cites robust demand across its core offerings as key factors for its success this quarter. For starters, Nvidia’s revenue from across its Gaming, Data Center, and Professional Visualization arms hit a record high. The company’s gaming revenue is up by 37% year-over-year, totaling $3.42 billion. Secondly, Nvidia’s professional visualization offerings also appear to be selling like hotcakes now. According to the company, sales under this category are up by a whopping 109% year-over-year. Not to mention, Nvidia’s data center-focused division raked in a total revenue of $3.26 billion, a 71% year-over-year surge.
Explaining all of this is Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang. Huang states, “NVIDIA is propelling advances in AI, digital biology, climate sciences, gaming, creative design, autonomous vehicles, and robotics – some of today’s most impactful fields.” That’s not all, the company also seems to be confident of its prospects for the first quarter of 2022. It is expecting revenue of roughly $8.1 billion, which is well above initial estimates of $7.29 billion from Wall Street. With Nvidia seemingly firing on all cylinders now, investors could be eyeing NVDA stock.
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Cisco Posts Quarterly Earnings And Revenue Beat; Raises Dividend And Announces Share Buyback Plan
In other tech-related earnings news, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) appears to be on the rise as well this earnings season. After yesterday’s market close, the enterprise tech firm posted its second-quarter earnings report. In it, Cisco recorded earnings of $0.84 per share on revenue of $12.70 billion. To put things into perspective, this is versus Wall Street forecasts of $0.81 and $12.65 billion respectively.
This is likely thanks to continued strength across Cisco’s data-center networking, internet, and hybrid work business. Without going into too much detail, these three divisions posted revenue of $5.9 billion, $1.32 billion, and $1.07 billion respectively. All of which topped analyst expectations for the quarter. To highlight, Cisco’s internet-focused segment in particular grew its revenue by 42% from the same quarter last year. Additionally, the company is also raising its quarterly dividend and authorizing a $15 billion increase to its share buyback program. As such, it would make sense then that CSCO stock is in focus at today’s market open.
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Roku Earnings On Tap After Today’s Market Close: What To Look Out For
Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) is set to report its latest fiscal quarter financials after today’s closing bell. As it stands, analysts are expecting Roku to rake in a total revenue of $894.07 million on earnings of $0.04 per share. Should this be the case, it would represent a year-over-year gain of 37.6% for revenue but a staggering 91.8% year-over-year decline for earnings per share. Of course, these estimates would be in comparison to blowout quarters for Roku during the pandemic.
More importantly, investors may want to keep an eye on Roku’s core metrics instead of just earnings. Among the notable factors to note would be the company’s total active accounts. All in all, analysts are expecting a 16.3% increase on this front. For one thing, the company is not sitting idly by as well. According to a report from Insider, Roku is exploring the possibility of creating its own television sets. Ideally, this would serve to further expand its holistic array of streaming hardware offerings. Nonetheless, ROKU stock could be one to watch later today.
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