Stock Market Futures On The Upswing Ahead Of Latest Fed Policy Decision
Stock market futures are gaining as investors tune in to more earnings from big tech and growth names. More importantly, there is also the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting taking center stage in the stock market today. Arguably, speculation over the Fed’s potential policy decisions continue to weigh in on markets. Providing insight into how this is happening is David Bailin, Citi (NYSE: C) chief investment officer. He says, “If you think about what’s happened in the markets, it indicates the degree of sensitivity market participants have to what is going to be the new rate environment and the new liquidity environment.”
Subsequently, Bailin explains, “The Fed made a major reversal about five weeks ago when it said that it was both going to raise rates and also consider quantitative tightening, which effectively means that you and I are going to have to finance the debt that is necessary issued by the Treasury instead of the Fed.” Because of this, Bailin believes that the Fed will evaluate the current situation in markets and take the following approach. That is, their “goal here is not to shut the economy and to make things slow. The goal here is to signal their willingness to fight inflation to the extent that they can.”
All in all, there seems to be plenty of stock market news today to keep investors on their toes. As of 7:50 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.92%, 1.25%, and 1.81% respectively.
Microsoft Tops Earnings Estimates On Soaring Cloud Revenue
Kicking off today’s earnings-filled news segment is Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). After yesterday’s market close, the consumer tech giant posted its fiscal second-quarter financials. Notably, Microsoft is currently looking at an earnings per share of $2.48 on revenue of $51.7 billion for the quarter. To put things into perspective, this tops estimates of $50.9 billion and $2.31 respectively. This would mark solid year-over-year jumps of 29% in revenue and 21% in net income. Additionally, Microsoft also reported solid growth across its core services.
Overall, this includes its intelligent cloud, productivity & business processes, and personal computing divisions. Among the most notable of these sections would be the company’s Microsoft Azure cloud service. The likes of which saw revenue surge by 46% year-over-year. According to CEO Satya Nadella, “solid commercial execution, represented by strong bookings growth driven by long-term Azure commitments” is to thank for all this. It seems that Microsoft continues to deliver on the operational front amidst increasing demand for its cloud computing solutions.
Commenting on Microsoft’s outlook for the current quarter is CFO Amy Hood. To begin with, Hood notes that demand has and continues to remain strong across the company’s core businesses. In turn, she says that Microsoft is expecting revenue in the range of $48.5 billion to $49.3 billion. Should this be the case, it would exceed consensus estimates of $48.23 billion now. With Microsoft seemingly kicking into high gear now, MSFT stock could be worth keeping an eye on.
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Logitech Posts Better-Than-Expected Quarterly Figures; CEO Bracken Darrell On Supply Chain Pressures
Continuing our theme of tech-related earnings today would be Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI). In brief, the Swiss tech firm specializes in making computer peripherals and software. Similar to Microsoft, Logitech posted upbeat numbers in its fiscal third-quarter earnings yesterday. For starters, the company saw earnings per share of $1.55, beating forecasts of $1.25. Following that, Logitech recorded a total revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, above estimates of $1.46 billion.
On the heels of this notable performance, Logitech is now expecting its full-year sales for fiscal 2021 to increase by 2% to 5%. To point out, this is an increase from its previous estimate of mostly flat sales growth. CEO Bracken Darrell also highlights that Logitech is looking forward to accommodating untapped home-office markets. According to Darrell, “only about 10% or 11% of all rooms in the world are video-enabled so far.” Not to mention, all this is despite supply chain woes causing Logitech to lose “several points of growth,” according to the CEO. After considering all of this, investors may be keen on adding LOGI stock to their watchlists.
Tesla Earnings On Tap After The Closing Bell: What To Know
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is among the first electric vehicle (EV) names on deck this earnings season. For one thing, investors are understandably looking forward to what Tesla will be posting. After all, the company is the largest player in the rapidly expanding global EV market. From China to Europe and the U.S., this is apparent. Moreover, Tesla also remains hard at work on the operational front, growing delivery figures. Namely, this is apparent from its record fourth-quarter deliveries.
As it stands, Wall Street expects Tesla to post earnings per share of $2.33 on record revenue of $16.88 billion today. For reference, this would suggest possible year-over-year jumps of 191% and 57% respectively. If anything, these figures would make sense as 2021 was a major year for EVs. According to the Wall Street Journal sources, EV sales in the U.S. alone doubled last year to about over 656,000 units. Also, a primary concern among EV investors now would be the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage. Through Tesla’s expertise in software engineering, its EVs can integrate with alternative chips, minimizing the impact of semiconductor supply bottlenecks. Nevertheless, the pressure appears to be on for Tesla to perform later today. With that said, I could see investors watching TSLA stock closely today.
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Intel To Announce Q4 Results Today After Market Closes
Speaking of semiconductors, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is another major stock market player hosting its latest earnings call today. Ahead of its announcement, analysts on Wall Street are forecasting revenue of $18.33 billion with earnings of $0.90 per share. How the company performs could set a tone for this booming section of the tech world today. Even with the recent weakness in tech, investors will likely not want to miss Intel’s earnings call.
At the same time, Intel is not sitting idly by now as well. To begin with, CEO Pat Gelsinger recently made a bold claim regarding the company’s latest Alder Lake computer processors. According to Gelsinger, Intel’s 12th generation chips bring it “back in the game,” against rival AMD (NASDAQ: AMD). In his own words, AMD is currently “in the rearview mirror,” and will “never again be in the windshield.”
This statement would be referring to the Alder Lake chips’ steady performance in desktop PCs, reportedly propelling Intel to the top of industry benchmarks. Furthermore, Intel is also looking to expand its overall production capabilities via a $20 billion factory investment. With the company actively looking to keep up with the competition, INTC stock could turn some heads today.
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