Coffee With Greta: Fed Meeting Begins
DJIA Futures: -85 (-0.3%)
SPX Futures: -8 (-0.2%)
NASDAQ Futures: -5 (-0.03%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are slipping as the Fed meeting kicks off.
Let’s get right to it!
Focus On The Fed
The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day policy meeting today with the rate hike decision set to be released at 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows nearly 91% of traders expecting another 25 basis point rate hike.
There will be a lot of focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference following the meeting to see whether he shifts to a more dovish tone or stays hawkish.
The Fed’s dot plot previously showed this will be the last rate hike with the bank planning to then hold rates higher until 2024.
Pfizer Rises After Earnings Beat
Pfizer (PFE) are up 0.9% ahead of the open after beating Q1 expectations on the top and bottom line.
Here’s how the pharmaceutical giant’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:
- Adjusted EPS: $1.23 vs $0.98 expected
- Revenue: $18.28 billion vs $16.59 billion expected
Sales were down 29% year over year with Covid vaccine sales tumbling 75%.
Excluding Covid product sales, Pfizer’s revenue was up 5% year over year driven by products from recently acquired companies.
The company reiterated its full-year forecast for both earnings and revenue.
Uber Rallies On Revenue Beat
Uber Technologies (UBER) shares are rallying 9.4% in premarket trade after reporting better-than-expected Q1 results.
Here’s how the ride hailing giant’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:
- Loss per share: $0.08 vs $0.09 expected
- Revenue: $8.82 billion vs $8.72 billion expected
Revenue was up 29% year over year.
Uber’s CEO said the company is already starting to use AI to improve its business.
He said, “We are still in the early stages of using large data models to power improved user experiences and efficiencies across our platform, with much more to come.”
Uber also reported $31.4 billion in gross bookings during the quarter, up 19% from a year ago.
Here’s how those bookings broke down between its business segments:
- Mobility gross bookings: $14.98 billion, up 40% year over year
- Delivery gross bookings: $15.02 billion, up 8% year over year
The company expected to report between $33 billion and $34 billion in Q2 gross bookings
Morgan Stanley Planning More Layoffs
Morgan Stanley (MS) shares are flat ahead of the open following a report the company is planing more layoffs.
Bloomberg first reported the investment bank is planning to eliminate roughly 3,000 positions by the end of June.
That would represent about 5% of the bank’s workforce.
Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division, which includes financial advisers, would reportedly be excluded from the cuts.
Tesla Hikes Prices
Tesla (TSLA) shares are up 0.2% in premarket trade after raising prices on several of its cars in the U.S. and China.
In China, the Model 3 now starts at 231,900 Chinese yuan vs 229,900 yuan previously.
The Model Y price was also raised by 2,000 yuan to 263,900 yuan.
In the U.S., the Model 3 and Model Y prices were hiked by $250 to $40,240 and $47,240 respectively.
Tesla’s prices are still lower than at the start of the year following several price cuts ahead of these increases.
In Case You Missed It
- Manufacturing activity improved more than expected in April. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI rose to 47.1% from 46.3%. That was better than expectations for 46.7% but still below the key 50% level which signals contraction across the sector.