AT&T and IBM Posted Upbeat Results while Tesla’s Numbers Disappointed

October 21, 2022

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AT&T and IBM Posted Upbeat Results while Tesla’s Numbers Disappointed

Stock futures are down this European afternoon as investors came out of a tumultuous day with bond yields rising and various corporate earnings reports. At the time of writing, futures for the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.6%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 36 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 ones dropped 0.3% concurrently.

Yesterday, major global benchmarks saw a second consecutive day of slides during regular trading, with the Dow having shed 90.22 points, or 0.3%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. Sales of existing homes in the U.S. declined for the 8th consecutive month as rising mortgage rates weighed on demand, and that sent shares of home builders and home improvement retailers such as Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) downhill.

The markets initially revived on better-than-expected quarterly results from IBM (IBM), AT&T (T), Freeport-McMoran (FCX) and casino operator Las Vegas Sands (LVS). However, the direction changed abruptly in the afternoon as worries about the potential economic impact of Fed tightening rose. AT&T (T) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the telecom giant reported better-than-expected quarterly results and added more subscribers than anticipated. AT&T posted Q3 EPS of $0.68, with revenue of $30.04 billion. Both exceed consensus forecasts. The company increased its postpaid wireless phone customers by 708,000, and boosted the number of fiber broadband subscribers by 338,000. Those were also above estimates.

Against the backdrop of the positive portion of the earnings report, the negative sentiment was a revenue miss by Tesla (TSLA), and comments from CEO Elon Musk that demand for vehicles is being hampered by macroeconomic conditions. As a result, Tesla shares dropped more than 6%. Allstate (ALL) was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the insurance provider warned it would have a quarterly loss. Shares of Union Pacific (UNP) fell as the railroad also downgraded its guidance for volume the rest of the year.

Major stock market indexes in Europe are trading lower on the last trading day of this week ahead of the Bundesbank's monthly report on Germany's economy. The United Kingdom revealed its retail sales declined at a monthly rate of 1.4%. Meanwhile, in the field of politics, in Britain the repercussion of the news about acting Prime Minister Liz Truss's resignation continued and apparently sent ripples, setting up crisis in the ruling Conservative Party.

The German DAX declined 1.63% or 210 points lower as Adidas AG (ADS.DE) plunged by 9.34%. The British FTSE 100 dipped by 0.92%, with JD Sports Fashion (JD.L) plummeting by 6.96%. The French CAC 40 fell by 1.75% as L'Oreal (OR.PA) dived by 4.65% as of noon CET.

Earlier today in Asia, Japanese stocks declined, dragged by utility sector, chemicals and real-estate stocks, as concerns continued about costs of fuel and borrowing. The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.4% at 26905.79. Since the Japanese yen fell to a new 32-year low against the dollar overnight, market participants now await any comments from Japanese government officials. USD/JPY was recently at 150.19, compared with 149.94 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.2% to 16315, recovering from its lowest closing since 2011 yesterday, propelled by tech and Chinese REIT stocks. Chinese shares were mixed in early trading, as real-estate companies gained while electronics stocks weighed. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1% to 3037.66, the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.5% and the ChiNext Price Index was 0.7% lower.