What’s News in Markets: High Flier, Revenue Shift, Ticket Trouble
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hey, listeners, it's Saturday, April 20th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Investors started 2024 with high hopes for interest rate cuts from the Fed, but those hopes are fading fast.
How did market sentiment shift in April as rate-cut hopes faded?
And as a result, we're seeing the inflation blues weighing on the stock market, which had been riding some great rate cut fueled rallies so far this year. Over the past three months, I feel like every week or so I was telling you guys about some new record high that stocks were hitting, but not so much in April, and certainly not this week. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended the week lower, and the Dow ended the week just about flat. Why don't we talk about some good news? Let's talk about airline stocks. I know, it's been a rocky start to the year for air travel, really anything related in any way to Boeing, with all of its malfunctions and quality issues and delayed plane deliveries. But United Airlines soared above all of that this week when it posted better-than-expected quarterly results.
On Wednesday, the company posted a jump in first quarter revenue thanks to strong flight demand and said it would have posted a profit if not for a recent Boeing grounding. I've got some numbers for you.
Why did United Airlines' stock surge after its first-quarter results?
So United's earnings took a $200 million hit from that, which is not nothing, but its first quarter loss came in at $124 million, which was smaller than its $194 million loss in the same period last year, the first quarter of 2023. This is all relative, of course, but given the dark cloud that Boeing's messes have cast on airlines this year, this was very welcome news to investors. In fact, United shares jumped 17% Wednesday, making the stock the S&P 500's top performer. And it kept flying higher on Thursday, adding about 6% to its gains.
What details explain United’s earnings hit from the Boeing grounding?
And it wasn't the only airline stock that got a lift on Wednesday. American Airlines rose nearly 7% and held on to those gains the rest of the week, while Delta added almost 3% before losing some of that ground. It's like rising tides lift all boats, you know? Rising airstreams lift all airline stocks. I don't know. It doesn't have the same ring to it, but you get what I'm saying. Netflix delivered some good news in its latest quarterly report, but investors seemed more focused on the less-than-good news about its current quarter. As you might have heard on What's News earlier this week, the company said that its crackdown on password sharing paid off big time in the quarter. And by big time, I mean that Netflix added more than 9 million subscribers.
But investors had their eyes on revenue, specifically the company's revenue projections this quarter, which weren't as sunny as analysts expected. Netflix is trying to shift investor focus from subscriber growth to revenue growth, and starting next year, it won't report subscriber data at all. But that focus put a damper on the good news and sent Netflix shares down 9.1% Friday. Happy Taylor Swift album release day to all who celebrate. I, for one, am digging it. Great record. Now, if you recall the crazy demand for tickets to her Heiress tour back in 2022, you'll also recall that Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation, got a lot of flack from Swift's fans after Ticketmaster crashed during a presale.
Why did Netflix shares fall despite adding 9 million subscribers?
Well, this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department was preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation. Pre-Ares Tour, Live Nation was already facing criticism about its customer service, exorbitant ticket fees, and its possibly monopolistic power over the concert industry. But this all reached a boiling point with the Ares Tour, and the DOJ ramped up an investigation into Live Nation after that total meltdown. I took a look back at how the stock did that week, the week ending November 18, 2022. Live Nation shares lost 14%. And they didn't do too much better this week, ending 11% lower.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:47
2
How did market sentiment shift in April as rate-cut hopes faded?
0:47–1:47
3
Why did United Airlines' stock surge after its first-quarter results?
1:47–2:21
4
What details explain United’s earnings hit from the Boeing grounding?
2:21–3:54
5
Why did Netflix shares fall despite adding 9 million subscribers?
3:54–4:56
6
What is driving DOJ scrutiny of Live Nation and how did the stock react?
4:56–5:10
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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