What’s News in Markets: Tesla Shift, Board Games, Big Oil
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Hey listeners, it's Saturday, April 27th. I'm Charlie Grant for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Francesca Fontana, 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. The stock market was fairly calm for the first half of the week. Then, things got a little wild. First, Facebook parent meta platforms tumbled after disappointing earnings, helping spark a tech sell-off. Then, Thursday morning, first quarter gross domestic product came in at just 1.6%. nearly a full percentage point below Wall Street expectations. Worse, inflation came in higher than expected for a third month in a row, putting investor hopes of interest rate cuts seemingly out of reach.
Stocks had an ugly spill on Thursday morning. At one point, the Nasdaq was down by more than 2%. But the plot had another twist, this time for the better. Strong earnings from Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft helped brighten the mood. The Nasdaq, Dow Jones and S&P 500 all finished the week with a bang, S&P 500 and Nasdaq each had their best week since November. Still, April is shaping up to be a soggy month overall. All three major indexes are down 2% or more in April, with just two more trading sessions remaining in the month. Big tech was hardly the only show in town, though. About 30% of S&P 500 companies reported earnings this week, and there were some major bright spots. It was a strong week for auto stocks.
Tesla rose 12% on Wednesday after reporting earnings, its best one-day stock performance in more than a year.
What market backdrop set the tone for the week in stocks?
The earnings themselves were dud. Tesla missed profit and revenue forecasts from analysts. But Elon Musk said Tesla was accelerating the launch of new models, including vehicles that would sell at more affordable prices. Tesla ended the week much higher but is still down significantly so far in 2024. Things were pretty good in Detroit as well. General Motors rose 4.4% Tuesday after earnings that topped expectations. Profit rose 24% from a year earlier, and GM boosted its full-year outlook. Not to be outdone, Ford Motor shares gained after reporting better-than-expected results of their own.
All three auto stocks ended the week solidly in the green.
If you were betting on a board game stock to have a great quarter, you landed on Boardwalk. I'm talking, of course, about Hasbro. The maker of Transformers action figures and Monopoly board games said it swung to a first quarter profit, even as revenue fell 24%. That revenue decline is more like 9% when recent divestitures aren't counted. Hasbro has made some major cost-cutting moves in recent months, including laying off employees and overhauling the company's supply chain. Anyway, Wall Street celebrated the cost cuts as if they had passed go and collected $200. Shares rose 12% Wednesday, reaching the highest level since September. For the week, they rose about 15%. With that kind of gain, you could buy Electric Company, Waterworks, and all four railroads, and even have a little leftover for some hotels.
In other news, making nearly $14 billion in three months doesn't get you as far as you'd think with Wall Street. Or so Big Oil found out to end the week. Energy stalwarts Chevron and ExxonMobil each reported first quarter earnings Friday, and they combined for $13.7 billion in profit. But that was still down from a year ago, down 16% for Chevron and 28% for Exxon. Chevron narrowly topped consensus analysts' forecasts, but Exxon fell short. Both companies enjoyed unprecedented profitability over the past two years.
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Chapters
3 chaptersSpeakers
1 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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