Investor sentiment was hit by the government’s proposal to levy higher capital gain tax on wealthy individuals, and the market shifted to sell-off mode mid-week. The S&P 500 index retreated from last week’s peak but regained momentum on Friday. Dow Jones closed the last session down 305 points and slipped below the 34,000-mark. Meanwhile, the employment scene became more optimistic after weekly jobless claims dropped to a 13-month low.
On the deal front, Mastercard acquired identity verification firm Ekata in an $850-million deal as part of its efforts to ensure more safety and security, in a week that saw muted M&A activity. Continuing its buyout spree, professional services firm Accenture added consultancy firm Root Inc. into its fold. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s $40-billion acquisition of UK-based chip designer Arm suffered a setback after regulators raised national security concerns.
Aviation and technology dominated the earnings scene this week, after a slew of bank earnings that marked the beginning of the season. United Airlines and IBM were among the major companies that reported on Monday, along with soft drink behemoth Coca-Cola.
The next day, streaming platform Netflix surprised everyone with a mixed first quarter, with muted subscriber growth undermining the otherwise impressive outcome. Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, and Philip Morris also reported on Tuesday.
Riding the digital transformation wave and 5G adoption, telecom major Verizon Wednesday posted stronger-than-expected results. In the after-hours, Kinder Morgan unveiled blockbuster first-quarter numbers, extending its recovery from the COVID-induced slump.
Southwest Airlines and American Airlines continued their losing streak amid faltering passenger traffic and reported a double-digit dip in revenues. They were joined by tech firms Snap and Intel on Thursday. On Friday, American Express said its first-quarter profit more than doubled, aided by the release of loan-loss reserves.
After a busy week, the market is headed for more action-packed days with some major events lined up. All eyes are on FAANG components Alphabet, Apple, and Amazon – set to report on April 27, 28, and 29 respectively.
Another closely-followed event would be the third-quarter report of Tesla, at a time when the electric car maker is facing criticism for back-to-back crashes. It will be a mixed bag on April 27 when JetBlue, Advanced Micro Devices, Amgen, General Electric, and Starbucks are expected to report.
The important announcements expected on the next day include the quarterly reports of Boeing and Ford Motor Company. Exxon Mobil will be reporting on the last day of the month.
Key Earnings to Watch
Monday: Koninklijke Philips, Check Point Software, OTIS WORLDWIDE, Tesla, and TrueBlue
Tuesday: HSBC, UBS, BP, ABB, General Electric, Novartis, Raytheon Technologies, United Parcel Service, Eli Lilly, 3M, JetBlue Airways, Visa, FireEye, Alphabet, Juniper Networks, Starbucks, AMD, Microsoft, Dell, and Pinterest
Wednesday: Carlsberg, BANCO SANTANDER, Deutsche Bank, Boston Scientific, Spotify, Teva Pharmaceutical, Yum Brands, Sanofi, Shopify, GlaxoSmithKline, Humana, Boeing, Apple, ServiceNow, Ford Motor, Facebook, Digimarc Corp, and eBay
Thursday: Standard Chartered, Merck, Abiomed, Comcast Corporation, McDonald’s, Caterpillar, Logitech, Bristol Myers Squibb, Northrop Grumman, Royal Dutch Shell, MasterCard, Kraft Heinz, Domino’s Pizza, Gilead Sciences, Zendesk, Amazon, Twitter, and Nio
Friday: Barclays, AstraZeneca, Charter Communications, Colgate-Palmolive, Piper Sandler, Exxon Mobil, Weyerhaeuser, Southwestern Energy, and Eastman Chemical
Key Investor Days/AGMs to Watch
Key US Economic Events
Notable Transcripts
The following are notable companies which have reported their earnings last week. In case if you have missed catching up on their performance, click the respective links to skim through the transcripts to glean more insights.
Coca-Cola Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
IBM Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
P&G Q3 2021 Earnings Transcript
Abbott Lab Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
J&J Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
Lockheed Martin Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
Netflix Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
Verizon Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
AT&T Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
Southwest Airlines Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
Snap Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
Inter Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
American Express Q1 2021 Earnings Transcript
If you want to listen to how management responds to analyst questions and the tone they use, you can head over to our YouTube channel to listen to conference calls on the go.