Feeding the Rates, Buffet and Safaricom's Big Week.
It has been a week of earnings, Warren Buffet made the weekend with earnings while local markets remained down amidst the draft finance bill 2023.
Hey Hisa fan,
After a nice start to the year, markets are now faced with the impact of the Fed's rapid rate-hiking cycle. The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States increased the benchmark U.S interest rates by 25 basis points, setting a target range of 5% to 5.25%, the highest since 2007. The Chair to the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, indicated that this may be the last action taken in its monetary tightening policies due to mounting economic risks such as inflation. Despite the rising rates, Powell stated that the inflation outlook did not warrant rate cuts, investors anticipate rate cuts in the upcoming months.
Top Earnings Brief.
Apple Inc. [NASDAQ: AAPL 0.00%↑] - The world’s largest company by market capitalisation posted earnings of $1.52 per share on revenue of $94.84 billion for the fiscal second quarter ended March 2023. Analysts had earlier estimated earnings for Apple to $1.44 per share on revenue of $92.94 billion.
Apple’s board authorized $90 billion in share repurchases and dividends. Apple said it paid $23 billion in buybacks and dividends in the March quarter. Apple also raised its dividend 4% to 24 cents per share.
Moderna Inc. [NASDAQ: MRNA 0.00%↑] - Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology firm, Moderna posted a net income of $79 million, or 19 cents per share, for the quarter, compared with a $3.66 billion net income, or $8.58 per share, reported during the same quarter in 2022. The company generated first-quarter sales of $1.9 billion, driven by Covid shot revenue deferred from 2022.
Ford Motor Co. [NYSE: F 0.00%↑] - Quarterly revenue jumped 20% year-on-year to $41.5 billion; $1.8 billion in net income compares to year-ago net loss of $3.1 billion. Ford’s net income on a GAAP basis was $1.8 billion, compared to a $2 billion net loss in the 2022 period due to a $7.3 billion write-down on the automaker’s Rivian investment.
Coffee Break
The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet and his buddy Charlie Munger were at Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s annual general meeting. Quarterly operating profit for Berkshire rose by 13% to $8.07 billion, or about $5,561 per Class A share, from $7.16 billion posted over a similar period last year.
Markets.
U.S. stocks ended the week mixed on Friday, after upbeat earnings by big tech firms such as Apple Inc. Markets also reacted to promising U.S. jobs data pointed to a resilient labor market. Yields on 10-year U.S. treasuries during the week as concerns about regional banks and the debt ceiling grew.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 423.78 points, or 1.2%, to 33,674.38 bps, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 33.23 points, or 0.8%, to 4,136.25 bps. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) was however up, adding 8.83 points, or 0.1%, to 12,235.41 bps.
Local Markets.
Local markets were down as major banks fell ex-dividend. The All Share Index of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NASI) was down by 4.58 points or 4.26% to stand at 103.05 bps. The NSE 20 share index was similarly down by 44.41 points or 2.81% to close the trading week at 1534.47. The NSE 25 share index shaved-off 133.67 points or 4.68% to settle at 2721.36.
Kenyan stocks were further bartered with the release of the draft finance bill 2023 which listed a new raft of tax measures the government plans to introduce in a bid to raise more revenue for the government.
What Top Cowries are we collecting this week?
Safaricom Plc [NSE:SCOM] - We expect Kenya’s largest telco Safaricom Plc to release their full year financial results on the 10th of May. Analysts have estimated a buy on Safaricom.
PayPal Holdings Inc. [NASDAQ: PYPL] - Paypal will release their earnings today. The consensus earnings estimate is $1.11 per share on revenue of $6.97 billion, representing an annual growth of 7.5%.
Airbnb Inc. [NASDAQ: ABNB] - Wall Street forecasts the company’s revenue to rise 18.7% from last year to $1.79 billion when the company releases earnings on Tuesday. How will the stock perform?
How about you, what stocks are you watching for the week? Let us know on Hisa App.
Disclaimer: The writer of this article owns SCOM 0.00 , HAFR , EQTY 0.72%↑ , NVDA -0.72%↓ & AAPL 2.08%↑ shares. This article does not constitute any investment recommendations. Investors and the general public are advised to do their own research before making any investment decision.