Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
Wall Street looks mixed as Netflix plunge holds back Nasdaq futuresNetflix loses subscribers in a quarter for first time in about 10 yearsP&G beats on earnings, revenue as price hikes help offset rising inflationTesla set to report earnings as Elon Musk fuels Twitter guessing gameRussia pressures Mariupol, steps up attack on Ukraine’s eastern front
1. Wall Street looks mixed as Netflix plunge holds back Nasdaq futures
Dow and S&P 500 futures rose slightly Wednesday. But Nasdaq futures dipped as Netflix plunged 27% in the premarket, the morning after reporting a quarterly subscriber loss for the first time in more than a decade. The carnage in Netflix hit other video streaming stocks, with Disney, Roku, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount all set for sharply lower opens. Dow stock IBM rose 2.5% in the premarket after reporting late Tuesday that quarterly earnings and revenue beat estimates. In regular trading Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all broke two-session losing streaks. Wall Street’s strong rally came despite the 10-year Treasury yield hitting a more than three-year high of 2.94%. The benchmark yield retreated from that level Wednesday.
2. Netflix loses subscribers in a quarter for first time in about 10 years
Netflix on Tuesday reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter, after previously saying it expected to add 2.5 million. While Q1 earnings beat, revenue of $7.87 billion missed. Looking ahead, the company forecast a global paid subscriber loss of 2 million for the second quarter. Netflix estimated more than 100 million households worldwide are using a shared password to access its content. It said a crackdown on the practice is coming. After years of resisting advertisements on its streaming service, Netflix is now “open” to offering lower-priced tiers with ads, according to co-CEO Reed Hastings.
3. P&G beats on earnings, revenue as price hikes help offset rising inflation
Leading Wednesday’s earnings releases, Procter & Gamble reported fiscal third-quarter profit and revenue that topped expectations as price hikes helped offset spiking commodity inflation and higher freight costs. For fiscal 2022, P&G raised its revenue growth forecast to a range of 4% to 5%, up from its prior outlook of 3% to 4%. The consumer products company reiterated its core earnings per share forecast but said it’s expecting the lower end of its predicted range of 3% to 6% growth, citing inflation and currency headwinds.
4. Tesla set to report earnings as Elon Musk fuels Twitter guessing game
Tesla is scheduled to report quarterly earnings after the closing bell Wednesday. Investors will be watching to see if the electric auto maker maintains its ambitious 2022 delivery targets as its Shanghai factory deals with a Covid lockdown in China’s biggest city. Analysts are also wondering whether CEO Elon Musk will discuss his $43 billion proposal to buy Twitter and if he’ll use some of his Tesla shares to help fund the deal. Musk late Tuesday tweeted another cryptic message, again making an apparent reference to a possible tender offer for Twitter.
5. Russia pressures Mariupol, steps up attack on Ukraine’s eastern front
Russian forces pressured a pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol amid renewed hopes Wednesday for an evacuation of thousands of civilians. The shattered port city is a key battleground in Moscow’s new onslaught to take control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland. In addition to pounding Mariupol, Russian forces have intensified their attacks in the Donbas region, home to coal mines, metal plants and factories vital to Ukraine’s economy. Both sides have described stepped-up assaults along a broad front in the east that began Monday as a new phase of the war.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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