The major averages are in the red at midday, following global stocks lower after an antitrust crackdown in China that may have spooked investors. Wall Street notched another round of gains yesterday, with the S&P 500 rising to a new record close, leaving stocks ripe for a little profit taking going into the weekend and month end.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., personal income soared a record 21.1% in March, with spending rising 3.6%. The Chicago PMI rose 5.8 points to a robust 72.1 reading in April that was much stronger than forecast. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading rose to 88.3 in the final April reading versus the 86.5 preliminary print from the survey, beating expectations.
TOP NEWS: Amazon (AMZN) shares are 1% higher near noon after the e-commerce giant reported better than expected first quarter earnings and revenue, with the company reporting year-over-year growth in Amazon Web Services net sales and a 70% increase in streaming hours for its Prime Video service. Looking ahead, Amazon provided upbeat revenue guidance for the second quarter, noting that its guidance assumes that Prime Day occurs in the quarter. At least 17 analysts raised their price targets on the stock after the report, with JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth among those saying the company showed strength against tough comps in Q1.
Shares of oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) fell a respective 2% and 3% after both companies reported slightly better than expected quarterly results. Of note, Exxon Mobil said the Texas winter storm reduced Q1 earnings by $600M.
Twitter (TWTR) shares dropped 13% after the social media company posted upbeat quarterly results but provided a lower than expected Q2 revenue outlook. Of note, the company reported average monetizable daily active users of 199M in Q1, up from 166M in the same quarter a year ago.
In other earnings news, AbbVie (ABBV) was in focus after the company reported upbeat Q1 results and raised its fiscal year adjusted earnings guidance, with CEO Richard Gonzalez saying the company is "off to an excellent start to 2021."
In COVID-19 news, Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) announced they have submitted a variation to the Conditional Marketing Authorization, or CMA, in the European Union to the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine COMIRNATY to request an extension of the indication for use in adolescents 12-15 years of age. If the EMA approves the variation, the amended authorization will be valid in all 27 member states of the EU.
Meanwhile, Coinbase (COIN) shares were 1% higher near noon after the company announced the acquisition of Skew, an institutional data visualization and analytics platform for crypto markets.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Community Health (CYH), which rose 5% after Credit Suisse analyst A.J. Rice raised the firm’s price target on the stock to $10 from $4.10 and upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform on the heels of the company's recent earnings report. Also higher was Digital Turbine (APPS), which gained 5% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Ardelyx (ARDX), which declined 14% after reporting the Prescription Drug User Fee Act date for tenapanor was delayed by three months to July 29. Also lower was MicroVision (MVIS), which fell 16% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 215.19, or 0.63%, to 33,845.17, the Nasdaq was down 65.44, or 0.46%, to 14,017.11, and the S&P 500 was down 25.72, or 0.61%, to 4,185.75.
Amazon.com
+43.19 (+1.24%)
Exxon Mobil
-1.03 (-1.75%)
Chevron
-3.18 (-2.97%)
-8.19 (-12.59%)
AbbVie
+0.46 (+0.41%)
Pfizer
-0.06 (-0.16%)
BioNTech
+11.57 (+6.45%)
Coinbase
+3.14 (+1.07%)
Community Health
+0.44 (+4.23%)
Digital Turbine
+3.38 (+4.67%)
Ardelyx
-1.075 (-12.74%)
MicroVision
-3.235 (-17.89%)