Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Earnings Lead Today's Stock Market News

Stock market newsFor April 27, 2015, here are your stock futures, stock market news, earnings reports, pre-market movers, and stocks to watch in the stock market today...

Stock Futures Today

U.S. stock futures for Monday, April 27, forecasted a 52-point gain from Friday's close as tech giant Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) prepares to report quarterly earnings. News that a major merger between semiconductor-manufacturers collapsing is also moving markets.

On Friday, the Nasdaq Composite Index struck another closing high, fueled by strong earnings reports from Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT). The S&P 500 also hit a new record on Friday. The DJIA Index gained 21 points.

Top News in the Stock Market Today

  • A busy week of earnings reports and economic data kicks off this morning with all eyes on Apple quarterly earnings. But tomorrow, U.S. investors will be back on "Fed Watch," as the Fed Open Market Committee kicks off a two-day meeting to discuss monetary policy. The central bank has all but ruled out a rate hike in June; however, as we've said after the surprise decision by the Swiss Central Bank to uncap its currency earlier this year, it's difficult to trust the words of central planners ever again.
  • Oil Prices Today: A stronger dollar is offsetting concerns about a reduction in U.S. shale production or geopolitical concerns over violence in Yemen. Brent oil slipped 0.5% this morning to hit $64.97 per barrel. WTI crude fell nearly 0.5% to hit $56.88 per barrel.

Pre-Market Movers in the Stock Market Today: AMAT, CLDN, AMAT

  • Pre-Market Movers 1, AMAT: Shares of Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) fell more than 8% this morning on news the company has called off its proposed $10 billion merger with Tokyo Electron. The company said that concerns from U.S. regulators were the primary deterrent. The Department of Justice argued that the new deal would limit future competition. The deal would have created a new firm worth an estimated market value of $29 billion. In addition, Applied Materials announced plans for a $3 billion stock buyback program over the next three years.
  • Pre-Market Movers 2, AAPL: Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) were up more than 1.2% this morning ahead of its quarterly earnings report, which will come after the bell. This is the first time the company will report earnings after the release of the Apple Watch. The iPhone 6 may be the lone outperformer in the Q2 AAPL earnings, but that's all Apple needs to beat expectations. For a breakdown of what to expect from AAPL's earnings report next week, check out our full analysis here.
  • Pre-Market Movers 3, CLDN: Shares of Celladon (Nasdaq: CLDN) cratered more than 75% this morning on news that the biotech firm's heart failure gene therapy, Mydicar, missed a critical goal in its recent trial. The news caused a massive stock downgrade from an analyst at Wedbush, who slashed his 12-month stock price target from $29 to $3.

Stocks to Watch Today: TWC, CMCSA, CHTR, DB, TWTR, SOHU

  • Stocks to Watch No. 1,  TWC: The door has closed on the proposed merger between Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA), but a window has opened for another deal. This morning, TWC shares jumped more than 1% on news that Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR) and Time Warner may begin to discuss a possible merger.
  • Stocks to Watch No. 2, DB: Following last week's $2.5 billion fine over interest rate manipulation, German financial giant Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) announced plans to overhaul its operations. The firm's co-CEO Anshu Jain said it plans to slash its balance sheet by 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in an effort to create "a "smaller, leaner more resilient bank."
  • Stocks to Watch No. 3, TWTR: Shares of Twitter Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTR) slipped this morning on news that the stock was downgraded from "Buy" to "Neutral" by Suntrust. The company will report earnings on Tuesday.
  • Stocks to Watch: Today, keep an eye out for earnings reports from Seaspan Corp. (NYSE: SSW), General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP), Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Overstock.com Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK), Sohu.com Inc. (Nasdaq: SOHU), and Barrick Gold Corp. (USA) (NYSE: ABX).

Today's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EST)

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  • PMI Services Flash at 9:45 a.m.
  • Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey at 10:30 a.m.
  • 4-Week Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
  • 3-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
  • 6-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
  • 2-Year Note Auction at 1 p.m.

What Investors Must Know This Week

About the Author

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.

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