For Oct. 27, 2015, here are your stock market futures, earnings reports, top stock market news, and stocks to watch...
Stock Futures Today
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average today slipped 18 points ahead of the first day of the Fed Open Market Committee's seventh meeting of 2015 and a very busy day of company earnings reports. The U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates in October, but it could change language on its statement regarding exposure to foreign markets. The U.S. dollar was sliding against a basket of currencies due to these expectations.
On Monday, the Dow Jones dipped 25 points, while the Nasdaq was largely flat. Shares of Apple stock (Nasdaq: AAPL) dipped more than 3% after its key chip supplier offered weaker than expected quarterly earnings. Shares of Dialog Semiconductors (OTCMKTS: DLGNF) cratered more than 18% after the company offered adjusted earnings per share of $0.68, off from consensus earnings estimates of $0.70. Q4 Apple earnings will be reported after the bell today.
Top News in the Stock Market Today
The Stock Market Today: Today, the Fed Open Market Committee kicks off a two-day meeting to discuss a possible rate hike, while a busy economic calendar will keep investors on edge. The calendar includes a monthly update on durable goods, the S&P Case-Shiller Index, a report on consumer confidence, and the PMI Services Flash update.
Oil Outlook:Oil prices continued to decline as oversupply concerns continue to rattle trader sentiment. November futures for WTI crude were off about 1.4% to hit $43.37 per barrel, while Brent crude slipped 0.6% to trade at $47.24 per barrel. Numerous oil company earnings will be released this week, and it could be the most dismal set of oil earnings of 2015. Here are the energy stocks to watch this week.
Earnings Report No. 1, BABA: Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) jumped 8.2% in pre-market hours after the company beat second-quarter earnings estimates. The company cited stronger growth in mobile sales and reported an EPS of $0.57, which was $0.02 ahead of expectations. Revenue came in at $3.48 billion, beating consensus expectations of $3.36 billion.
Earnings Report No. 2, AAPL: After the bell, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) will report fourth-quarter earnings. The company is expected to report earnings of $1.88 per share on revenue of nearly $50.8 billion.
Earnings Report No. 3, TWTR: After the bell, Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) will report third-quarter earnings. Wall Street analysts anticipate an EPS of $0.05 on roughly $557 million in revenue.
Earnings Report No. 4, DD: Shares of DuPont Co. (NYSE: DD) were in focus after the chemical giant reported an adjusted EPS of $0.13, beating Wall Street expectations by $0.03. The firm said revenue fell short of expectations and its earnings represented a 68% decline, partially due to a stronger U.S. dollar.
Additional companies reporting earnings include Panera Bread Co. (Nasdaq: PNRA), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH), Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA), and Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK).
Pre-Market Movers: FDX, VRX, WMT
Pre-Market Movers No. 1, FDX: Shares of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) are in focus after the global shipping giant said it anticipates that package volumes will rise by 12.4% between the Black Friday and Christmas Eve, compared to last year. FedEx expects to carry at least 317 million shipments over the upcoming holiday period.
Pre-Market Movers No. 2, VRX:Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX) were up 2.5% this morning after activist investor Bill Ackman of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management announced plans to discuss his stake in the firm during a conference call on Friday morning. The company has been mired in a controversy involving its accounting standards, its specialty pharmacy revenue, and has even been compared by one short-seller to Enron.
Pre-Market Movers No. 3, WMT: E-commerce giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has become the latest company to ask the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for approval to utilize delivery drones.
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.
