Big Things Happening This Week

• Major indexes as well as international markets are mixed. Major American indexes are mixed amidst investor concern over this week's big tech earnings reports and speculation on what the Feds may do on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite was down to a 5-1/2 month low and closed down -0.43% while Japan's Nikkei Stock 225 Index closed up by +0.15%.
• Interest rates. September 10-year T-notes (ZNU24) were up +3 ticks. The 10-year T-note yield is down -1.9 bp at 4.155%
• Many earnings winners this week. Howmet Aerospace was a big gainer this week, gaining over 11% after reporting that it has boosted its full year adjusted EPS forecast. PayPal Holdings also saw big gains of over 9% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter net revenue and boosted its 2024 profit forecast. Stanley Black & Decker was another big gainer at over 8% after reporting better-than-expected net sales for Q2.
• The losers in earnings week. Corning (GLW) is down more than -11% to lead losers in the S&P 500. The company has projected that Q3 core sales of about $3.70 billion, coming in lower than the consensus of $3.81 billion. CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) is down more than -6% to lead losers in the Nasdaq 100. Investors have learned that Delta Air Lines is seeking compensation from the company for the IT outage it caused earlier this month from a failed software upgrade. Procter & Gamble (PG) is down more than -6% to lead losers in the Dow Jones Industrials after reporting Q4 net sales of $20.53 billion, trailing the consensus of $20.74 billion. 
• Key data. The US May S&P CoreLogic composite-20 home price index saw an increase of +6.81% y/y, stronger than expectations of +6.60% y/y. US home prices hit a record in May but decelerated from the previous month.
• Stuff to watch. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is expected to release details of plans to cut monthly bond purchases after its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and possibly signal it will begin raising interest rates at its September meeting. The Federal Reserve is likely to signal its intention to cut interest rates in September after its two-day meeting on Wednesday.  On Thursday, the Bank of England (BOE) is expected to cut its bank rate by 25 bp to 5.00% from 5.25%. 
• More key earnings are on the way. Apple releases their report today and Amazon tomorrow. About one-third of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported thus far.  According to Bloomberg data, most reporting companies have beaten their earnings consensus, but only 43% have beaten revenue expectations, the lowest percentage in five years.

Most Active Stocks

• NeoGenomics Inc. (NEO)
• Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM)
• F5 Inc (FFIV) 
• Stanley Black & Decker (SWK)
• Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 
• Philips 66 (PSX) 
• ASML Holding NV (ASML)
• Lumen Technologies Inc. (LUMN)
• Tesla (TSLA)
• Pfizer (PFE)

In the Spotlight

Microsoft Shares Tank After Results Fall Short

 Shares of Microsoft fell more than 7% in after-market trading on Tuesday after the company reported its fiscal fourth quarter earnings. The tech giant revealed earnings per share (EPS) of $2.95 on revenue of $64.7 billion. Wall Street was anticipating EPS of $2.94 on revenue of $64.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Microsoft reported EPS of $2.69 and revenue of $56.2 billion during the same period last year. Overall cloud revenue was $36.8 billion, in line with expectations of $36.8 billion, but the company's Intelligent Cloud revenue, which includes its Azure services, fell short, coming in at $28.5 billion versus expectations of $28.7 billion.

HSBC’s CEO Announces $3 Billion Share Buyback in his Final Quarter

HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn signed off his final quarter as the leader of HSBC Holdings Plc by announcing a further return of $3 billion to shareholders. The lender reported earnings that beat expectations driven by rising income from global banking and markets. The company's pretax profit for the three months through June rose to $8.9 billion, according to the statement, compared with the company-compiled estimate of $7.78 billion.

“After delivering record profits in 2023, we had another strong profit performance in the first half of 2024, which is further evidence that our strategy is working,” said Quinn, who will hand over the reins to the current Chief Financial Officer Georges Elhedery on Sept. 2.
 

What do the Feds Have in Store?

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has three scheduled meetings for the remainder of 2024. Investors are eyeing these meetings carefully as they could lead to a change in the federal funds rate. Some believe that this week's upcoming meeting could set the stage for future rate cuts.  “Second quarter inflation, most notably the broad-based price declines in the June CPI, was good enough to give the Fed more — but not yet full — confidence that inflation is moving toward 2%,” said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, senior economist at FHN Financial. "This means the Fed is unlikely to make any changes to the federal funds target rate at the July 31 meeting,” she added.