Stocks closed mixed Friday as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric revealed price pressures eased markedly in December.
These stocks made moves Friday:
Intel
fell 12% after the semiconductor company issued a revenue forecast for the first quarter that was significantly below analysts’ expectations. Intel said it expects revenue in the period of $12.2 billion to $13.2 billion, below consensus of $14.2 billion. The company forecast adjusted earnings in the first quarter of 13 cents a share, below analysts’ estimates of 34 cents. Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said Intel’s forecast was taking a hit from struggles in the company’s programmable-chip unit and its autonomous-driving business.
Shares of other chip makers sank:
Advanced Micro Devices
fell 1.7%,
Nvidia
0.9%,
Broadcom
declined 2%, and
Qualcomm
fell 2.4%.
American Express
reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.62 a share on revenue of $15.8 billion. The company said it expects revenue in 2024 to increase 9% to 11% with earnings of $12.65 to $13.15 a share.
American Express
said demand for its premium products “remained robust.” Shares rose 7.1%.
Visa
reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $2.41 a share, better than forecasts of $2.34 as revenue rose 9% to $8.63 billion.
Visa
said payments volume rose 8% and processed transactions rose 9% in the period. The company reiterated its revenue and per-share profit forecast for the fiscal year. The stock closed down 1.7%.
Spirit Airlines
dropped 13% after
JetBlue Airways
warned it may have to terminate its merger with the budget carrier as soon as Sunday if certain closing conditions weren’t met. A federal judge blocked their planned merger earlier this month but the airlines had said they planned to appeal. JetBlue rose 3.6%.
Western Digital
reported a fiscal second-quarter adjusted loss of 69 cents a share, narrower than analysts’ estimates that called for a loss of $1.12. Revenue fell 2% to $3.03 billion from $3.11 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Cloud revenue fell 13%.
Western Digital
issued third-quarter sales guidance of $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion, compared with analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Shares declined 3.5%.
KLA Corp.,
which makes equipment for the semiconductor industry, reported fiscal second-quarter profit of $582.5 million, or $4.28 a share, compared with $978.8 million, or $6.89 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $2.49 billion from $2.98 billion a year earlier.
KLA
said it expects fiscal third-quarter revenue of $2.3 billion, plus or minus $125 million, versus expectations of $2.45 billion. KLA shares declined 6.6%.
Norfolk Southern
fell 1.5% after adjusted quarterly earnings at the railroad operator missed estimates and the company recorded another charge—this time of $150 million—associated with the East Palestine train derailment in February 2023.
Snap
was raised to Buy from Hold at
Deutsche Bank
and the price target was raised to $19 from $10. Shares of the
Snapchat
parent fell 0.3% to $16.25.
Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected]
Read the full article here
