U.S. stocks edged lower Thursday afternoon, with a post-earnings pop from Disney (DIS) headlining moves headlining a topsy-turvy day in trading.
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The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dipped 0.3%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slid by 0.4%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked down 3.59% Thursday morning, while the 2-year exceeded the longer-dated note, reaching the deepest inversion since 1980s. The dollar index weakened on Thursday against the euro, trading at $102.85.
Stocks closed lower Wednesday following recent Fed officials’ speeches signaling that more interest rate hikes are likely to continue and that rates could remain elevated for a longer period.
Some of the standout commentary came from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who said that an effort to reach the central bank’s 2% target “might be a long fight.” Meanwhile, New York Fed President John Williams hinted that more hikes may be needed as interest rates were “barely in restrictive territory.”
The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims rose to 196,000 for the week ended Feb. 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday, higher than the 190,000 expected by economists.
In specific stock moves, shares of Disney (DIS) rose over 4% Thursday morning after the company reported an earnings beat and revealed new restructuring plans that include eliminating 7,000 jobs from its workforce and trimming $5.5 billion in costs. It pared gains later in the session.
The world’s largest entertainment company delivered an adjusted earnings per share of $0.99, higher than the Street’s estimates of $0.74 cents per share. Disney lost 2.4 million streaming subscribers. Revenue jumped to $23.5 billion against forecasts of $23.4 billion.
“Disney is a bellwether for the state of the consumer and the double-digit quarterly revenue growth in its theme parks division helps to calm recession fears in the near-term,” David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, an investment research firm, based in Nashville, wrote in statement following the results.
CEO Bob Iger told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that he doesn’t plan to stay longer than two years at the company in his second stint at the helm of the company. Meanwhile, the highly publicized proxy “fight is over,” activist investor Nelson Peltz announced on CNBC Thursday morning.
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) shares slumped again Thursday, building on a big decline from Wednesday’s session after the Google parent unveiled a batch of new AI-powered features for its Search, Maps, and Lens apps.
Affirm (AFRM) stock sank 14% after the company announced a 19% reduction of its staff. The move comes as the buy-now-pay-later company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss per share. Revenue came in at $399.6 million against estimates of $146.9 million.
Robinhood (HOOD) shares slipped after the company reported quarterly results that came in below expectations as revenue reached $380 million, against $389 million analysts forecasts.
Tesla (TSLA) shares climbed nearly 3% Thursday morning following a government report that found the fatal Tesla crash in 2021 was caused by excessive speed, not by Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance features.
PepsiCo (PEP) shares rose 2% after the snacks and drink giant posted an earnings beat, with earnings per share of $1.67 compared to $1.65 expected by analysts. Revenue came in at $28 billion, against $26.84 billion forecasted.
More earning results on deck for Thursday include PayPal (PYPL) and Lyft (LYFT).
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U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell responds to a question from David Rubenstein (not pictured) during an on-stage discussion at a meeting of The Economic Club of Washington, at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C., U.S, February 7, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades
In corporate news, JPMorgan also joined the array of companies making a shift in its workforce. The bank reported laying off hundreds of mortgage employees, while looking to add 500 small-business roles in the next two years.
Credit Suisse (CS) is dealing with a disaster. The Swiss lender reported its biggest quarterly loss since the financial crisis in 2008 as a slew of customers pulled out over $100 billion in funds in the latest quarter, and warned of more losses ahead.
Looking ahead, investors will be preparing for Tuesday’s CPI print, “given a dearth of catalytic information this week,” Andrew Tyler, US Market Intelligence team at JP Morgan, wrote in a note to clients. As a result, “We may be in store for a choppy next few trading sessions as, in 2022, bond [volume] tended to its largest increases around both the CPI and Fed Days.”
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Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv
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