Netflix Soars in Extended Trading After Strong Earnings
50 minutes ago
Netflix (NFLX) reported fourth-quarter results that surpassed analysts’ expectations and raised its 2025 revenue forecast, sending shares soaring after the bell Tuesday.
The streaming giant saw revenue grow 16% to $10.25 billion, above the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha. Earnings came in at $1.87 billion, or $4.27 per share, up from $937.8 million, or $2.11 a share, a year ago and beat analysts’ expectations.
Netflix said it ended 2024 with 302 million memberships and achieved 19 million net new additions in the fourth quarter. This is the last quarter Netflix will report membership and average revenue per member on a quarterly basis, as previously announced.
Looking ahead, Netflix said it expects fiscal 2025 revenue of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion, $500 million higher than its previous estimate. Analysts had expected $43.65 billion, according to Visible Alpha.
The streamer also said it boosted its share repurchase program by $15 billion, bringing its total authorization to $17.1 billion. Last year, Netflix repurchased 9.9 million shares for $6.2 billion.
Shares of Netflix were 14% higher in recent after-hours trading. Through Tuesday’s close, the stock had gained 80% over the past year.
Trump’s SEC Forms Crypto Task Force
2 hr 8 min ago
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Tuesday that it has created a cryptocurrency task force to develop a regulatory framework for digital assets.1
The new task force is intended to help the SEC move away from its prior reliance on enforcement actions that have been heavily criticized by crypto companies and market participants, according to an announcement by Acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda. Udeya was appointed to head the agency after former Chair Gary Gensler stepped down.
The task force aims to help the SEC “draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.”
Coordination with other federal agencies including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), state regulators, and international counterparts also will be a key priority for the task force, the SEC said.
The initiative will be led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce. Peirce, even though she doesn’t quite agree with it, has earned the nickname “Crypto Mom” from the industry for her support of crypto and her sharp opposition to the agency’s enforcement-driven approach under former Chair Gensler.
Read the full article here.
GM Stock Pops Following Deutsche Bank Upgrade
2 hr 31 min ago
Shares of General Motors (GM) surged Tuesday after Deutsche Bank analysts upgraded the automaker’s stock ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report.
The analysts upgraded the Chevrolet and Cadillac parent’s stock to a “buy” rating from a “hold,” and lifted their price target to $60 from $56, a premium of about 18% from GM’s closing level Friday.
In the note previewing fourth-quarter earnings from U.S. automakers, the analysts said they envision GM’s stock continuing to outperform rival Ford’s (F) in 2025. “For 4Q itself, we think GM will report toward the high end of its guidance range, while Ford should be more in line,” they wrote.
GM is set to report Q4 results before the bell on Jan. 28, while Ford’s are expected after markets close on Feb. 5.
The analysts noted recent decisions from GM, like halting development of its Cruise robotaxis and restructuring its struggling operations in China, as positive strategic moves.
They also said the company’s “consistent track record of execution, and aggressive share buyback trajectory” gives them confidence in the stock despite potentially harmful policies to the electric vehicle industry that could come from the new Trump administration.
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GM shares closed nearly 6% higher on Tuesday and have risen 50% over the past 12 months, far outpacing the S&P 500’s performance over the period.
Walgreen Stock Plunges Following DOJ Lawsuit
3 hr 54 min ago
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares sank Tuesday, the first day of trading since the Department of Justice on Friday announced a lawsuit accusing the pharmacy chain of dispensing “millions of unlawful prescriptions” that had no legitimate medical purpose.
The suit alleges that Walgreens pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly, leading to opioids and other medications being given out for prescriptions that had “clear red flags” indicating they were “highly likely to be unlawful.”
The DOJ accused Walgreens of filling prescriptions that had no medical backing, were invalid, or “were not issued in the usual course of professional practice” since roughly August 2012. The illegal prescriptions would violate the Controlled Substances Act, and any prescription for which Walgreens received compensation from federal health care programs would violate the False Claims Act.
Walgreens said Friday that it stands behind its pharmacists as the government works to put them in a “no-win situation.” The chain called the lawsuit an “attempt to enforce arbitrary ‘rules’ that do not appear in any law or regulation.”
Four whistleblowers who were former Walgreens employees made complaints about the prescriptions, the DOJ said. The agency accused Walgreens of helping to “fuel” the prescription opioid epidemic that has led to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths across the country.
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Walgreens shares were down nearly 13% in recent trading, paring the gains from a rally that followed the retailer’s last earnings report earlier this month. But the stock has lost half of its value in the last year.
Trump Media Stock Tumbles 10%
5 hr 8 min ago
President Donald Trump’s social-media stock is dropping in his first hours back in office.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), which owns the Truth Social platform, were recently down 10% at about $36. They’ve mostly fallen since touching January highs above $40 and pre-election highs above $50, though they’re up for the year and well above lows they touched earlier in the fall.
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The latest moves come as traders seek to position themselves for the start of a new administration. Since Trump’s reelection, there have been plenty of “Trump Trades” at different times—from bullishness in oil shares, big financial institutions and companies with deals on the table to wariness regarding inflation, vaccine makers and government contracting businesses—and U.S. indexes are broadly higher today.
Cryptocurrency—in the form of bitcoin, meme coins, industry stocks and other assets and baubles—has also attracted attention from investors.
Trump Media’s stock, with a market value nearing $8 billion, is a comparatively small part of the story, though its volatility over the past few months has shown how it can seize investor attention in a meme-stock fashion.
“Watch out for sell-the-news flow action following the [inauguration] on Monday,” VandaTrack analysts wrote last week of movement in Trump Media and crypto stocks. “An ensuing slide in these stocks accompanied by strong retail buying would imply institutional investors front-ran retail traders, using them as exit liquidity, thus leaving prices to muddle through thereafter.”
Intel Levels to Watch as Stock Continues to Rally
5 hr 28 min ago
Intel (INTC) shares rose again Tuesday after surging more than 12% last week as investors bid up the stock following a strategic update and ongoing deal rumors.
Last Tuesday, the embattled chipmaker said it plans to spin off its venture fund as a standalone entity while remaining an investor in an effort to improve efficiency across the business. Later in the week, sentiment received a further boost after a report surfaced that the company might be a takeover target.
Intel shares were up 2.5% at around $22 in early-afternoon trading Tuesday. Despite the recent rally, the stock has lost more than half its value over the past 12 months amid investor skepticism about the company’s ability to capture a greater share of the booming artificial intelligence (AI) chip market.
Intel shares staged an impressive reversal last week to form a bullish engulfing pattern, a two-bar candlestick formation that signals a positive shift in investor sentiment. Importantly, the pattern formed around the same location on the chart as the early-September low, setting the stage for a potential double bottom.
Furthermore, last week’s rally occurred on the highest weekly volume since early December, indicating buying conviction from larger market participants, such as institutional investors and hedge funds.
Investors should follow crucial overhead levels on Intel’s chart around $25, $30, and $37, while also tracking a key support level near $19.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Moderna Jumps on U.S. Funding to Develop Bird-Flu Vaccine
6 hr 6 min ago
Shares of Moderna (MRNA) took off Tuesday when the biotech firm announced that the U.S. government has awarded it more than a half a billion dollars to develop a vaccine that can be used against bird flu.
The company said the $590 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was aimed at accelerating development of “mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines,” including mRNA-1018.
Moderna explained that it began Phase 1/2 testing of mRNA-1018 in 2023 in healthy adults aged 18 and up, including candidates against the H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses. It noted that based on positive preliminary results, it was launching a Phase 3 study.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that bird flu “is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers.” It noted that while the current public health risk is low, it is monitoring the situation carefully.
Earlier this month, Cal-Maine Foods (CALM), the biggest U.S. egg producer, said egg prices have continued to rise because of limits on production because of the bird flu outbreak.
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Even with today’s roughly 5% increase, Moderna shares remain nearly 65% lower over the last year as COVID-19 vaccine sales slump. The stock, which had risen to more than $400 in mid-2021, is trading around the same levels it was at prior to the pandemic in 2000.
3M Stock Jumps After Strong Earnings, Leads Dow Gainers
7 hr 9 min ago
3M (MMM) shares surged Tuesday after the industrial conglomerate topped fourth-quarter profit and sales estimates on higher demand for a wide range of its products.
The maker of Post-it notes and Scotch tape posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.68, above analysts’ estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Revenue was up 0.1% from a year ago to $6 billion, and $5.8 billion excluding revenue from so-called “forever chemicals,” which it will no longer produce. Both figures were ahead of forecasts.
The company credited the sales gains to “broad based growth in industrial, strength in electronics and aero, softer auto builds, strong holiday season.”
Revenue at the company’s Transportation & Electronics unit rose 3.4% to $7.5 billion on “new product launches and spec-wins that drove share gain.” It increased 0.7% to $11 billion at the Safety & Industrial segment on higher demand for roofing and industrial adhesive products. Revenue fell 1.2% to $4.9 billion at the Consumer division.
3M added that its restructuring program launched in 2023 to focus on simplifying operations and improving margins is “largely complete.”
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3M shares were up nearly 5% this morning, leading gainers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and trading at their highest levels in three years.
Apple Slides as Jefferies Downgrades, JPM Lowers Price Target
8 hr 4 min ago
Apple (AAPL) shares fell Tuesday after Jefferies downgraded the stock to an “underperform” from “hold” on Monday, as flagging iPhone sales and weak demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) features in newer models are expected to lead the tech giant to undershoot quarterly revenue forecasts.
Jefferies also cut its price target on Apple to $200.75 per share from $211.84 each. Apple is due to report its first quarter 2025 numbers on Jan. 30.
Apple shares were down 3.5% at around $222 in recent trading. The stock is down about 11% so far this year, significantly lagging the S&P 500’s performance over the period.
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“We lower forecasts driven by weak iPhone sales and the general [consumer electronics] market and our reduced outlook for iPhone 17/18 due to slower AI uptake and commercialization,” Jefferies analysts wrote, adding that the brokerage expects Apple to miss its first-quarter 2025 revenue guidance of 5% growth. They also said the tech firm’s guidance for the March quarter “could also disappoint.”
Separately, JPMorgan (JPM) analysts on Tuesday stuck with an overweight call on Apple but downgraded their price target to $260 from $265, citing wariness about the company’s outlook.
Among their concerns: The strong dollar at a time of limited appetite for Apple products, and “flattish unit sales” given the current AI features, as well as weak China demand. They said Apple will continue to lose market share in China as it’s already “past its product cycle peak” and also the company’s premium phones don’t benefit from local government subsidies for low-to-mid-tier phones.
Apple shares fell sharply last Thursday as data from research firm Canalys indicated the tech giant lost its coveted position as China’s largest smartphone seller last year. Apple’s China iPhones aren’t equipped with its recently launched AI features.
Bitcoin Levels to Watch After Volatile Inauguration Day Trading
8 hr 53 min ago
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) set a new record high ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday but pared those gains as the new U.S. president, who has been a vocal supporter of the cryptocurrency market, made no mention of it during his inaugural address or other appearances after taking office.
Bitcoin has gained nearly 50% since the early-November election amid optimism that the Trump administration could reduce regulatory roadblocks, establish a bitcoin reserve and pursue other initiatives that promote the widespread adoption of digital assets.
Bitcoin was trading at $103,800 recently, up from an overnight low of around $100,000, but down from the record high of over $109,000 set Monday morning.
Over the weekend, two bearish candlestick patterns formed on the cryptocurrency’s chart that warn of a potential move lower.
Investors should watch key support levels on Bitcoin’s chart around $92,000, $87,000, and $74,000, while also monitoring important overhead areas near $106,000 and $120,000.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Stock Futures Point to Higher Open for Major Indexes
10 hours ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4%.
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S&P 500 futures were also up 0.4%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.5%.
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