The American indices are moving in scattered order. As the results season continues at a brisk pace, the streaming group Netflix yesterday unveiled a quality quarterly publication. It supports the technology sector. This morning, China released a slew of Chinese statistics, including better-than-expected retail sales. At the end of the week, oil widened its losses and gold reached a new high. Around 5:40 p.m., the Dow Jones lost 0.14% to 43,177.41 points and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.64% to 18,491.47 points.
Netflix jumped 10.27% to $758.29 to take the lead in the S&P 500 index. The title of the streaming group has gained 40% since January 1. Netflix took care of its publication by revealing a number of subscribers, revenues and results better than expected. JPMorgan predicts that “Netflix’s global scale, high engagement level (approximately 2 hours per day), and diverse content will push the company to become the default choice for how users consume television, movies, and more.” other long-form content.
Today’s economic figures
1.428 million building permits were registered in September at an annual rate in the United States. The consensus was targeting 1.45 million, after 1.47 million in August. In addition, 1.354 million housing starts were recorded last month at an annual rate. The consensus was for 1.35 million, after 1.361 million in August.
Values to follow today
American Express
Credit card issuer American Express reported better-than-expected results. In the third quarter, net income increased 2% to $2.51 billion, or $3.49 per share. Excluding exceptional items, earnings per share also came in at $3.49 above the consensus of $3.28. Its revenues rose 8% to $16.64 billion while the market was targeting $16.67 billion. American Express recorded $1.4 billion in provisions for loan losses compared to $1.2 billion a year earlier.
Apple
iPhone 16 sales in China increased by 20% during their first three weeks on sale compared to the model launched in 2023, according to Counterpoint Research cited by Bloomberg. Consumers continue to gravitate towards the more expensive models, and sales of the high-end Pro and Pro Max models are up 44% compared to their equivalents last year.
Pharmacy
A collective of consumer defense organizations and unions are calling on the FTC, the American federal competition authority, to prevent the announced takeover of the American Catalent by the Danish Novo Holding, majority shareholder of the giant Novo Nordisk, announced in FEBRUARY. They estimate that the merger, estimated at $16.5 billion, would harm competition in the field of weight-loss drugs and cutting-edge gene therapies. Amgen, Pfizer, Roche and AstraZeneca would see the marketing of their own GLP-1 drugs compromised by this takeover.
Procter & Gamble
The consumer products group Procter & Gamble revealed a mixed performance. In the first quarter, ended at the end of September, net profit fell 12% to $3.987 billion, or $1.61 per share. The latter fell to $1.93 excluding exceptional items, exceeding consensus by 3 cents per share. Sales fell 1% to $21.7 billion while Wall Street was targeting $21.91 billion. Organic growth reached 2%.
SLB
SLB’s third-quarter revenue was $9.16 billion. It remained stable sequentially and increased 10% year-on-year. Net profit was $1.19 billion, up 7% sequentially and 6% year-on-year. Adjusted Ebitda was $2.34 billion, an increase of 2% sequentially and 13% year-over-year. The oil services group posted a profit of 89 cents per share, excluding charges and credits, an increase of 14% year-on-year.
source: AOF
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