Apple, Amazon earnings misses could rattle market
Apple posts a rare miss on earnings but beats analysts' earnings expectations. Amazon disappoints on both counts, which could sour the market's mood.
In this Saturday file photo, employees cheer customers as they enter a newly opened Apple Store in Beijing. Apple missed Wall Street earnings expectations for the second straight quarter, as iPad sales fell short of analyst forecasts. Amazon also announced disappointing earnings. Will these reports spook the markets?
Andy Wong/AP/File
Earnings disappointments from Amazon and Apple could make for a sour start for stocks Friday.
“Of the two names tomorrow, I’d bet Amazon gets more beat up than Apple does,” said Art Hogan of Lazard Capital Partners. “Should it? Yes. You have a miss on earnings and revenues and guidance is slightly lowered. Apple, on the other hand, beat on the revenues and I think the guidance is reasonable.”
Hogan said the Apple miss may present a buying opportunity. “The stalwarts of the market since the market ran up in June were Google and Apple, and both of them were taken to the woodshed already,” he said. Apple stock was down nearly 9 percent this month, ahead of its earnings announcement.
Apple’s stock has a big impact on the S&P 500. Its stock bobbed in after-hours trading briefly down to $585, its first move below $600 since July. It then rebounded, trading in the low 600s. The S&P futures were initially lower but turned slightly higher. Amazon shares slumped more than 1 percent after the bell, after a 2.4 percent decline during the regular trading day Thursday.
Amazon reported a loss of $274 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with a profit of $63 million or 14 cents per share a year earlier. Excluding special items, Amazon reported a loss of 23 cents a share. Amazon spent heavily to expand existing operations and develop new business, but it also forecast revenues of $20.25 billion to $20.75 billion, below the $22.79 billion analysts were expecting for the fourth quarter.
Apple reported earnings of $8.67, below the $8.75 per share expected by analysts. Its revenues however were better than expected at $35.97 billion.
Friday’s markets will also be impacted by third-quarter GDP, to be reported at 8:30 a.m. ET. Consumer sentiment is reported at 9:55 a.m.
There are also earnings form Merck, Comcast, Goodyear, Weyerhaeuser and Moody’s.