Boeing Stock Slips as Q1 Deliveries Fall to Fewest Since 2021
46 minutes ago
Boeing (BA) on Tuesday reported its fewest quarterly deliveries since 2021 amid slowed production following a series of incidents that have sparked regulatory scrutiny over the safety of its planes.
Boeing delivered 83 planes in the first quarter of 2024, 67 of which were 737s, down from 130 planes delivered in the prior-year quarter. The deliveries are Boeing’s fewest since it delivered 79 planes in the second quarter of 2021.
The first quarter of 2024 was marred by several issues for Boeing, starting with a Jan. 5 incident in which a door plug flew off an Alaska Airlines flight. Subsequent investigations found that key bolts were missing on the plane, as well as missing or loose on other planes in the 737 Max 9 line, leading to the fleet being grounded.
Following months of other incidents and ensuing investigations, Boeing announced shakeups at the executive level last month. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Calhoun is now set to step down at the end of 2024, the independent chair of Boeing’s board is also being replaced, and the head of its Commercial Airplanes division is retiring.
Boeing shares fell 2.4% to $177.27 as of about 2:45 p.m. ET Tuesday and are down about 32% so far this year.
Norfolk Southern Reaches $600 Million Settlement Over 2023 Derailment
1 hr 40 min ago
Shares of Norfolk Southern (NSC) moved higher in intraday trading Tuesday after the railway company announced a $600 million settlement that could resolve class-action litigation over the Feb. 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
If approved in court, the settlement would resolve class-action litigation within 20 miles of the derailment site, as well as personal injury claims within 10 miles of the site, the company said in a press release. The derailment happened in East Palestine, which lies next to the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Norfolk Southern also released preliminary first-quarter results Tuesday, reporting $3 billion in revenue, and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.49 after accounting for the settlement and other one-time costs. Aside from the settlement, Norfolk Southern said it also anticipates a hit of $50 million to $100 million to second-quarter revenue from last month’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, depending on the duration of the port outage.
Norfolk Southern stock was up 1.5% at $253.88 Tuesday afternoon. Shares are up about 24% from a year ago when the stock was suffering the effects of the accident.
What To Expect From Google’s Cloud Next Conference
2 hr 48 min ago
Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google is set to hold its recurring Cloud Next conference Tuesday through Thursday, with the tech giant expected to provide key updates on how it is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tech in its cloud business.
Google gave investors a taste of what’s to come on Tuesday morning when it unveiled the Axion Processor, a custom Arm-based central processing unit that the company said offered “industry-leading performance and energy efficiency.”
Investors’ enthusiasm for Google’s AI capabilities could get a boost from the event, according to Bank of America analysts, noting that Cloud Next 2024 is taking place just 7.5 months since Cloud Next was held in 2023, potentially suggesting “some advancements with Gemini LLM or other AI products” that the company is eager to highlight.
Bank of America said that “positive commentary on advances in AI infrastructure, Gemini’s capabilities vs competitive LLMs, or traction with AI customers (after a strong 4Q vs estimates) could address some of the AI-related overhang on the stock.”
Shares of Alphabet were up more than 1% early Tuesday afternoon as Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian opened the conference with a keynote speech.
Read here for more on what may come out of the conference.
Tilray Stock Tanks Following Earnings Miss, Outlook Cut
3 hr 28 min ago
Shares of Tilray Brands (TLRY) plummeted Tuesday after the marijuana products maker and craft beer brewer posted worse-than-expected quarterly results and reduced its full-year earnings guidance as cannabis sales slipped.
Tilray reported a third-quarter fiscal 2024 loss of $0.12 per share, more than double estimates. Revenue rose 29.4% to $188.3 million, but that was more than 5% below forecasts.
Tilray now expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to be in a range of $60 million to $63 million, down from its previous outlook of $68 million to $78 million. In addition, the company no longer anticipates generating positive adjusted free cash flow because of “delayed timing for collecting cash on various asset sales.”
The news sent Tilray Brands shares down 20.5% to $2.06 as of midday Tuesday, and into negative territory for the year.
Gold Hits Fresh Record as Markets Await Inflation Data
4 hr 36 min ago
Gold climbed to a record high of more than $2,380 in early trading Tuesday, extending a bull run that has outpaced the S&P 500 so far this year.
The precious metal has risen more than 15% since the end of February, and Bank of America on Tuesday said prices could climb another 26% to $3,000/oz by next year.
Gold, they say, has been boosted by a confluence of factors including geopolitical risk and strong demand from central banks, and could get an even bigger boost from interest rate cuts later this year.
China has shown a particular appetite for gold recently. The People’s Bank of China added more than 200 tons of gold to its reserves in 2023, nearly twice as much as the second-biggest buyer, Poland. Chinese retail investors have also turned to gold amid a downturn in Chinese equities and instability in its massive property market.
And yet, BofA points out, “the ongoing hiking cycle has kept many investors on the sidelines.”
Gold demand is generally hurt by higher interest rates because gold is a non-yielding asset that becomes relatively less attractive as yields on other low-risk assets, like Treasurys, rise. That relationship can be seen in the recent breakdown of the correlation between gold ETF exposure and prices. Assets under management at physically backed gold ETFs have declined relatively steadily throughout the Fed’s tightening cycle while gold prices have climbed.
“In our view, this is heavily influenced by continued apprehension over the direction of monetary policy,” the BofA analysts wrote. “Yet, if the Fed ultimately starts cutting rates, investors should return to the market.”
However, interest rate cuts this year are far from a sure bet after two months of mixed inflation data. Market participants and the Fed will be watching tomorrow’s March Consumer Price Index (CPI) closely for evidence disinflation hasn’t stalled.
Tesla Stock in Focus After Settling Autopilot Lawsuit—Key Levels to Watch
5 hr 20 min ago
Shares in electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla (TSLA) remain in focus Tuesday morning after court documents revealed that the company has settled a wrongful death lawsuit relating to a 2018 autopilot car accident that killed Apple engineer Walter Huang after his vehicle veered off a highway near San Francisco.
The settlement comes just days before the closely followed case centering around the automaker’s driver assistant technology was scheduled to go to trial in a California Superior court, potentially saving Tesla from damming evidence and testimonies that could cause reputational damage and establish precedent in similar existing and future cases.
The settlement follows Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s announcement Friday that the electric car maker plans to unveil a self-driving robotaxi on Aug. 8.
“The last thing they would want right now is to have a public trial showing all of the problems with Full Self-Driving,” said Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid, according to Reuters.
Tesla shares have oscillated within an orderly descending channel since July last year, apart from a bull trap fake-out above the pattern’s top trendline in December. During periods of weakness, monitor the $160 level, an area on the chart where the price may find support from the channel’s lower trendline. Amid a move back to the upside, keep an eye on the $213 region where sellers could emerge to book profits near the pattern’s top trendline.
The stock was up 3.3% at $178.53 early in the session Tuesday. With Tuesday’s intraday gains, Telsa shares had lost 28% of their value since the beginning of the year.
Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket
6 hr 10 min ago
Gains:
- Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): Shares of the mining giant rose more than 3% as copper prices climbed to their highest since January 2023, driven by decarbonization demand and the prospect of Chinese refiners cutting production.
- Alamos Gold Inc. (AGI): Shares of the gold miner rose about 2% as the price of gold climbed to a record high amid geopolitical tensions and strong central bank demand.
- Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Shares of the tech giant rose more than 1% ahead of the kick-off of its Google Cloud Next conference, where it is expected to provide several updates of on AI uses in its cloud business.
Losses:
- Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY): Shares of the cannabis producer tumbled 15% after reporting a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and disappointing full-year guidance.
- Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN): Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange slipped more than 1% as the price of bitcoin and other digital coins retreated after surging yesterday.
Stock Futures Tick Up in Premarket Trading
6 hr 56 min ago
Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up about 0.1% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
S&P 500 futures traded 0.2% higher.
Nasdaq 100 contracts were up 0.3% about an hour before markets opened.