Right now the Magnificent 7 stocks that have provided so much of the leadership in this huge rally look like they will show slowing earnings growth when they–Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft are up this week–report in the next few days.
The week will bring Big Tech earnings reports and more earnings reports. All capped on Friday with the October jobs report, the last one before the November 7 meeting of the Federal Reserve on interest rates. (Which means that the Fed will be in its blackout period before the meeting–so no Fed speeches.) And, just for good measure, third quarter GDP figures are due Wednesday, October 30, and PCE inflation numbers are scheduled for Thursday, October 31.
Amazon’s (AMZN) earnings report on Thursday, October 24, will start the Big Tech Earnings Parade off with a bang. Wall Street analysts are expecting the company to report earnings of $1.14 a share for the third quarter. That would be up from 85 cents a share in the third quarter of 2023. That would be a 34% jump in year over year earnings. Which would certainly be a great lead in to earnings from Alphabet (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) the following week.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index had a banner first half of 2024 with the index climbing more than 17% as of June 30. But two-thirds of that gain is attributable to just six stocks: Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon.com (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), and Apple (AAPL.).Track the performance of equal-weighted version of the S&P 500–rather than the commonly tracked index where the contribution of any stock to the index is weighted by market cap–and the index was up just 3.9% in the first half of 2024. For the second half of 2024 and looking ahead to 2024, I’m not so much worried about the fundamentals of this extraordinary rally as I am by a failure of market imagination Everybody owns the same 6 stocks. Hey, I get the excitement around these stocks and the boom in Artificial Intelligence. I share it. Which is why I own shares of Nvidia, Amazon, and Alphabet in my online portfolios. But there are 494 other stocks in the S&P 500. And 2000 stocks in the small-cap Russell 2000.(Up 9% in the first half of 2024.)After a rally that has recorded 30 new record highs for the S&P 500 just the first half of n 2024, some of that other 494–or 2000–are actually better stock buys, and likely to out perform the 6 stocks everybody owns from their current record high prices. But which ones? That’s what my Special Report: “10 New Stock Ideas for an Old Rally” is all about.
Apple shares were down 2.78% today, Monday September 16, as pre-order sales to the iPhone 16 showed lower than expected demand for the new phones after a lackluster update that included fewer AI features than competitive smartphones.
Apple (AAPL) today lost its court fight over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) Irish tax bill. The European Union’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg backed a landmark 2016 decision that Ireland broke state-aid law by giving Apple an unfair advantage by awarding the company a lower tax bill. Apple will now be forced to pay $14 billion in back taxes.
There’s a good possibility of an AI “nothing-burger” from Apple (AAPL) on Monday, September 9, when the company rolls out its latest iPhones. Which are supposed to mark Apple’s advent as a serious smartphone AI player. All indications are, however, that Apple’s AI features on the iPhone will be distinctly underwhelming. And that’s a potential problem for the stock-up 15.08% for 2024 and ahead 13.67% for the last three months as of the close on September 6.
Earnings, earnings, earnings. From members of the Magnificent 7: Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Apple (AAPL). in the consumer sector from consumer stocks Starbucks (SBUX), McDonald’s (MCD), Mastercard (MA).From drug companies Pfizer (PFE), Moderna (MRNA) and Merck (MRK). And from Big Oil Chevron (CVX), ExxonMobil (XOM), Shell (SHEL), and BP (BP). Here’s what I’d watch for.
I expect technology sector weakness to continue with earnings worries still unanswered. What could put an end to selling in tech stocks? The NASDAQ 100 is down almost 4% in the last week. Certainly earnings news that showed earnings growth at the companies in this sector robust enough to justify paying a premium for these shares would be a big help Unfortunately, the coming week isn’t going to bring enough earnings good news among tech shares to make this case. Among big tech stocks only Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOG) are scheduled to report.
Traders and investors reacted to Apple’s (AAPO) AI announcements during the first days of the company’s World Wide Developers Conference with enthusiasm today sending the stock up 7.26% in June 11 trading. That’s a new all-time high for the stock. Technology analysts were at best mixed. Their more tepid response set the tone yesterday when the stock dropped 1.9%. Typical was this from KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brandon Nispel in a client note: Apple’s AI enhancements aren’t compelling enough for the average consumer to purchase a new device. I’m with the tech folks on this and today I made Apple a sell in my Special Report: Trade Wars! Trade Wars!
When I was small, one of my favorite songs was The Teddy Bears’ Picnic with its warning refrain, “Don’t go out in the woods today, you’ve in for a big surprise. Not exactly designed as investment guidance, but pretty good investment advice all the same. This week will see two potentially big market moving surprises. Potentially.
This Special Report; Trade War! Trade War! gives you my recommendations for what to sell, where to take profits, and where to trim as seen through the lens of a likely global trade war. Here are my choices with my first 3 sells
