July 31, 2023 | Daily JAM, Videos |
Today’s Trend of the Week: Corporate Profit Margins–The Other Inflation Problem. The market is currently unsure if the Fed will continue to raise rates in September and December. Complicating the Fed’s job of bringing inflation: The trend in corporate profits. Profit margins are projected at 11.1% for the second quarter, down from 11.5% in the first quarter and down from 12.2% in this quarter a year ago. The five year average is 11.4%. Six straight quarters of declining profit margins have companies looking for more ways to bring the margins back up. Any company that still has pricing power is likely to be raising prices. As an example, Spotify raised its U.S. subscription price to $10.99 a month from $9.99 a month- a reasonable, one-dollar increase that will defend the company’s profit margin. The Fed, of course, doesn’t want companies raise prices as the central bank tries to stem inflation by raising interest rates. However for the time being, companies are doing whatever they can to increase profit margins and that includes raising prices on things like toothpaste, if they can, much to the Fed’s chagrin.
January 11, 2023 | AAPL, Daily JAM, Top 50 Stocks, Videos |
Today I posted my two-hundred-and-twenty-second YouTube video: Caution! Technology Margin Shake-Up Ahead!
This starts off as an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) story. Apple recently announced that it would be moving away from using Broadcom (AVGO) chips for Wifi and Bluetooth in its iPhones, and begin using its own chips in 2023. This will of course make for better margins for Apple and speed up the company’s ability to implement new technology. This is a big blow for Broadcom which relies on Apple for 20% of its revenue. Apple also announced it’ll be moving away from QUALCOMM as they project it will have Apple chips to replace the QUALCOMM modem chips by late 2024-2025. (We’ve heard this before. And Apple had to call off the switch because of technology glitches.) You can expect more technology (and other) companies to shake up their own product designs and supply chains as they look at inflation and costs. Corporate profits have been at historic highs protecting profit margins at current levels won’t be easy.
November 15, 2021 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing, Short Term |
With stocks trading at record highs, I’d argue that nothing is as important as what “news” is priced in–or not. If stocks have priced in all the likely good news, then there’s much less to drive prices higher–and much more expansive possibilities for drops on disappointments. If there’s likely good news that’s not yet priced in, then stocks have potential fuel to move high. And, on the other hand, if bad news is priced in and fails to materialize, then, hey, we’re going higher from here. And if bad news isn’t priced in, then current record prices aren’t sustainable.
October 11, 2021 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
Big bank earnings begin on Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, won’t tell us anything useful about the margin pressures from rising global supply chain shipping costs or higher prices for raw materials. Those are the factors that could produce a quarter’s worth of warnings and unpleasant surprises once third quarter earnings season starts on October 13. But to learn about the effect of those margin pressures on earnings we’re going to have to wait for reports from the consumer and industrial companies that are on the front lines of these trends.
May 8, 2018 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
I think you could make a case that the fears set off by Caterpillar’s “high water mark” comment in its earnings conference call set the tone for much of earnings season where traders and investors sold down the shares of almost every company that reported an earnings surprise. Now, however, Caterpillar is taking it all back.
May 26, 2016 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing, Short Term |
Yesterday, May 25, U.S. stocks looked set to bust right on through the top of the recent trading range at 2100. Today, May 26, not so much. The index stalled at 2090–and closed at 2089.25.
