Geopolitics Weigh on Sentiment

Pre-market futures are back down this morning, keeping the tone of a flattish trading week in positive territory but off Tuesday afternoon’s highs. The Dow is -271 points at this hour, -0.55%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both -0.31% — -22 points and -84 points, respectively. The small-cap Russell 2000 is currently -2 points, -0.06%.

The head of the U.S. Navy is stepping down “effective immediately” as skirmishes continue in the Strait of Hormuz today. It’s tempting to blame these occurrences on the temporary setback in equities futures, but the complexities in the Iran war continue to mount. We’re supposedly in a cease-fire position, but the Strait remains blocked by both Iranian and U.S. forces. It may be a while before all this is sorted out.

Weekly Jobless Claims Tick Up, Still in Good Shape

Thursday morning brings us the latest Initial Jobless Claims numbers, which ticked up to 214K from the expected 212K, and up a tad from the slightly upwardly revised 208K the prior week. From the December holiday season until now, we’ve definitely seen a step down in weekly jobless claims, below 220K. That said, this is the second week in a row on new claims increases.

Continuing Claims are also up two straight weeks, to 1.821 million from 1.809 million reported a week ago. These are still levels not seen since the lows back in September of 2024, so while jobless claims are flowing up slightly, they are still at rates consistent with a healthy job market. We know from other employment data, however, that this is not necessarily the case.

Q1 Earnings Update: TSLA, AAL, AXP & More

After yesterday’s close, Tesla TSLA posted surprises on both top and bottom lines for its Q1, with earnings of $0.41 per share beating the Zacks consensus by a solid nickel, and up nicely from the $0.27 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. This marks the third quarter in the past four where Tesla has beaten earnings estimates.

Revenues of $22.39 billion in the quarter came in ahead of expectations by +2.12%, and beyond the $19.34 billion reported a year ago. The European market has been good for electric vehicles (EVs), both with Tesla and Chinese EV makers. However, paying for xAI is taxing Tesla’s numbers, and as a result shares are trading down -3% ahead of the open.

Mostly we saw earnings beats for the companies reporting this morning. American Airlines AAL reported a 5-cent better-than-expected loss to -$0.40 per share in the quarter. American Express AXP posted a +6% earnings beat to $4.28 per share. NextEra Energy NEE saw profits go up to $1.09 per share — an +11% beat, while Honeywell HON and Union Pacific Railway UNP outpaced expectations by +6% and +2.8%, respectively.

After today’s close, we’ll hear from Intel INTC and gold miner Newmont Corp. NEM, among several others. The heart of Q1 earnings season is here!

Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"

Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.

This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Source Zacks-com