Stocks Rise After Big Tech Earnings and Labor Market Report; Amazon and Intel Surge

What to expect from Berkshire Hathaway's results on Saturday

42 minutes ago

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) will report its third-quarter results on Saturday morning.

Market watchers will also be paying attention to how Buffett's portfolio has changed in light of the very public cut in Bank of America (BAC) stock.

Despite citing a lack of new investment opportunities, Buffett increased the company's stake in Sirius XM last quarter.

Second quarter operating income was driven by gains in the insurance business as claims costs declined. The health of the insurance business will be the focus in the third quarter.

Read the full preview here.

–Mrinalini Krishna

Atlassian Leads Nasdaq Gainers as AI Demand Boosts Results

1 hour and 27 minutes ago

Shares of Atlassian (TEAM) jumped on Friday after the enterprise software company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its forecast as demand for artificial intelligence technology sent subscriptions soaring.

The company behind project tracking tool Jira reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings per share of $0.77, with revenue rising 21.5% to $1.19 billion. Both exceeded estimates. Subscription revenue increased 33%.

Atlassian now forecasts full-year revenue growth of 16.5% to 17% and cloud revenue growth of 24%. That's an increase from its previous forecast of 16% revenue growth and 23% cloud revenue growth for the year.

CFO Joe Binz added that the company continues to focus its investments and execution “on our key strategic priorities of serving the business, delivering AI innovation, and further connecting technology and business teams.”

Shares of Atlassian rose 20% in recent trading, leading Nasdaq gainers to their highest level since February. The stock is still down 5% in 2024.

–Bill McColl

Spectrum Parent Charter Rises After Strong Earnings

2 hours and 14 minutes ago

Shares of Charter Communications (CHTR) jumped on Friday after the provider of cable TV, wireless and Internet services reported better-than-expected results as it lost fewer subscribers than expected.

Spectrum parent company reported third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $8.82 and revenue increased 1.6% to $13.8 billion. Both figures were above analyst forecasts from Visible Alpha.

Charter's internet customers fell by 110,000 to 30.3 million, while video customers fell by 294,000 to 13.2 million. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected 30.1 million and 12.9 million, respectively.

The communications giant also saw a big increase in wireless subscribers: The number of people using Charter's wireless lines rose 26% to 9.4 million, more than expected.

Charter shares rose about 13% in intraday trading on Friday, although they have lost nearly 5% of their value year-to-date despite Friday's gains.

–Bill McColl

Amazon is optimistic about AI growth

2 hours and 54 minutes ago

Amazon (AMZN) shares jumped on Friday as several analysts raised their price targets on the e-commerce giant after third-quarter results beat expectations.

Wedbush raised its price target to $250 from $225, citing Amazon's booming artificial intelligence (AI) business.

In the company's earnings release, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon's AI business was growing three times faster than Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing division, at the same stage of development.

Cloud revenue rose 19% year over year to more than $27 billion as demand for AI increases. In terms of investments, Amazon expects to invest $75 billion this year, the majority of which will go toward technology infrastructure to support AI demand, according to a transcript of the earnings call provided by AlphaSense.

JPMorgan analysts are “pleased” with the increase in spending as Amazon has a “very clear path to AI monetization through AWS,” the company said, raising its price target to $250 from $230.

Amazon shares rose nearly 7% to around $200 in recent trading, not far from their all-time high. The stock has now gained over 31% since the beginning of the year.

–Andrew Kessel

Abbott shares rise after baby formula law ruling

4 hours and 2 minutes ago

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) rose sharply on Friday, a day after a jury cleared infant formula makers of liability for a boy's debilitating intestinal disorder.

A Missouri state jury's verdict on Thursday is a rare legal victory for Abbott Laboratories, maker of the Similac formula, and the Anglo-Dutch company Reckitt Benckiser, which makes the Mead-Johnson formula, after similar studies involving necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) losses), a life-threatening disease that affects the large intestine and intestines.

“The decision reaffirms what we, the medical community and regulators have said: that preterm formula products are safe and there is no reliable scientific evidence that they cause or contribute to NEC,” Abbott said in a statement Investopedia.

“This is the first victory for the two companies in an NEC state case, after Abbott was ordered to pay $495 million in the Gill case in July and Reckitts Mead Johnson was ordered to pay $60 million in the Watson case in March “, wrote UBS analysts on Friday.

Abbot shares rose more than 5% in recent trading.

–Nisha Gopalan

It's been a wild week for Trump Media Stock

4 hours and 55 minutes ago

The shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), which is majority owned by former President Donald Trump, recently fell slightly and were around $35. This week, the stock has risen as much as 40% above last Friday's closing price near $39 and fallen nearly 15% below. That meant wide swings in the market value of the Republican presidential nominee's controlling stake, which is nonetheless worth billions of dollars.

And that's just a few recent news about the company that operates the Truth Social platform. Instead, traders have used the story to bet on the outcome of the presidential election, widely seen as a race between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

Polls generally suggest a close contest heading into Election Day.

In some prediction markets, speculators appear to believe more strongly in the probability of a Trump victory: On Polymarket, for example, traders have generally assumed a greater than 60% probability of a Trump victory for most of this week; On some other platforms these chances were slightly lower. (Here is Investopedia Election Betting Guide)

Meanwhile, shares of Trump Media have performed dramatically, with trading in the stock subject to volatility-related halts several times this week. At one point, shares were trading at levels not seen since the heady days following their debut on public markets earlier this year.

At the moment they are back to July levels, having climbed back from October lows.

–David Marino-Nachison

Boeing shares rise after signing a new deal with Union

6 hours and 8 minutes ago

Boeing (BA) shares gained ground in premarket trading on Friday after the plane maker reached a tentative agreement with its machinists' union on a new contract, potentially ending a crippling seven-week strike.

The International Association of Machinists (IAM) is asking its members to approve Boeing's sweetened offer in a vote on Monday. Its members have been on strike since September 13th.

“In every negotiation and every strike, there comes a point where we got everything we could through negotiations and through the restraint of our workforce,” IAM District 751 said Thursday. “We are at this point now and risk declining or reduced supply in the future.”

The new offer includes a general wage increase of 38% over four years, up from the previous offer of 35%. That “combines 43.65% over the life of the agreement,” the union said. The new offer also offers workers the option of a one-time ratification bonus of $12,000; 401(k) contribution; or “a combination of both,” the union said.

The strike has been painful for Boeing, which is raising billions of dollars to stem the outflow of cash. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kelly Ortberg, who took over the position in August, said in a memo to employees last month that the aircraft maker plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, or 17,000 workers, “in the coming months.” and postpones the launch of its first 777x jetliner.

Boeing shares, which rose 2% in premarket trading, have lost more than 40% of their value this year through Thursday's close.

-Nisha Gopalan

Amazon price levels to watch after earnings surge

7 hours ago

Shares of Amazon (AMZN) rose more than 7% in premarket trading after the company beat Wall Street's third-quarter earnings estimates.

The stock is poised to break out of a symmetrical triangle after the company reported a better-than-expected quarterly report.

Investors should keep an eye on key overhead price levels on the Amazon chart at around $200, $242 and $273, while also keeping an eye on a key profit-taking support area at around $192.

Read the full technical analysis article here.

–Timothy Smith

Stock futures rise ahead of the jobs report

7 hours and 21 minutes ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures also rose 0.4%.

Nasdaq 100 futures also rose 0.4%.