Spectrum Parent Charter Surges After Strong Earnings

36 minutes ago

Charter Communications (CHTR) shares jumped Friday after the cable TV, mobile, and internet services provider reported better-than-anticipated results as it lost fewer subscribers than expected.

The Spectrum parent posted third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $8.82, with revenue up 1.6% to $13.8 billion. Both figures were above analysts' forecasts compiled by Visible Alpha.

Charter's internet customers declined by 110,000 to 30.3 million, and video customers slid 294,000 to 13.2 million. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for 30.1 million and 12.9 million, respectively. 

The communications giant also posted a big jump in mobile customers, as those using Charter’s mobile lines jumped 26% to 9.4 million, more than anticipated.

Charter shares were up about 13% in intraday trading Friday, though even with Friday's gains, they've lost close to 5% of their value since the start of the year.

–Bill McColl

Amazon Soars on Optimism About AI Growth

1 hr 16 min ago

Amazon (AMZN) shares jumped Friday as multiple analysts raised their price targets for the e-commerce giant following third-quarter results that topped expectations. 

Wedbush upped its price target to $250 from $225, pointing to Amazon’s surging artificial intelligence (AI) business.

On the company’s earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon’s AI business is growing three times faster than Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing division, did at the same stage in its development. 

Cloud revenue jumped 19% year-over-year to more than $27 billion amid surging demand for AI. In terms of investment, Amazon said it expects to spend $75 billion in capital expenditures 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 "comfortable" with the increase in expenditures given Amazon's "very clear path to AI monetization through AWS," the firm said, raising its price target to $250 from $230.

Shares of Amazon were up nearly 7% at around $200 in recent trading, not far from their all-time high. The stock has now gained than 31% year-to-date.

–Andrew Kessel

Abbott Shares Jump After Baby Formula Legal Ruling

2 hr 23 min ago

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) surged Friday, a day after a jury cleared infant formula makers of liability for a boy’s debilitating intestinal disease.

The ruling by a Missouri state court jury Thursday is a rare legal win for Abbott Laboratories, maker of the Similac formula, and British-Dutch company Reckitt Benckiser, which produces the Mead Johnson formula, following their losses in similar trials involving necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening disease that affects the colon and intestine.

"The decision reinforces what we, the medical community and regulatory bodies have said: that preterm infant nutrition products are safe, and there is no reliable scientific evidence that they cause or contribute to cause NEC," Abbott said in a statement to Investopedia.

“This is the first victory for the two companies in a NEC state case after Abbott was ordered to pay $495m in July in the Gill case and Reckitt’s Mead Johnson $60m in March in the Watson case,” UBS analysts wrote Friday.

Abbot shares were up more than 5% in recent trading.

–Nisha Gopalan

It's Been a Wild Week for Trump Media Stock

3 hr 17 min ago

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), majority owned by former President Donald Trump, were recently down slightly at around $35. This week the stock has risen as high as 40% above last Friday’s close near $39 and slid nearly 15% below it. That’s meant big swings in the market value of the Republican presidential nominee’s majority stake, which nevertheless is worth billions of dollars.

And that’s on little in the way of actual news about the company, which operates the Truth Social platform. Instead, traders have seized on the story as a way to wager the outcome of the presidential election, seen broadly as a race between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Polls generally point toward a close contest ahead of Election Day.

On some prediction markets, speculators seem to more strongly believe in the likelihood of a Trump win: On Polymarket, for example, traders have generally backed a more-than-60% likelihood of a Trump victory for most of this week; those odds were a bit lower on some other platforms. (Here’s Investopedia’s guide to elections betting,)

Meanwhile, Trump Media shares have moved dramatically, with trading in the stock subjected to volatility-based halts multiple times this week. At one point, the shares traded at levels not seen since the high-flying days after their debut on public markets earlier this year. 

For now, they’re back around July levels after climbing off October lows.

–David Marino-Nachison

Boeing Shares Rise After New Deal With Union Reached

4 hr 30 min ago

Boeing (BA) shares were gaining ground in premarket trading Friday after the plane maker reached a tentative deal 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 the sweetened offer from Boeing in a vote on Monday. Their members have been on strike since Sept. 13.

"In every negotiation and strike, there is a point where we have extracted everything that we can in bargaining and by withholding our labor," IAM District 751 said Thursday. "We are at that point now and risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future."

The new offer includes a 38% general wage increase over four years, higher than the previous offer of 35%. That “compounds to 43.65% over the life of the agreement,” the union said. The new offer will also give workers the option of a $12,000 one-time ratification bonus; 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 a cash drain. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kelly Ortberg, who stepped into the role in August, said in a memo to employees last month that the plane maker plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, or 17,000 workers, “over the coming months” and is postponing the launch of its first 777x jetliner.

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

-Nisha Gopalan

Amazon Prices Levels to Watch After Post-Earnings Surge

5 hr 22 min ago

Amazon (AMZN) shares were up more than 7% in premarket trading after the company surpassed Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings estimates.

The stock sits poised to break out from a symmetrical triangle following the company’s better-than-expected quarterly report.

Investors should watch key overhead price levels on Amazon's chart around $200, $242, and $273, while also monitoring an important support area during profit taking periods near $192.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Stock Futures Higher Ahead of Jobs Report

5 hr 43 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures were also up 0.4%.

Nasdaq 100 futures also gained 0.4%.

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