U.S. markets close in 4 hours 25 minutes

  • S&P 500

    3,442.02
    -1.10 (-0.03%)
     

  • Dow 30

    28,266.09
    -42.70 (-0.15%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    11,511.81
    -4.69 (-0.04%)
     

  • Russell 2000

    1,607.88
    -9.82 (-0.61%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    40.17
    -1.53 (-3.67%)
     

  • Gold

    1,926.30
    +10.90 (+0.57%)
     

  • Silver

    25.11
    +0.14 (+0.54%)
     

  • EUR/USD

    1.1872
    +0.0044 (+0.37%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    0.8030
    +0.0060 (+0.75%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.3145
    +0.0198 (+1.53%)
     

  • USD/JPY

    104.5590
    -0.9110 (-0.86%)
     

  • BTC-USD

    12,656.51
    +1,599.51 (+14.47%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    253.28
    +8.39 (+3.43%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    5,777.96
    -111.26 (-1.89%)
     

  • Nikkei 225

    23,639.46
    +72.42 (+0.31%)
     

Verzion, Biogen, Abbott earnings breakdown, here's what you need to know

Yahoo Finance's Emily McCormick joins The First Trade with Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi to discuss recent earnings reports from Verizon, Abbott and Biogen.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Yahoo Finance's Emily McCormick is joining us now with more on those earnings reports. Emily, lots to get to here, but let's start with our parent company, Verizon. Third quarter earnings, they are topping estimates on both the top and bottom line. And I understand Verizon giving some good guidance as well.

EMILY MCCORMICK: That's right, Alexis. The company did give good guidance here with customers still turning to the carrier for wireless service during the pandemic. And that's both on the broadband side and on the wireless side. We saw here on the guidance aspect, Verizon now saying it expects total wireless service revenue growth of at least 2% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to last year.

It also raised its full year adjusted earnings per share guidance to arrange a flat to up 2% versus down to up 2% that had previously been expected. Now, take a look at these fiscal third quarter results. We did see third quarter operating revenue of $31.5 billion, slightly below the 31.6 billion expected. That was down 4% over last year, partially due to the timing of new product launches.

Now, if we take a look at the bottom line, though, we did see those adjusted earnings per share of $1.25, better than the $1.22 that had been expected. And that even included a $0.05 per share impact due to COVID-19 and impacts related to delays in bill payments and other things related to the virus. Now, in terms of those wireless postpaid net additions, those were up 553,000 during the quarter, well above the 475,000 that had been expected to be added.

So we did see postpaid phone net additions specifically a bit light at 283,000 versus about 318,000 anticipated. Now, in terms of broadband, we did see Verizon's Fios home internet service bringing on 139,000 new customers, well above the 27,000 consensus, Alexis.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, want to switch gears and go into the health sector for a moment. Take a look at Abbott Labs' earnings. This is a company that is working on a COVID-19 rapid test. And I understand their earnings also coming in better than expected.

EMILY MCCORMICK: Absolutely. And really, here, seeing these results driven by sales of those coronavirus tests, especially the rapid tests that the company just received emergency use authorization for back in August. Remember that the government is now spending $750 million to buy 150 million of these tests.

And we saw in this unit specifically, COVID-19 tests alone brought in $881 million. That helped propel the diagnostics unit for the company up 39% for sales in the quarter to $2.6 billion. And we did see overall sales up 10% to nearly 9 billion on that overall top line. The company also raising its profit guidance for the year.

Again, those COVID-19 tests as well as medical device sales, we should also note, were a strong point in this report for Abbott, Alexis and Brian.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, let's stick with the biotech sector there and talk Biogen. I see that the stock is taking a hit right now, earnings tumbling 55% in the latest quarter.

EMILY MCCORMICK: Absolutely. So taking a look here at Biogen, we did see this company come under pressure from some generic competition now. That was especially for its multiple sclerosis treatment, Tecfidera. Now, this treatment alone posted third quarter sales of $953 million, that was down 15% over last year and below the $1 billion that analysts had been expecting.

Now, important to note that Mylan, a competitor, began selling a generic form of that drug back in August, and others have also come into the market. So Biogen actually said in its guidance that it, quote, "assumed significant erosion of Tecfidera in the fourth quarter." Now, taking a look at what this company guided toward and now expects revenue to come in at as much as $13.4 billion.

That's a big step down from as much as 14.2 billion that the company guided toward before. So again, this guidance here really spooking investors when you see those shares down nearly 1% in premarket trading, Alexis.

Latest Stories

  • Jim Cramer Likes These Stocks If Joe Biden Wins The Election

    Jim Cramer discussed Tuesday on CNBC's "Mad Money" his "basket of winners" if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidential election.Cramer believes if Biden wins the election, the Democrats will be eager to throw money at the solar industry. Two solar stocks he likes: First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA). Infrastructure is another industry Cramer believes will be a winner if Biden wins. If there is a democratic sweep, we could see an infrastructure package. Cramer likes these two infrastructure stocks: Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) and Deere & Company (NYSE: DE).See Also: Trump, Biden To Have Microphones Muted In Final Debate When Rival Makes Opening RemarksCramer says the main difference between President Donald Trump and Biden is trade. He believes if Biden wins, there will be no more trade war with China. Cramer likes these Chinese play stocks: 3M Company (NYSE: MMM), Emerson Electric Co (NYSE: EMR) and Otis Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: OTIS).The biggest winners are the China consumer plays, which are Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Nike, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) according to Cramer. He believes Nike will hit the $135 price range due to the company's Chinese business.See more from Benzinga * Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas * Container Store Surges On Big Q2 Sales Beat, Marie Kondo Partnership * Jason Snipe Gives His Bullish Thoughts On Wayfair, AutoZone(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Snap (SNAP) Could Rally Into the Mid-$50s

    Snap (SNAP) stock has broken out to an all-time high and could take off in a momentum-fueled advance.

  • 3 Reasons Why General Electric Will Be An ‘I Told You So’ Winner

    On Oct. 6, General Electric (NYSE:GE) stock dipped 5% after the company revealed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had issued it a Wells notice. Soon, the gross overreaction to this proved to be an ideal entry point — shares have since recovered over 10%. And it’s still not too late to jump into GE stock. Source: JPstock / Shutterstock.com That’s because more experienced investors will realize that GE shows the classic signs of a “Warren Buffett” investment. Of course, it’s not easy to buy stocks when they’re down – consider Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in 2001 after the dotcom bubble, or Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in 2014 before its move into cloud computing.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips But people can forget how troubled these companies seemed at the time. Those who invest in these diamonds in the rough stand to gain — and massively so. I call these investments “I told you so” stocks. Here are three reasons why GE stock is one of them. GE Stock: Built On a Strong Business Franchise After reaching a low in April, world air travel has slowly recovered. And GE stock stands to recuperate even faster. Why? The industrial giant earns most of its profits from the jet engine business, a highly lucrative industry where GE holds a 60% market share (31% through GE Aviation, 28% through CFM International). And the jet engine looks much like a “razor-and-blades” model — engines are typically sold for little or no profit while spare parts and services have profit margins up to 70%. 7 Red-Hot Recent IPOs to Ditch Now That means even a partial return to normal airline usage will help GE’s bottom line. On top of the fact that jet engines still need servicing while grounded, the demand for spare parts will recover as airplanes take back to the skies. And if they’re running GE engines, you can imagine who they will turn to for repairs. Analysts now expect GE to return to pre-pandemic EBITDA margins by 2022, or two years faster than the airline industry. Overlooked by Other Investors For years, GE has struggled to shed its image as a bloated conglomerate. Despite significant asset sales by turnaround CEO Larry Culp, the company still trades at just 5.05 times EV-to-EBITDA, one of the lowest ratios in the industry. But these low values are the hallmarks of great investments. There’s a good reason why long-time investors would wrongly shun General Electric today. During the 2008 financial crisis, investors learned that half of GE’s profits came from GE Capital, a 100% owned affiliate that filed separate reports with the SEC. The subsidiary made money in everything from European car loans to Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) credit cards to (unfortunately) subprime mortgages. It was also a conduit for smoothing earnings, a financial “no-no” that GE infamously used. That all came crashing down during The Great Recession. As the magnitude of GE’s financial problems came to light, Wall Street turned its back on the company. EV-to-Revenue — a measure of valuation — went from around 3.3 in 2009 to 0.6 times today. These are levels that the airline industry saw in 2012 before their massive run-ups. Today, most investors seem to be hung-up on their biases when it comes to GE stock. Institutional ownership comes to 61%, compared to 75% for engineering service company Emerson (NYSE:EMR) and 87% for defense contractor General Dynamics (NYSE:GD). But General Electric now looks little like its former self. The grudge seems to be no longer warranted. Selling at a Significant Discount Last week, GE’s announcement of a Wells notice sent the stock spiraling. I’m typically wary of companies with misreported earnings – in fraud cases, one financial shenanigan often leads to many more. But GE’s $3 billion market loss was an overreaction to the Wells notice announcement. There are three key reasons why. First — according to Morningstar — the usual Wells notice penalty comes to just $550,000. In June, AmTrust (OTCMKTS:AFSIC) paid $10.5 million to settle a case that was similar to General Electric’s – that’s higher than average but still far less than the $3 billion hit that GE stock took in its market capitalization. Second, the SEC is investigating GE’s past write-offs — how it calculated reserves leading up to its surprising $6 billion insurance and $22 billion energy write-offs in 2018. These are leftover parts from the company’s conglomerate days. And finally, Wells notices signal potential violations, not actual ones. Typically 20% of cases get dropped entirely. Of course, Wells notices are never good news. In General Electric’s case, the company may have to pay significant fines in order to settle with the SEC. But it’s unlikely that the penalty will sink the company. What’s GE Worth? Given the Wells notice’s expected low impact, GE’s fair value remains unchanged at $16.50 — making a 150% jump likely. Its strong jet engine and medical imaging franchise looks set to recover quickly in 2021. Great investments don’t come around often. And with GE ticking these boxes, it certainly looks like it could be an “I told you so” stock for patient investors. “I told you so” — wouldn’t that be nice to say? On the date of publication, Tom Yeung did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Tom Yeung, CFA, is a registered investment advisor on a mission to bring simplicity to the world of investing. The post 3 Reasons Why General Electric Will Be An ‘I Told You So’ Winner appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • The stock market is set to fall over the next year — and is unprepared for 2 big risks, says Deutsche Bank’s wealth-management arm

    There-is-no-alternative, or TINA, has been a pretty solid investment strategy for those who are riding the stock-market wave. But to Deutsche Bank's international private bank chief investment office, it has its limits.

  • 10 countries where you can retire on just $100,000

    Get the most from your retirement savings in these affordable places outside the U.S.

  • AT&T stock notches worst losing streak since 2010 amid fears of iPhone subsidies’ effects on earnings

    Shares of AT&T Inc. extended a slide Tuesday that marked their longest losing streak in more than a decade.

  • U.S. investment bankers' new pitch: Biden's tax hike

    Biden has proposed raising the capital gains tax rate from 20% to 39.6% for those making over $1 million. Biden would have to win the presidency and his Democratic Party would have to gain control of the Senate and keep control of the House of Representatives in the Nov. 3 election for his tax proposals to become law. The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

  • Biden's tax plan could create rates as high as 62% for New Yorkers, Californians

    Wealthy Americans living in New York, New Jersey and California could face one of the steepest tax rates in decades if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the November election.

  • What Trump and Biden tax policies could mean for your paycheck, tax return, investments and retirement savings

    President Donald Trump says the American Dream is on the line this election, while Democratic challenger Joe Biden says his campaign is locked in a “battle for the soul of this nation.” How might the candidates affect the things you can see and hold, like a paystub, an income tax return or a portfolio statement? The focus on finances puts tax policy front and center.

  • Nikola Stock Jumps As GM Backs Electric Truck Deal While Talks Continue

    GM appeared to reaffirm its partnership agreement with electric truck maker Nikola while talks to finalize terms drag on.

  • These are the 3 best dividend yield investments for 2021

    This is one of the worst ways to invest for yield in the stock market heading into what may be the best year for economic growth in 20 years — 2021. Classic dividend payers like Procter & Gamble (PG) Colgate-Palmolive (CL) General Mills (GIS) and Campbell Soup (CPB) are called “noncyclicals.” Instead, I’m telling income investors who subscribe to my stock letter to own cyclical names that pay dividends.

  • PayPal to let you buy and sell cryptocurrencies in the US

    PayPal has partnered with cryptocurrency company Paxos to launch a new service. PayPal users in the U.S. will soon be able to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies. PayPal plans to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin at first.

  • AMD: Expect a “Beat and Raise” in Q3 Earnings, Says Top Analyst

    COVID-19 has had ruinous consequences for many companies, but you’d be hard pressed to find any negative impact on perennial winner Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The chip maker has swatted away the pandemic and has continued the market trouncing performance it set off on some half a decade ago.Heading into next week’s earnings (October 27, AMC), in possession of a year-to-date share gain of 78%, RBC analyst Mitch Steves pounds the table for more AMD upside.The 5-star analyst anticipates a "beat and raise” and, as such, lifts his price target from $84 to $92. This figure implies additional upside of 13% over the following months. Needless to say, Steves’ rating stays an Outperform (i.e. Buy). (To watch Steves’ track record, click here)So, what’s behind the target increase?Steves explained, “Our checks remain positive and we anticipate: 1) upside to gaming numbers due to higher than expected demand, 2) upside on PC CPUs as well given the continued strength from WFH initiatives - we also think AMD is continuing to gain share against Intel and 3) the steady share gains on the server side should continue and the firm should reach low-mid teens share (up from 10%) in the next 2-3 quarters.”Steves also addresses the recent rumored takeover of semiconductor peer Xilinx. Investors’ initial negative reaction to the estimated $30 billion deal was based on the fear the purchase amounts to a “defensive minded transaction.” Steves believes the noise surrounding the acqusition means “the focus has shifted away from AMD's current core/organic growth story.” However, the analyst expects such worries will “likely fade” so long as AMD “can produce organic results that meet/exceed expectations.”In addition to cementing AMD’s status as a large-cap semiconductor company, those in favor of the deal also highlight the acquisition’s potential to help AMD “expand into the communications sub-segment” and point to AMD's success when going head to head against Intel in the CPU segment.So, that’s RBC’s view, let’s see now what the rest of the Street has in mind for the high-flying chip maker. AMD's Moderate Buy consensus rating is based on 11 Buys, 13 Holds and 1 Sell. The $86.26 average price target suggests modest upside of 6% from current levels. (See AMD stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

  • Ford Vs. General Electric: The Blue Chip Race Back To $10

    Two of the most well-known companies in the United States are trading under $10. Analysts have given both of these companies $10 price targets. Here's a look at the race to get shares back to the $10 level.Ford Shares Under $10: Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) has had a rough 2020, with shares down 18%.The good news for investors could be the company moving forward with new CEO Jim Farley. In his first days, Farley placed emphasis on the company's strong franchises and growing its electric and autonomous vehicle presence.The company has spent over $10 billion on building out its electric vehicles business; it's a key focus area for Dearborn. Ford also has highly anticipated releases of the Bronco, Mustang and F-150 on the horizon. Benchmark is the only Ford analyst with a price target of $10 or more. The analyst sees third-quarter earnings coming in better than expected and strong demand in China as near-term catalysts.The analyst thinks Ford could produce earnings per share of 65 cents to $1.15 in fiscal 2021.Related Link: Ford Reports 25% Rise in Q3 China SalesGeneral Electric Under $10: Shares of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) are down 38% in 2020, but one analyst sees upside coming from the company's industrial business and aviation improving.Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage General Electric shares with a Buy rating and $10 price target earlier this month. GE's industrial story is the key, and the company should emerge stronger after the pandemic, the sell-side firm said. The base case for the call is predicated on a vaccine being released over the next 12 months and air travel strength resuming in that time period.The analyst sees General Electric's industrial business returning to profitable free cash flow of $1.2 billion in fiscal 2021 and $3.6 billion in fiscal 2022, after an expected loss of $3.2 billion in the current fiscal year.Goldman Sachs also believes the renewable energy business of General Electric is underappreciated.Citigroup is the only other analyst with a double-digit target price on General Electric. The firm had a price target of $11 back in April. F, GE Share Performance: Shares of Ford are down 50% over the last five years. Shares have traded between $3.96 and $9.58 over the last 52 weeks. The last time Ford shares closed over $10 was July 22, 2019, at $10.02.Shares of General Electric are down 75% over the last five years. Shares last saw a $10 close on March 5, 2020, they closed at $10.08.What's Next For F, GE: Both companies will report quarterly earnings Oct. 28. Photo by Dave Parker via Wikimedia. See more from Benzinga * Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas * EXCLUSIVE: 5K 1st Edition Pokemon Card Box Record Set By Trader Chris Camillo * IPO Outlook: McAfee, Cloud Company Datto Lead The Week(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Disney says California rules will keep Disneyland shut for 'foreseeable future'

    Officials in California, home to Walt Disney Co's Disneyland, on Tuesday pushed the reopening of large theme parks months down the road, drawing outrage from the industry, which predicted the loss of thousands more jobs. California Health Secretary Mark Ghaly said theme parks with a capacity of more than 15,000 visitors must wait to resume business until a county's COVID-19 risk level drops to the lowest tier of "minimal" spread. Under California's four-tier scheme, the lowest tier means daily cases of the coronavirus must number less than one per 100,000.

  • Philip Morris Stock Got Crushed After Earnings. Why the Market Got It Wrong.

    The company reported a fairly strong quarter earlier this week, but that did little to help the stock. That is further proof that the market is unfairly discounting tobacco, Citigroup argues.

  • AT&T Reports Earnings Tomorrow. Here’s What To Expect.

    The company’s core wireless business is in the midst of a transition to next-generation 5G wireless networks, while broadband internet is seeing a surge in demand as people work and entertain themselves at home.

  • Morgan Stanley Sounds the WFH Conduct Alarm

    (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Wall Street used to worry that business would be severely impaired if employees ever lost access to their office and the high-tech workstations on which they depend. The Covid-19 pandemic changed all that. In this year’s grand working-from-home experiment, traders did just fine: They connected from remote locations and minted billions of dollars in revenue, allowing their firms to post record trading profits.Unfortunately, we’re starting to see that the big investment banks may have been less effective in policing staff behavior recently.Two of Morgan Stanley’s most senior trading bosses are leaving after the company discovered the use of unauthorized communications technology, including the WhatsApp messaging app, according to Bloomberg News. The bank didn’t find any other wrongdoing. JPMorgan Chase & Co. also let go of senior staff earlier this year because of communications breaches.The departures highlight the challenge for banking executives and regulators in overseeing remotely working traders. After the tens of billions of dollars of fines imposed on Wall Street since the financial crisis — much of which was documented in electronic chat rooms — banks are suddenly having to grapple with an explosion of interactions taking place away from their direct oversight. From Zoom to Skype to WhatsApp, bankers are often encouraged by clients to connect on platforms that are hard to vet.As managers, the two Morgan Stanley commodities traders — Nancy King, a 34-year company veteran, and Jay Rubenstein — would have been supervising hundreds of employees. By holding those at the top of the chain of command responsible for setting standards, Morgan Stanley is sending a strong message to its workforce that it won’t tolerate anything that even creates the possibility of misconduct.This may be a more effective strategy than trying to supervise every minute of a trader’s life away from the office. Banks are trying all sorts of surveillance techniques, as my Bloomberg News colleague Stefania Spezzati has described. While regulators don't bar traders from using individual messaging tools to communicate among themselves and with clients, banks are responsible for overseeing the business content of those conversations. Employees are usually required to use communications channels that can be audited in the event of wrongdoing.Though regulators signaled they would be accommodating as banks adapted their oversight to the new pandemic norms, their patience is wearing thin now that WFH is commonplace.In Britain, the Financial Conduct Authority has told finance firms that they must adapt their surveillance. “Office and working from home arrangements should be equivalent — this is not a market for information that we wish to see being arbitraged,” Julia Hoggett, FCA Director of Market Oversight, said in a speech this month.Banks experienced a surge in internal alerts of potential abuse during the earlier weeks of the pandemic as market volatility soared, though these spikes resulted in fewer notifications to the regulator as firms struggled to manage the sheer volume. Industry supervisors have also become less tolerant over practices that haven’t been illegal for very long. Just weeks ago, JPMorgan agreed to pay a record $900 million after some of its commodities traders were caught spoofing — placing bids or offers with the intent to cancel them before executing a transaction. (That misconduct, too, was recorded on instant chats.)Publicly, the titans of Wall Street have been vocal over their fears about the impact of WFH on corporate culture. Record volumes of trading haven’t only underpinned bank profits; they’ve created the opportunity for abuse. No wonder Morgan Stanley wanted to show it was on top of this.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Elisa Martinuzzi is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering finance. She is a former managing editor for European finance at Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Only two other times since George Washington was president has the U.S. stock market been as far above trend as it is now

    The internet bubble in 2000, the 1973-74 bear market — and the current market — are alarming outliers in the U.S. market’s 227-year history, writes Mark Hulbert.

  • Nikola's stock surges after GM president said on CNBC he sees 'spectacular' opportunity in partnership

    Shares of Nikola Corp. surged 4.7% in morning trading Wednesday, after General Motors Corp. President Mark Reuss said on CNBC that he saw a "spectacular" opportunity to work with the battery-electric and hydrogen-electric vehicle maker. The shares had run up as much as 8.3% after the open before paring gains. Nikola's stock has been falling recently amid concerns that much-celebrated partnership with GM was on the rocks. Reuss said in an interview on CNBC Wednesday morning that GM continues to "work the opportunity," and that the opportunity to put its fuel cells into Class 7 and Class 8 trucks would be "spectacular." GM's stock edged up 0.8% in morning trading. Over the past three months, Nikola's stock has tumbled 45.4% while the S&P 500 has gained 6.3%.