Apple CEO, Tim Cook openS the door of the newly renovated Apple Store at Fifth Avenue on September 20, 2019 in New York City.
Kena Betancur | AFP | Getty Images
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9:50 am: Apple hits record high
Apple hit an all-time high of $327.25 per share in morning trading on Wednesday. The technology company is coming off of a huge earnings beat where strength in the iPhone sales drove record revenues. “When we upgraded the stock last summer, we didn’t expect iPhone to be a catalyst this year,” Raymond James analyst Chris Caso said in a note to clients. Apple’s stock is up 1.9%. –Fitzgerald
9:48 am: General Electric rallies 7% as Q4 results hint at Culp’s turnaround prowess
General Electric rose more than 7% following the company’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report. Earnings per share of 21 cents beat analyst projections of 18 cents, but investors were further elated by GE’s 2019 industrial free cash flow of $2.3 billion. The figure, a measure of efficiency that had disappointed for consecutive prior quarters, topped the company’s own guidance. For Larry Culp, the Danaher veteran who took over as GE’s chief executive in 2018, the results suggested the company’s turnaround efforts are starting to bear success. “We met or exceeded our full-year financial targets and are on a positive trajectory for 2020,” Culp said in a statement. — Franck
9:46 am: Bank of America upgrades GE to buy
The firm raised its rating of GE shares to buy from neutral, after the company reported fourth-quarter results that gave Bank of America “more confidence” in GE’s performance moving forward. Bank of America also raised its GE price target to $16 a share from $12 a share – about 27% above current levels. —Sheetz
9:42 am: Goldman Sachs rises after the bank gives higher financial targets
Shares of Goldman Sachs climb 0.7% after the bank released new financial targets for higher returns at its first-ever investor day. The company said Wednesday return on tangible common shareholders’ equity will exceed 14% within three years. Last year, the firm posted ROTE of 10.6%, brought down in part by $1.24 billion in legal costs.—Li
9:33 am: Dow jumps 200 points
The Dow jumped 200 points shortly after the open, bringing its two-day gain to nearly 400 points. That nearly makes back the 454-point drop on Monday due to coronavirus fears. Dow, Boeing, Apple and Goldman Sachs are the biggest gainers in the Dow. There’s a lot of green on the board with advancers outpacing decliners by just about 3-to-1 on the NYSE. Investors are choosing to focus on some tangible better-than-expected results, rather than uncertain impact of the virus on the global economy. —Melloy
9:14 am: L Brands soars 12% after report says CEO Wexner in talks to step down
9:09 am: Boeing shares up 3% in premarket despite dismal Q4 results
Boeing shares are up 3% in premarket trading as traders appeared to bet it couldn’t get any worse for the embattled aircraft manufacturer. The move up came despite higher costs and its first annual loss in more than two decades. The company said it lost $636 million in 2019, its first annual loss since 1997 and well short of the $10.46 billion in 2018, before a second crash of its best-selling 737 Max plane. Boeing also said its bill associated with the 737 Max crisis has risen to $18.6 billion, a combination of expected compensation to airlines whose fleets have been grounded as well as “abnormal production costs.” — Franck
8:52 am: Facebook jumps on earnings optimism from Raymond James
Shares of Facebook are up 1.5% in premarket trading following an upgrade to strong buy from outperform from Raymond James. The firm is optimistic that the social media giant will top Wall Street’s estimates for earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet expect Facebook to report earnings per share of $2.53, while Raymond James expects earnings of $2.73 per share. The firm said Facebook has less advertising related headwinds than expected. Raymond James also raised its price target to $270 per share from $230 per share. –Fitzgerald
8:50 am: GE surges 7% after beating Q4 expectations
General Electric shares rose 7% after the embattled industrial conglomerate reported fourth-quarter results that were stronger overall than analysts expected. Additionally, while GE’s forecast for 2020 earnings was below what Wall Street expected, its guidance for the closely-watched metric of industrial free cash flow was higher than anticipated. —Sheetz
8:37 am: AMD and Xilinx fall on weak revenue guidance
Shares of AMD and Xilinx are both down as weak revenue forecast from the two chipmakers overshadow better-than-expected earnings. AMD slid more than 4%, noting it expects first-quarter revenue to come in around $1.8 billion. That’s slightly below a Refinitiv estimate of $1.86 billion. Xilinx, meanwhile, dropped 8.1% after the company issued a sales forecast ranging from $750 million to $780 million. That’s well below a Refinitiv estimate of $825 million. Xilinx said it sees slowdown in “both 5G and wired infrastructure deployment.” —Imbert
8:28 am: Dow heads for 170-point gain after Apple crushes earnings
Stock futures are pointing to another day of strong gains after Apple’s quarterly results easily topped analyst expectations. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up more than 140 points, indicating a gain of 174 points at the open. A swift turnaround in Boeing shares is also boosting the Dow. Worries over the coronavirus appear to have been set aside as investors turn their attention to the latest Federal Reserve decision on monetary policy. Though the Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged, Wall Street will look for clues about future policy direction. —Imbert
8:20 am: Coronavirus names bouncing back
Shares of stocks that have been hit recently by fears about the spreading coronavirus in China continued to bounce back on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International, which operate casinos in Macau, rose 1.8% and 2%, respectively, in premarket trading. Cruise line stocks also recovered some of their losses, with Norwegian Cruise Line up 1.5% and Royal Caribbean jumping 3%. –Fitzgerald
