On Wednesday morning US equity futures are pointing even higher following those earnings reports after the US close, economists at Deutsche Bank reports. Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon, the online retail behemoth. The news came alongside record earnings for the firm and impressive ones for Alphabet, Google’s parent company, as well and both figures helped to boost shares. Meanwhile, GameStop has tumbled by over 60% to close below $100. Other shares highlighted on WallStreetBets are also on the back foot.
See – S&P 500 Index: Recent comparisons to the tech bubble are misplaced – Morgan Stanley
Key quotes
“Amazon announced that CEO Jeff Bezos will step down from his role to become executive chairman later this year and will be replaced by the head of Amazon Web Services, Andy Jassy. The move highlights how important the division is for the online retailer, and investors seemed unperturbed by the development with shares rising in after-market trading. The company reported 4Q sales grew by 44% to $125.6 B, well above the $119.7 B estimate by analysts, though their guidance for the upcoming quarter lagged Wall Street expectations.”
“Google’s parents’ company, Alphabet, was the other Mega-cap tech company to report on Tuesday, with the company’s shares rising +6.7% in after-market trading as they beat expectations on digital ad sales during the holiday period.”
“Exxon Mobil announced prior to Tuesday’s session and recorded its first annual loss in at least 40 years, after recording its lowest yearly production since the 1999 merger between Exxon and Mobil. Regardless, the company’s shares rose +1.58% as the largest US oil company ensured investors of its financial health and pledged to maintain their dividend payout – currently the third largest in the S&P 500.”
“By the close, GameStop had shed more than half its value, with a -59.91% decline, which comes on the back of its -30.77% decline on Monday, while others such as AMC Entertainment Holdings (-41.04%), Express (-32.40%), Blackberry (-20.98%) and Nokia (-7.57%) also lost significant value. Gamestop shares are now -81.3% from their intraday highs, while AMC is -61.5% below its high water mark. This reversal was also evident in the price of silver, which shed -8.12% to more than erase the previous day’s gains, suffering its worst daily performance since August.”
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