Good Evening. Investors digested Federal Reserve officials’ most recent confirmations that they remained dedicated to driving down inflation as US equities increased on Friday, with the S&P 500 snapping a three-week losing skid.
The S&P 500 increased by 3.06%, marking the first weekly gain since late May and back-to-back days of gains. The Nasdaq jumped by 3.34% and the Dow gained 2.68%.
FEDEX GAINS
After narrowly missing sales and earnings forecasts for the fourth quarter, FedEx (FDX) provided stronger-than-anticipated fiscal 2023 projections. A long-term technical level was broken by FedEx stock on Friday.
- Earnings per share: FedEx forecasted 2023 EPS of $22.50-$24.50. Analysts anticipated $22.21, an increase of 7.8% annually.
- Revenue: FedEx’s earnings increased by 37% to $6.87 per share, and its sales increased by 8% to $24.4 billion. According to FactSet’s survey of analysts, FedEx’s earnings would increase by 37% to $6.88 per share and its sales would increase by 8% to $24.501 billion.
What else? In response to pressure from an activist investor, FedEx declared a 53% dividend increase and the appointment of three new board members on June 14. FedEx intends to cut capital expenditures in response to the inflation’s sharp increase. FedEx and UPS have also battled with changes in the delivery market as Amazon has developed into a tough competitor. In the meantime, margins have been impacted by FedEx’s expanding e-commerce sector.
GOODBYE LOSING STREAK
The stock market surged higher on Friday, ending the week with gains of over 5% for each of the three major indices and ending a three-week losing skid. The Federal Reserve may loosen its restrictive monetary policy as a result of recent reports showing the economy continues to weaken, which encouraged investor elation and signaled that inflation may be declining.
For the week, the Nasdaq increased by 7.6%, the S&P 500 increased by 6.5%, and the Dow Jones increased by 5.2%.
What are some reasons for this? Consumer discretionary and technology companies led the way as the S&P sectors all saw gains. The stock prices of Google’s parent company Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA) all increased by more than 2%.
Salesforce.com (CRM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Boeing (BA) were among the Dow Jones’ top gainers today with increases of at least 5%.