Good Evening! After back-to-back days of gains, U.S. equities declined as investors examined another wave of quarterly financial statements from firms.
The S&P 500 decreased by 0.07%, whilst the Dow Jones increased by 0.31%. Similarly, the Nasdaq Composite fell by nearly the same amount at 0.27%.
A LOT IS IN THE WORKS
Microsoft (MSFT) published its financial results for the second quarter after the market closed on Tuesday. The company came up just short of meeting analysts’ forecasts for revenue but topped expectations for earnings per share.
- Revenue: $52.7 Billion vs. $52.9 Billion expected
- Intelligent Cloud: $21.5 Billion vs. $21.4 Billion expected
- Productivity and Business Processes: $17 Billion vs. $16.8 Billion expected
- Adjusted Earnings Per Share: $2.32 vs. $2.30 expected
A lot is happening for Mircosoft, let’s get up to speed!
First, Microsoft announced a multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI to better compete with Amazon and Google. Second, Microsoft laid off around 10,000 employees last week. Lastly, the business continues to pursue the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. So far, the FTC, U.K’s CMA, and E.U.’s European Commission have either filed objections or are actively attempting to sink the agreement.
HAPPY EMPLOYEE, HAPPY COMPANY?
Walmart (WMT) revealed intentions to increase its average hourly wage to more than $17.50. Walmart U.S. CEO and President John Furner stated in a message to U.S. workers: “starting next month, we’ll begin investing in higher wages for associates. We expect these raises will bring our U.S. average hourly wage to more than $17.50.”
Where was it before this? Walmart said that the prior hourly range for retail workers in the United States was $12 to $17. The new hourly rate range is $14 to $19. This takes the minimum wage closer to $15. This is two times the national minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour.
It does not stop there! Furner disclosed its ambitions to extend its Associate-to-Driver Program. This initiative, which was originally presented to supply chain workers in 2022, is now available to store employees as of last week. Walmart pays its employees to get their commercial driver’s licenses so that they may become Walmart truck drivers. The possible salary for this position in the first year is up to $110,000, according to Walmart.