Good Evening! On Wednesday, the U.S. Market closed with mixed performance after the publication of official statistics indicating a sluggish yearly increase in inflation for April.
The S&P 500 increased by 0.45% whereas the Dow Jones experienced a small decline of 0.09%. However, The Nasdaq Composite ended the day with a surge of 1.04%.
HOW LONG IS THE WAIT FOR THIS RIDE...
Disney (DIS) released their quarterly earnings and fell short by 1 cent for earnings per share, but was the same as predicted for revenue. According to Bloomberg, these are Disney’s second-quarter results in comparison to Wall Street consensus forecasts:
- Revenue: $21.82 Billion vs. $21.82 Billion Expected
- Disney+ Subscribers: 157.8 Million vs. 163.1 Million Expected
- Parks, Experience & Products Revenue: $7.78 Billion vs. $7.67 Billion Expected
- Earnings Per Share: $0.93 vs. $0.94 Expected
What’s up with the 4 Million decreases in subscribers? Although the subscribers fell short of expectations, the streaming losses for Q2 were reduced to $659 Million, which exceeded the prediction of $850 Million! This shows significant improvement from the loss of $887 Million a year ago! Even greater improvement may be seen when compared to Q1’s reported loss of $1.1 billion.
Lastly, Disney Parks, “Where Dreams Come True”. Theme parks demonstrated robust performance, with operating income amounting to $2.17 billion. This isn’t surprising because it is consistent with the recent patterns observed in competitors such as Universal owned by Comcast (CMCSA).
WAS IT BAD TIMING?
During its annual I/O developers conference, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) introduced the Pixel Fold smartphone on Wednesday. Google’s first-ever foldable handset, which is also its initial ultra-premium offering, is priced at a staggering $1,799.
Why is it special? According to Google, the Pixel Fold is purportedly the slimmest foldable device available in the market, regardless of whether it is in a folded or unfolded state. This development may provide peace to customers who have expressed dissatisfaction with the cumbersome design of Samsung’s Z Fold.
So what does $1,799 get you? Regarding its performance, the Pixel Fold is equipped with Google’s proprietary Tensor G2 processor and a 12GB RAM configuration. What about battery life? According to Google’s official statement, the Pixel Fold is expected to provide a battery life of over 24 hours on a single charge (Take it with a grain of salt).
In this Economy?!? The Pixel Fold is being introduced to the market during a period when electronic sales are being impacted by high-interest rates and inflation, resulting in reduced consumer demand for smartphones. However, it is not necessary for the fold to be a dominant player in the market in order to achieve success. The primary objective is to assist Google in expanding its market share within the industry. However, achieving this objective can be challenging when faced with formidable rivals such as Apple and Samsung.