Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Eight in a row
The Dow extended its winning streak to eight sessions Wednesday, its longest tear since 2019. The blue-chip index is performing well as companies' quarterly results come in stronger than expected in this young earnings season. Thursday morning brings more earnings, too, including Johnson & Johnson and American Airlines. Investors will also digest weekly jobless claims data and existing home sales. Follow live market updates.
2. Netflix vs the world
Shares of Netflix fell in off-hours trading, but aside from a miss on revenue, the streaming giant's earnings report Wednesday exceeded expectations on profit and subscriber additions. The results show that Netflix is indeed benefiting from its password-sharing crackdown. A little profit-taking should be expected given that Netflix's stock is up more than 60% this year through Wednesday's close. The company is in a stronger position than other big media companies, which are struggling to make their streaming offerings profitable. Now with two strikes shutting down Hollywood, Netflix can depend more on its international offerings as competitors burn through content.
3. Tesla's margin crunch
Tesla beat on the top and bottom lines when it reported earnings after the bell Wednesday, but weak profit margin numbers and a warning about a production slowdown appeared to drag on the stock during off-hours trading. "We continue to target 1.8 million vehicle deliveries this year, but expect Q3 production will be a little bit down because we've got summer shutdowns for a lot of factory upgrades," CEO Elon Musk said. While the EV maker has of late delivered more vehicles to customers, much of it has been driven by price cuts. That, in turn, has squeezed Tesla's operating and gross margins, which hit their lowest level in at least five quarters, CNBC's Lora Kolodny reports.
4. Medtech lifts J&J
Johnson & Johnson raised its outlook for the year as it posted higher-than-expected second quarter revenue Thursday morning. The company benefited from growth in medtech sales, which was the result of an increase in non-urgent surgeries that were put off during the pandemic. The positive report and higher guidance come as J&J's stock has been struggling. It's down about 10% so far this year through Wednesday's close, compared with broader market gains.
5. Russia hits Ukraine's ports
Russian forces continued to assault Ukrainian ports following the Kremlin's exit from the Black Sea grain deal. The attacks have raised further concerns about global food supplies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians targeted areas that store about a million tons of food. Russian officials, meanwhile, have said that they would consider any vessel sailing to Ukrainian ports a carrier of military cargo. Follow live war updates.
– CNBC's Hakyung Kim, Lillian Rizzo, Alex Sherman, Lora Kolodny, Annika Kim Constantino and Jenni Reid contributed to this report.
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