My top 10 things to watch Friday, May 3
- The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq set to surge at Friday's open, moving a leg higher after data showing much weaker-than-expected jobs growth in April. Bond yields drop after the report. Gains in Apple are boosting all three stock indexes. The Dow is getting an extra kick from Amgen's surge.
- The U.S. economy created 175,000 nonfarm payrolls in April, according to the government's monthly jobs report. Estimates had called for 240,000. The nation's unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%. Higher than expectations. Average hourly earnings up 0.2% from the previous month and up 3.9% from a year ago. Both lower than forecasts.
- Apple: The surveys were wrong, again. China wasn't bad; it was better. Quarterly service revenue was great. Best is Vision Pro: Apple will embrace business-to-business uses for the mixed reality headset. The AI phone is coming sooner than we thought, so could be biggest refresh ever. We got a record $110 billion buyback to boot. It's no wonder the stock is up 6%. The Club raised our Apple price target to $220 per share from $205. That's why I always say that Apple is an "own it, don't trade it" stock.
- Amgen experimental weight loss injectable sounds superior to Eli Lilly's drug but won't be approved for ages because it's a different mechanism. The FDA will have to study closely. The fact that it lasts longer will not be perceived as positively as people think. Dow stock Amgen surges roughly 13%. Lilly shares drop more than 1%.
- Confusing quarter from Cloudflare and the stock sinks about 13%. Like Fastly, it just seems the demand for security at this content delivery network (CDN) level is not as high as we thought. Could Akamai be taking share? Too much competition? Couple of price target cuts on Cloudflare.
- DraftKings reports an exceptional quarter. The stock jumps 1.5%. The industry is rationalizing and the lifetime cost of a gambler has dropped. DraftKings is regarded as the gold standard now. Penn Entertainment, in a deal with Disney and ESPN, tanked more than 8.5% on Thursday on lowered guidance.
- Booking's quarter is largely better than expected. Multiple price target increases on Wall Street. The stock of the online travel reservation platform is up more than 3%. In my Sunday column, I thought Booking would be a winner because travel has been a sweet spot as people are still favoring experiences.
- It's a different story at rival Expedia. The stock declines 11% on lower-than-expected guidance despite quarterly beats. The company says Vrbo segment is a drag on its results. Technical migration not smooth. Really hurt results.
- Texas Roadhouse: Another restaurant that beats numbers. The stock is up 1%. But nothing is as good as Chilis and Maggiano's company Brinker, which has perfected the "all price points" dilemma.
- Shares of Block, formerly Square, surges more than 9%. Multiple analyst price target increases. Quarterly beats on earnings and revenue. Guidance hikes for current quarter and full year.
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