U.S. stock futures were flat after the Nasdaq closed at a record for the first time since February. The deluge of tech earnings continues after Tuesday's bell, with Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Dow stock Microsoft (MSFT). The S&P 500, which has hit many new highs in recent months, also closed Monday at a record. The Dow fell modestly but remained less than 1% shy of its April 16 record close. (CNBC)
* Today's biggest analyst calls of the day: GameStop, Exxon, JPMorgan, Amazon (CNBC Pro)
The Fed kicks off its two-day April policy meeting Tuesday. The central bank is not expected to take any action, but economists expect it to defend its willingness to let inflation run hot, even as commodities such as corn and copper hit multiyear highs. Both corn and copper have nearly doubled in the past 12 months. (CNBC)
* Treasury yields rise ahead of Fed policy meeting but remain below 1.6% (CNBC)
* CNBC survey: Fed will stay put in 2021 despite concerns about overheating economy
* What investors should expect to hear from the Fed after its meeting (CNBC)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Tesla (TSLA) shares, up 4.6% in 2021 and more than 400% in the past 12 months, slipped 2% in Tuesday's premarket. Elon Musk's electric auto maker late Monday handily beat expectations with per-share adjusted earnings of 93 cents in the first quarter. (CNBC)
Results at Tesla were buoyed by regulatory credits and a $101 million positive impact from bitcoin sales. Revenue of $10.39 billion for the quarter also exceeded estimates. Tesla delivered 184,800 Model 3 and Model Y cars in Q1, beating expectations and setting a company record. (CNBC)
Among Tuesday's earnings before the opening bell, UPS (UPS) easily beat estimates with first-quarter profit of $2.77 per share and revenue of nearly $23 billion, benefiting from a surge in online purchases during the Covid pandemic. Shares soared more than 6% in premarket trading. (Reuters)
Shares of GameStop (GME) jumped 9% in Tuesday's premarket to nearly $185 each, the morning after the video game retailer said it completed the sale of 3.5 million additional shares, raising $551 million to aid in its digital transformation. The stock, favored by the Reddit retail traders, closed up nearly 12% on Monday. It's up almost 800% year to date. (CNBC)
The CDC is expected to unveil new guidance on outdoor mask-wearing for unvaccinated people Tuesday, ahead of a planned speech by President Joe Biden later in the day on the state of the pandemic response. The White House said Monday it will share with the world roughly 60 million doses of AstraZeneca's (AZN) vaccine produced in the U.S. but not yet cleared in this country. (AP)
* British PM provokes fury over alleged ‘let bodies pile high’ Covid comments (CNBC)
Rep. Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and gatekeeper of new tax legislation, plans Tuesday to outline investments in what Democrats are calling "human capital." The Massachusetts lawmaker's bill would provide universal paid family and medical leave of up to 12 weeks and would be worth about two-thirds of a worker's wages. (CNBC)
* Biden raises minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 an hour (Reuters)
* For retirees, rising costs outpace Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment (CNBC)
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office against NASA, challenging the space agency's award of a nearly $3 billion moon lander contract to Elon Musk's SpaceX earlier this month. Blue Origin decried the award as "flawed" in a statement to CNBC, saying that NASA "moved the goalposts at the last minute." (CNBC)
Lyft (LYFT) gained nearly 3% in premarket trade after announcing that it's selling its self-driving technology unit to Toyota (TM) for $550 million. The ride-hailing company said the sale will allow it to become profitable sooner than it had previously projected. (CNBC)
* Toyota truck subsidiary and EV start-up ink deal for electric trucks (CNBC)
Amazon (AMZN) is expanding its service that lets delivery people drop off groceries inside shoppers' garages. Starting on Tuesday, Prime members in more than 5,000 cities across the U.S. can access the service. The service is part of Amazon Key, which enables delivery drivers to drop packages in garages, homes, cars and businesses. (CNBC)
Apple (AAPL) has released iOS 14.5, its big new software update for iPhones. It adds a lot of new features, but the one that's been grabbing headlines is its new privacy change, which gives users more transparency and control over apps that want to track them for advertising. (CNBC)
* Spotify launches paid podcasts, says creators could make more than through Apple (CNBC)
STOCKS TO WATCH
3M (MMM) reported quarterly profit of $2.77 per share, beating the consensus of $2.29 a share. Revenue also topped estimates as the pandemic continued to drive demand for personal safety products.
JetBlue (JBLU) shares added 1.7% in premarket action after it reported a quarterly loss of $1.48 per share, compared to an expected loss of $1.69 a share. Revenue beat Wall Street forecasts, and JetBlue echoed comments by other airlines in saying it is seeing a rebound in passenger demand.
Eli Lilly (LLY) shares tumbled 3.5% in the premarket after the company fell short of the $2.14 a share consensus estimate, with quarterly profit of $1.87 per share. Revenue missed forecasts as well, and Lilly lowered its full-year forecast. The company took various asset impairment charges during the quarter, as well as incurring costs related to its acquisition of Prevail Therapeutics.
General Electric (GE) reported quarterly profit of 3 cents per share, compared to the 1 cent a share consensus estimate. Revenue came in short of expectations, but free cash flow was better than analysts had been anticipating. GE shares fell 2.7% in premarket action.
BP's (BP) profit more than tripled from a year ago during the first quarter, helped by higher oil prices and a surge in natural gas trading. The stock gained 1.2% in premarket action.
UBS (UBS) reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the Switzerland-based bank surprised analysts by revealing a $774 million loss related to the collapse of U.S. investment fund Archegos. Nomura Holdings (NMR) lost $1.4 billion for its latest quarter, its biggest quarterly loss since the 2008 financial crisis, thanks to a $2.3 billion hit from the Archegos collapse.
Hasbro (HAS) rose 2% in the premarket after the toymaker beat the 65 cents a share consensus estimate, with quarterly earnings of $1.00 per share. Revenue came in shy of estimates, however, as TV and movie productions related to its toys were delayed by the pandemic.
Crocs (CROX) shares surged 7.3% in the premarket after beating top and bottom line estimates by a wide margin. The company also said it sees 2021 revenue growth between 40% to 50%.
WATERCOOLER
The 2021 Oscars was watched by the smallest audience the awards show ever received. The Academy Awards struggled to pull in mainstream viewers, with only 9.85 million viewers tuned in Sunday when Disney-owned (DIS) Searchlight's "Nomadland" took the top prize and Netflix (NFLX) walked away with the most wins. (CNBC)|
* Oscars were a well-intentioned mess that flopped despite an elite producing team (CNBC)
