Stocks Rise Ahead of Fed Meeting; Tesla, Apple Gain; McDonald’s Mixed Results; Walmart Introduces BetterGoods Brand

Here are the essential news items that investors need to begin their trading day: Stocks persisted with gains yesterday ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting and significant corporate earnings. The S&P 500 rose by 0.32%, while both Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.35% and 0.38%, respectively. Tesla shares surged by 15% after the company achieved a milestone to release its advanced driver-assistance technology in China. Apple also climbed by 2.5% following an upgrade from investment firm Bernstein before it releases earnings on Thursday. Traders will closely monitor today’s post-market corporate earnings announcements from Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices and Starbucks. Keep up with live market updates.
McDonald’s reported mixed results yesterday; although revenue slightly exceeded expectations, the company missed estimates for EPS (earnings per share). In the US, low-income customers cut back on spending while overseas, there were boycotts triggered by a promotion in Israeli chain discount offers directed towards soldiers. As a result of these incidents, McDonald’s had to temporarily close some locations, which negatively affected sales in the Middle East region.
Paramount Global is restructuring its leadership structure with Bob Bakish set to be replaced as CEO; an “Office of the CEO” consisting of three executives will lead the company instead: CBS President and CEO George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy (President & CEO at Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks), and Brian Robbins (Head of Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon). The news came amid nearing a merger between the media conglomerate and Skydance Media. In its Q1 report, released yesterday, Paramount reported mixed results with earnings beating but revenue falling short of estimates.
Volkswagen revealed that operating profit decreased by 20% in the first quarter as demand for premium brands weakened. The company sold around 2.1 million vehicles during this period – a decline from about 2%. Operating income at Porsche, VW’s luxury brand, dropped approximately 30%, compared to last year’s figures. Global automaker Stellantis reported a fall in revenue by 12% with lower sales and exchange rates working against higher prices due largely towards stiff price competitions amongst their European competitors.
In other news, Walmart is introducing its new grocery brand called BetterGoods that will offer trendy foods at low costs of less than $5 per item under a private label range; the move could boost sales in an era when shoppers face high inflation rates due to food price hikes across retailers globally. The US’ largest grocer by revenue, Walmart has seen its grocery business grow as it maintains its reputation for offering affordable products at discounted prices – over 60% of domestic earnings came from this segment in the previous fiscal year ending last month.