STOCK MARKET NEWS: Jobs data strong lifting stocks, Musk firing Twitter workers en masse
Stock investors celebrate a strong jobs report, Elon Musk sets Twitter layoffs in motion, Starbucks reports record sales. FOX Business is providing real-time updates on the markets, commodities and all the most active stocks on the move.
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| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| DKNG | $12.05 | -3.62 | -23.09 |
DraftKings lost 28% in Friday trading. Investors were concerned about slowing user growth.
The digital sports entertainment and gaming company reported 1.6 million average monthly unique players at September 30. Analysts were expecting 2 million, according to Bloomberg.
CEO Jason Robins speculated on the FOX Business channel that analysts may not have accounted for timing differences in the NBA season. The 2021 NBA finals were part of Q3 2021 results, but not part of Q3 2022.
Robins also noted DraftKings does not guide to monthly unique players.
The company on Friday reported a loss of $450.5 million in its third quarter.
On a per-share basis, the Boston-based company said it had a loss of $1.
The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of $1.07 per share.
The company posted revenue of $501.9 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $436.2 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Saturday’s estimated jackpot has surpassed the world record amount previously set by Powerball in 2016, when tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee won a $1.586 billion jackpot.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNKO | $8.23 | -11.27 | -57.79 |
Funko, Inc. on Thursday reported third-quarter profit of $9.6 million.
On a per-share basis, the Everett, Washington-based company said it had profit of 19 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 28 cents per share.
The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 49 cents per share.
The company posted revenue of $365.6 million in the period, surpassing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $317.2 million.
Funko-A expects full-year earnings in the range of 85 cents to 95 cents per share, with revenue in the range of $1.29 billion to $1.33 billion.
Elon Musk arrives at the 29th Annual Baron Investment Conference in Manhattan, Nov. 4, 2022. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)
Twitter Inc temporarily closed its offices and cut workers' access to internal systems on Friday after telling employees they would be informed by email about whether they were being laid off.
The move follows a week of chaos and uncertainty about the company's future under new owner Elon Musk.
The social media company said in an email to staff it would tell them by 9 a.m. Pacific time on Friday (12 p.m. EDT/1600 GMT) about staff cuts.
"In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday," said the email sent on Thursday, seen by Reuters.
Staff who worked in engineering, communications, product and content curation were among those impacted by the layoffs, according to tweets from Twitter staff.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNK | $11.62 | 1.01 | 9.52 |
Cinemark Holdings Inc. on Friday reported a loss of $24.5 million in its third quarter.
On a per-share basis, the Plano, Texas-based company said it had a loss of 20 cents.
The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 21 cents per share.
The movie theater owner posted revenue of $650.4 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $616.2 million.
Employee shows a Hershey's chocolate bar made in USA in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 13, 2018. (Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSY | $230.96 | -1.14 | -0.49 |
Hershey Co raised its annual sales and profit forecasts on Friday, signaling strong Halloween candy demand that it expects to continue into the holiday season despite higher selling prices.
Halloween is Hershey's busiest time of the year, making up about 10% of its annual revenue, with sales benefiting for months in advance as retailers place early orders to stock up on Twizzlers, Jolly Ranchers and Kit Kat bars.
Hershey estimated its Halloween retail sales rose by a high-single-digit percentage, even as ingredient shortages and supply constraints curbed growth.
It reported adjusted earnings of $2.17 per share on revenue of $2.73 billion in the same period.
Analysts had expected a profit of $2.10 per share on revenue of $2.62 billion, Refinitiv data showed.
Hershey raised its 2022 net sales growth forecast to 14% to 15%, from 12% to 14%. It expects adjusted profit per share to grow by 14% to 15%, against the prior forecast of 12% to 14%.
Vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in this illustration taken Mar. 19, 2021. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFE | $47.25 | 0.68 | 1.46 |
| BNTX | $154.94 | 9.69 | 6.67 |
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Friday their Omicron-tailored shot targeting the BA.4/5 subvariants produced a strong antibody response in humans than the original shot after one month.
Data in October showed the vaccine produced a strong response after a week.
In a joint statement, the companies said data from roughly 36 individuals aged 55 years or older showed the booster dose led to a nearly four-fold increase in neutralizing antibody levels against the BA.4/5 variants after one month.
U.S. stocks jumped as investors celebrated a stronger-than-expected October jobs report which saw the addition of 261,000 positions inline with September's 263,000 add. The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back but remained above 4%. In commodities, oil surged 4% to the $92 per barrel level on reports of China easing COVID restrictions.
U.S. employers kept hiring steady in October creating more headwinds for the Federal Reserve in their inflation fight.
Elon Musk and Twitter (Getty Images)
A class-action lawsuit was reportedly filed against Twitter on Thursday on behalf of workers, claiming the company’s intended layoffs violate a federal law requiring 60 days notice for employees.
A week after Elon Musk finalized his $44 billion purchase of the Silicon Valley-based social media platform, a letter went out to employees saying about half of the company’s 7,500-person workforce will be losing their jobs starting Friday.
"Team, in an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday," Thursday's email to employees read, according to the Washington Post.
"We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward."
NYSE Traders (AP)
U.S. equity futures traded higher ahead of the October jobs report, the most anticipated piece of data for the month.
The major futures indexes suggest a rise of 0.5% when the opening bell rings.
Oil prices traded higher on Friday as the dollar eased, but gains were capped by recession fears and fresh concerns that COVID outbreaks will dent fuel demand in China.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded around $90.00 a barrel putting the contract on course for a weekly gain of 1%.
Brent crude futures traded around $96.00 a barrel. The contract was on track to end the week down just 0.5%.
Economists surveyed by Refinitiv say the U.S. economy likely added 200,000 new nonfarm jobs in October. That’s down from 263,000 the previous month and would mark the weakest job growth since December 2020.
The unemployment rate is anticipated to edge higher to 3.6%.
Twilio shares are plunging 21% in premarket trading after the provider of programmable communication tools said fourth quarter revenue is expected to come in between $995 million to $1,005 million, compared with the analyst estimate of $1.07 billion.
DoorDash shares are 11% higher in premarket trading after the food delivery company said orders surged to a record high in the third quarter as people stuck to their pandemic-era habits despite rising inflation and steeper prices, helping it beat Wall Street targets for revenue.
In Asia, shares soared more than 5% in Hong Kong on Friday after a Communist Party newspaper reported that local officials were being urged not to impose overly burdensome controls to curb coronavirus infections.
The Shanghai Composite added 2.4% and Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 1.7%.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 lost 1.1% on Thursday, closing at 3,719.89 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index sank 1.7% to 10,342.94. The Dow lost 0,5% to 32,001.25.
A pedestrian passes a "Help Wanted" sign in the door of a hardware store (Reuters)
The most anticipated economic report of the month will be released Friday morning.
Wall Street and Main Street will both be watching the October jobs report for signs that hiring is slowing, which would be welcomed by the Federal Reserve as a sign that high inflation might begin to ease.
Economists surveyed by Refinitiv say the U.S. economy likely added 200,000 new nonfarm jobs in October. That’s down from 263,000 the previous month and would mark the weakest job growth since December 2020.
While the pace of job growth is slowing, the labor market remains tight with employers reluctant to lay off workers.
Twitter owner Elon Musk (Getty Images)
Elon Musk is moving forward with his plans to reshape Twitter's workforce, informing the company's 7,500 employees that layoffs will start on Friday, according to the Washington Post.
"Team, In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday," an email to employees on Thursday read, according to the newspaper.
"We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward."
Several top executives have already exited the company amid the impending layoffs, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Finanical Officer Ned Segal, and policy chief Vijaya Gadde.
Albertsons sign on store location (Getty Images)
Albertson's $4 billion dividend payment that was due to investors on Monday has been put on hold.
Washington's King County court has granted a nationwide temporary restraining order, according to a Tweet from State Attorney General Bob Ferguson."We'll be back in court Nov. 10 seeking an injunction to keep the dividend on hold while our lawsuit continues," Ferguson said in a tweet.
Last month, supermarket operator Kroger announced its intension to buy Albertsons in a $25 billion deal.
Gas Prices
The nationwide price for a gallon of gasoline rose Friday to $3.792, according to AAA.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline on Thursday was $3.778.
One week ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.761. A month ago, that same gallon of gasoline cost $3.805.
Gas hit an all-time high of $5.016 on June 14.
Diesel gained slightly to $5.311.
Oil rig pumping (Reuters)
Oil prices traded higher on Friday as the dollar eased, but gains were capped by recession fears and fresh concerns that COVID outbreaks will dent fuel demand in China.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded around $90.00 a barrel putting the contract on course for a weekly gain of 1%.
Brent crude futures traded around $96.00 a barrel. The contract was on track to end the week down just 0.5%.
A weaker dollar boosts oil demand as it makes the commodity cheaper for those holding other currencies.
China stuck to its strict COVID-19 curbs as cases rose on Thursday to their highest since August. Investors earlier in the week had thought the world's largest oil importer may be moving toward easing restrictions to boost the economy.
Bitcoin was trading around $20,000, after trading higher in two of the last three days.
For the week, Bitcoin was trading lower by less than 1%.
The cryptocurrency has lost more than 56% year-to-date.
Ethereum was trading around $1,500, after gaining less than 1% for the week.
Dogecoin was trading at 12 cents, after gaining more than 57% in the past week.
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