GDP report, Meta plunge, jobless and more: Thursday's 5 things to know

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms continued the run of disappointing tech earnings with a forecast miss sending shares plunging

Here are the key events taking place on Thursday that could impact trading.

3Q GDP: Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expect the Commerce Department to say the economy grew at a 2.4% annual rate from July through September.

This comes after two quarters in a row of contraction on supply chain disruptions and a record trade deficit. 

But economists anticipate it will be a one-off as the Federal Reserve embarks on one of the fastest courses in history to raise borrowing costs, slow the economy and crush inflation. 

US ECONOMY LIKELY GREW IN THE THIRD QUARTER, BUT IT COULD BE DOWNHILL FROM HERE

META MISS: Shares of Facebook's parent company are plunging 20% in premarket trading after the company reported a disappointing forecast.

The company expects fourth quarter 2022 total revenue to be in the range of $30-32.5 billion. Analysts on average expected revenue of $27.38 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Third quarter revenue fell 4% to $27.7 billion.

The company said it is making significant changes across the board to operate more efficiently.

META PLATFORMS MISSES ON EPS, SIGNALS BEARISH HIRING IN 2023

On a per-share basis, the Menlo Park, California-based company said it had net income for the three months ended September 30 was $1.64.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.88 per share.

FORD MOTOR: Shares fell 1.3% in extended trading after the automaker reported a third-quarter net loss driven by its decision to shift spending from the Argo AI self-driving business.

Ford posted a net loss in the quarter of $827 million, after taking a $2.7 billion noncash pretax impairment on its investment in Argo AI.

The automaker said Argo will be "wound down" and that "talented engineers" will be offered positions with Ford.

Ford said third-quarter revenue jumped to $39.4 billion, up 10% from a year ago, while adjusted operating profit fell to $1.8 billion from $3.0 billion last year.

Ford said it expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to rise to about $11.5 billion, up around 15% from a year ago.

EARNINGS AGENDA: An exceptionally busy day for earnings coming up Thursday, with six Dow members scheduled to report: Honeywell, McDonald’s, Caterpillar and Merck in the morning, with Apple and Intel out after the bell. Consumer/tech titans Apple and Amazon will be the headliners when they report in the afternoon.

ECONOMIC DOCKET: Besides GDP, there are other data points on tap. The Labor Department will release the number of new jobless claims for last week, likely to show that the labor market remains tight. Expectations are for 220,000, up slightly from 214,000 the prior week. Continuing claims, which track the total number of workers collecting unemployment benefits, are expected to rise for the second week in a row to 1.388 million.

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The Census Bureau is expected to say that new orders for manufactured big-ticket items rose 0.6% seasonally adjusted in September, following a smaller-than-expected decline of 0.2% the prior month. If you factor out the transportation component, orders are anticipated to edge up 0.2%, slightly trailing August’s 0.3 increase. Orders for core capital goods, a closely watched proxy for business spending, are seen climbing 0.5% in September, compared to a stronger-than-expected surge of 1.4% in August.

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