Durable Goods Orders Increased in March
Pre-market futures are down again this morning, continuing the heavy volatility we’ve seen the past few weeks and now in the heart of Q1 earnings season. Still digesting the idea that perhaps the Fed could raise interest rates by 75 basis points at a coming FOMC meeting, either the one scheduled for next week or the one after that.
Durable Goods Orders for March came in-line with expectations this morning, at a headline +0.8%. This preliminary ready follows a drop-off for February of an upwardly revised -1.7%. Ex-transportation, this figure rises to +1.1% — the largest monthly climb in durables orders since November of last year.
Non-defense, ex-aircraft strips away a lot of the big-ticket durables orders that may skew headline numbers a bit. This print also acts as a proxy for “regular” business investment, and came in at +1.2% last month. Shipments were +0.2%, only half what analysts were expecting. So, while inflation is a fact of life in the trade of hard goods, business is still booming. Productivity and the Fed are our two biggest tools for fighting inflation.
PepsiCo (PEP) outperformed expectations in its Q1 earnings report this morning, witrh earnings of $1.29 per share outpacing the Zacks consensus by a nickel for a +4% positive earnings surprise. Revenues in the quarter came in at $16.2 billion, a +3.7% surprise on the top line. Shares of the refreshments giant are flat year to date, and they’re flat in the pre-market, as well.
General Electric (GE) shares are slipping -5.7% ahead of the bell on its mixed Q1 earnings performance: the company beat by 4 cents per share to 24 cents in the quarter on $17.04 billion in revenues which missed estimates by -2.4%, and down slightly from year-ago sales. GE has beaten estimates six straight quarters, but has been less successful on the top line.
United Parcel Service (UPS) shares are up in the pre-market after the company beat expectations in its Q1: $3.05 per share beat $2.33 expected (and surpassed the $2.77 per share from the year-ago quarter) on $24.38 billion in revenues, which outperformed the Zacks consensus by 2%. Even with the +1.4% gain in early trading, UPS shares are still -10% for the year.
After the market closes today, we keep the heat up for Q1 earnings: Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Chipotle (CMG) are among the big names hitting the tape with Q1 results this afternoon. Until then: happy trading!
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