Strong Microsoft and PayPal Earnings Fail to Boost Stock Futures
New York (Oct 21) Stock futures slid on Friday despite better-than-expected earnings from the likes of Microsoft (MSFT) and PayPal (PYPL) .
S&P 500 futures were down 0.37%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.36%, and Nasdaq futures declined 0.15%.
Microsoft increased 5.6% in premarket trading, putting it on track to open at records, after topping earnings and revenue estimates in its recent quarter. The tech giant earned 76 cents a share over the first quarter, 8 cents above estimates. Revenue climbed 3% to $22.3 billion, exceeding sales forecasts by $590 million. Azure revenue rose 116%, improved from the fourth quarter's 102%, as Microsoft continues gaining public cloud services share.
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PayPal climbed 5% after meeting analysts' expectations in its third quarter. The payments site earned 35 cents a share, in line with estimates, on revenue of $2.67 billion. Sales climbed 18.1% as the number of active customer accounts rose 11% to 192 million. PayPal anticipates fourth-quarter sales growth of 14% to 17%, or 16% to 19% when excluding currency fluctuations.
General Electric (GE) moved lower following disappointing third-quarter sales. The industrials company reported a 4% increase in revenue to $29.3 billion, missing estimates of $29.6 billion as results in its aviation and power businesses fell short of expectations. GE also narrowed its full-year earnings outlook to $1.48 to $1.52 a share from $1.45 to $1.55 a share.
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Honeywell (HON) reported a mixed quarter, topping earnings but falling short on sales. The defense company earned an adjusted $1.67 a share over its third quarter, above estimates of $1.60 a share. Revenue increased 2% to $9.611 billion, but missed estimates of $9.786 billion. Honeywell CEO David Cote said the company is on track to achieve double-digit earnings growth in its current quarter.
Source: TheStreet
