OVERVIEW
The Weekend Rip: May 05, 2024

Inflation concerns continued to way on stocks this week, but big tech earnings and a weakening labor market helped the bulls battle back to their second straight week of gains. 👍

Let's recap and prep you for the week ahead. 📝

What Happened?

🪤 On Monday, Tesla trapped the shorts and turned the market higher with positive news for the electric vehicle (EV) maker in China. Meanwhile, Chinese stocks are back on investors’ and traders’ radars as they move to new multi-month highs. And SoFi shareholders remain frustrated by bank-like problems.

🥦 On Tuesday, Amazon’s earnings were positive, but not enough to push it above the $2 trillion market cap mark. Marijuana stocks made a new high after The Associated Press (AP) reported that sources said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is nearing a move to reclassify the drug.

😵‍💫 On Wednesday, investors were left dizzy by a cocktail of data. The Federal Reserve left rates unchanged again, with Powell pressing the same old “data dependent” narrative and shutting down risks of a hike or stagflation. Semiconductor stuck stumbled after mixed earnings sparked a growth scare. And Pfizer found support this week as CVS was slammed to new lows.

🤑 On Thursday, Apple blasted the bears with its record stock buyback program, which took investors’ minds off its international growth concerns. The electric vehicle and China rebound continued, with Rivian jumping after receiving a major incentive package from the State of Illinois.

📈 On Friday, stocks closed out the week on a high note, with nonfarm payrolls, wage growth, and the unemployment rate all showing signs of a weakening labor market. Unfortunately cybersecurity stocks didn’t participate in the celebrations, since Cloudflare’s cloudy outlook renewed investors’ growth fears.

🤩 This week's Stocktwits Top 25 showed mixed performance vs. the indexes.

🔥 Certain symbols were on the Stocktwits trending tab for most of the week, including $MRNA, $SOFI, $JAGX, $CGC, $GME, and $IBRX.

Here are the closing prices: 

Bullets From The Weekend

💰 Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile grows to record amount. The conglomerate saw operating profits rise 39% YoY to $11.22 billion, led by a 185% increase in insurance underwriting earnings. What caught most investors’ eyes was the company’s $188.99 billion cash hoard, pointing to Buffett’s inability to find a suitable major acquisition target. Investors also noted that Berkshire trimmed its Apple stake by 13% and bought back $2.60 billion of its own stock during the quarter, up nearly 20% QoQ. CNBC has more.

✂️ Luminar cuts 20% of staff, outsources lidar production. The lidar company is leaning harder on its contract manufacturing partner as it looks to embrace a more “asset-light” business model while still scaling production. Most of the 140 affected workers are contractors, with executives saying, “the business model and cost structure that enabled us to achieve this leadership position no longer fit the needs of the company.” They also alluded to the capital markets’ tough perception of the company, as investors favor more profitable growth stories. More from TechCrunch.

💴 Japan’s Finance Minister finally acknowledges Yen decline. Shunichi Suzuki declined to comment on whether current levels for the yen are appropriate or if his ministry had intervened in the currency market recently, as many investors and traders had speculated. However, he did not that, “When this is an excessive movement, it may be necessary to smooth it out.” The Japanese yen remains highly volatile and is reaching multi-decade lows relative to many major currencies as the Bank of Japan slowly adjusts its policies to balance economic growth and inflation risk. CNBC has more.

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THE BRIEF

Need a concise summary of what's going on this week? Look no further. Here’s a rundown of this week’s earnings and economic data.

Economic Calendar

It's a lighter week for economic data, with investors focused on the foreign central bank rate decisions and Fed speeches. In addition to the above, check out this week's complete list of economic releases.

Earnings This Week

Earnings season is in full swing, with 1,234 stocks reporting this week. Some tickers you may recognize are $HOOD, $MARA, $SHOP, $ARM, $UBER, $LYFT, $DIS, $CELH, $AMC, $BYND, $SPHR, $ABNB, and more.

Above is a quick summary. Check out the full Stocktwits earnings calendar for the other names reporting this week.

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🚨 HSBC chief executive unexpectedly steps down

❌ Popular clothing retailer files for bankruptcy, will close all 500+ stores

😬 Paramount bidders await word from special committee evaluating options

😨 They thought they were joining an accelerator — instead they lost their startups

😞 Warren Buffett says he has sold all of his Paramount Global Stock, losing “quite a bit of money”

*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here.

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