In our weekly report on Global Markets, the US stock market was mixed last week amid media reports that US President Joe Biden administration is set to propose hiking the capital gains tax for the wealthy to 39.6% which would, coupled with the existing net investment income tax of 3.8%, bring federal tax rates for investors to 43.4%.
However, positive data reports suggest a strong economic recovery for the US economy with the Markit showing private sector activity growth, as well as record values in the Services Business Activity Index and the Manufacturing PMI. Sales of new homes in the US also rose in March to the highest level in 15 years.
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This Week’s Earnings
Tesla is this week at the center of US Stock markets as it is scheduled to release its first-quarter results Monday, after the market close. Earlier this month, Tesla said it produced 180,338 vehicles in the first quarter of 2021 and delivered 185,000 during the period.
Other major technology giants such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Alphabet and Microsoft are all scheduled to release their quarterly earnings later this week.
Global Markets Earnings Brief
AT&T
AT&T Inc. reported its first-quarter revenue of $43.9 billion, 2.7% growth compared to the same period last year. The diluted earnings per share (EPS) stood at $1.04, up 65% year-on-year. Net income came in at $7.9 billion, a 61% increase compared to Q1 2020.
American Airlines Q1
American Airlines Inc. revenue for the first financial quarter dropped 53% on a yearly basis to $4 billion. Net loss per share stood at $1.97, compared to a loss of $5.26 in the first quarter of 2020. Net loss was $1.3 billion, down 40% from a $2.2 billion loss in the same period last year, as capacity dropped 39% year-on-year.
The company expects its second-quarter capacity to be down 20 to 25% compared to the second quarter of 2019, with revenue down approximately 40% on a yearly basis.
Blackstone Q1
The Blackstone Group Inc. revenue in the first quarter of 2021 stood at $5.3 billion, which marks a staggering improvement in comparison to the loss of $3.08 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The company also turned to gains when it comes to net income, going from losses of $2.6 billion reported in the first trimester of 2020 to an income of $3.4 billion.
Intel Q1
Intel Corporation reported a net revenue of $19.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021 on Thursday, a decline of 1% in comparison to the first quarter of 2020.
The reported net income was also down, dropping 41% per annum to $3.4 billion.
Snapchat Q1
Snap Inc. said that the number of its daily active users jumped 22% to 280 million during the first quarter of 2021, topping estimates.
The company added that its revenue surged 66% year on year to $770 million, while net loss stood at $287 million.
Daimler AG q1
Daimler AG reported its first-quarter earnings results on Friday, with its revenue annually jumping by 10% to reach €41.02 billion, with the number of units sold surging 13% to 728,609.
The carmaker revealed a net profit of an outstanding €4.37 billion in the trimester ending March 31, while the earnings per share skyrocketed to €4.01.
Credit Suisse Q1
Credit Suisse Group AG revenue in the first quarter jumped 31% per annum to $8.26 billion. The bank posted a net loss of $275 million as operating expenses were 2% lower at $4.30 billion.
The Wealth Management segment’s revenues were up 3% year-on-year at ~$4.3 billion, while Investment Bank’s surged 80% to $3.9 billion.
Other Major News
Tata Motors Ltd.’s Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced on Thursday it was suspending production in two of its plants in the United Kingdom due to the global shortage of semiconductors, which emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Like other automotive manufacturers, we are currently experiencing some COVID-19 supply chain disruption. We are working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimize the impact on customer orders wherever possible.” the company said.
This comes as the Chief executive officer of Cisco systems Chuck Robbins said over the weekend that the global shortage of semiconductors may last six months in the short term, while the providers build more capacity.
“The providers are building out more capacity. And that’ll get better and better over the next 12 to 18 months.” Chuck Robbins said in an interview.
JP Morgan Admits Mistake on Super League
Early on Friday, US Investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. released a statement admitting that it “clearly misjudged” the impact of its decision to finance the European Super League. The European football competition has been very controversial ever since it was announced on April 18. After backlash from fans and athletes, most of the major clubs decided to withdraw, effectively ending the league.
