This week, we officially entered the fourth quarter earnings season when Alcoa released its results on Monday. Below is a financial overview of the week ended January 16.
Monday
We began the week with yet another slide in WTI crude oil to $46.07 per barrel after Goldman Sachs lowered its three month outlook from $70 per barrel to $41 a barrel. This decline marked WTI’s lowest level since 2009.
Before the opening bell, Tiffany & Co (TIF ) took a hit after reporting lower holiday sales and cutting its outlook. After the closing bell, Alcoa (AA ) kicked off earnings season with better than expected Q4 earnings.
The Dow was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% and the Nasdaq dipped 0.1%.
Tuesday
Homebuilder KB Home (KBH ) released its fourth quarter financial results before the opening bell on Tuesday, posting disappointing results and sending shares down over 16%. The markets opened in positive territory, but later slumped.
The Dow was down 0.2%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8% and the Nasdaq fell 0.8%.
Wednesday
Before Wednesday’s opening bell, we saw a 0.9% drop in Retail Sales for December. There were also earnings releases in the pre-market from two of the big banks:
- JP Morgan (JPM ) – Reported lower results and missed estimates.
- Wells Fargo (WFC ) – Posted higher results, matching analysts’ views.
The market opened lower due to JPM’s disappointing results, retail sales and the World Bank’s lower outlook on economic growth. Oil prices saw a recovery on Wednesday, offsetting some of the previous day’s losses.
The Dow declined 1.1%, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.5%.
Thursday
Thursday began with higher Jobless Claims and several companies releasing fourth quarter results.
- Bank of America (BAC ) – Posted lower results and missed analysts’ expectations.
- Citigroup (C ) – Reported lower earnings and flat revenue. Missed estimates.
- BlackRock (BLK ) – Reported lower earnings and higher revenue. Beat estimates.
In addition to earnings, we also saw shares of Best Buy (BBY ) plummet on a weak outlook and news that Target (TGT ) now plans to exit Canada. The markets fell into negative territory following disappointing earnings and news that the Swiss National Bank has dropped its exchange rate peg of the Swiss franc against the euro.
After hours, Intel (INTC) reported earnings, posting higher results that beat earnings estimates.
The Dow declined 0.6%, the S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.47%.
Friday
Friday morning began with a few big-name earnings:
- Goldman Sachs (GS ) – Reported lower results, but beat estimates.
- PNC Financial (PNC ) – Posted lower results, but came in above expectations.
Next Week
Next week, earnings from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ ) , International Business Machines (IBM ), Morgan Stanley (MS ), Verizon (VZ )
and General Electric (GE ) will be released. We will also see economic reports including the Housing Starts report and the Existing Home Sales report. Don’t forget that the markets will be closed on Monday, January 19 for Martin Luther King Day.
