Markets Reverse Tariff Panic; Many Q4 Beats After Hours

Tuesday, February 4, 2025Markets traded higher today, with all major indexes closing near session highs — and erasing yesterday’s tariff panic, now that tariff plans have already been eased for our neighbors to the north and the south. The Dow gained +134 points, +0.30%, while the S&P 500 grew +43 points, +0.72%. The Nasdaq raced ahead +262 points, +1.35%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 led the field, +1.44% on the day. JOLTS Lighter in DecemberThe first labor market report in this latest Jobs Week is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) earlier today, giving numbers for the month of December (the other jobs-related datas this week will be concerning January). Headline job openings of 7.6 million is below the 8.0 million anticipated, and the lowest monthly print since September of last year. The previous month was revised up to 8.16 million, the highest since May.There were some industries that saw gains in job openings, like Arts & Entertainment, but the big news here was in those areas of losing openings: Professional & Business Services fell -225K for the month, Healthcare & Social Assistance dropped -180K, and Finance & Insurance -136K. Shedding job openings was most prevalent in the South, -286K, and the West, -250K. Tomorrow we’ll see January private-sector payrolls from ADP ADP.Q4 Earnings Roundup: GOOGL, AMD, SNAP & MoreGoogle parent Alphabet GOOGL posted beats on both top and bottom lines after today’s closing bell for Q4, but shares are down -6% on the news. Earnings of $2.15 per share outpaced expectations by 3 cents (and was nicely ahead of the $1.64 per share reported in the year-ago quarter), while revenues (minus Traffic Acquisition Costs [TAC]) came in at $81.62 billion, above the $81.38 billion in the Zacks consensus.Two things are worth noting here, at least by way of trying to explain the bearish sentiment: Alphabet’s Cloud revenues came in slightly below estimates, and the company announced another $75 billion to be invested in capex, including AI efforts. Following China’s DeepSeek revelation last week, there is some question now whether big spending on AI infrastructure is as necessary as we had earlier assumed. Shares are now in the red year to date, but still up nearly +30% from a year ago.Check out the updated Zacks Earnings Calendar here.Semiconductor major Advanced Micro Devices AMD also outperformed expectations this afternoon in its Q4 report, with earnings of $1.09 per share 2 cents ahead of estimates on $7.66 billion in quarterly revenues, nicely above the $7.52 billion anticipated. Gross margins were a better-than-expected +54%, as the company has raised revenue guidance for next quarter. Shares are up +4% in late trading, but still way down from a year ago.Social media staple Snap Inc. SNAP surpassed estimates on both top and bottom lines after the close, with earnings of 16 cents per share on $1.56 billion in revenues bettering the 14 cents per share and $1.55 billion analysts were hoping for. Higher expense discipline has been cited for a measure of this outperformance, with Global Daily Active Users up +2 million to 453 million total. Shares are up +8% in late trading.Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG shares are falling this afternoon by -5%, even after the quick-service restaurant staple beat earnings expectations by a penny to 25 cents per share on an in-line $2.85 billion in quarterly revenues. Comps reached +54% in the quarter, below the +57% analysts were looking for. Market participants may also be considering higher costs for things like avocado imports from Mexico, depending on tariff actions.What to Expect from the Stock Market WednesdayAside from another tranche of Q4 earnings reports tomorrow — companies like Disney DIS, Ford F and Qualcomm QCOM, among others, will release figures — we get the aforementioned ADP report on privater-sector payrolls from last month. Expectations are for around +150K new private-sector jobs gained, up from +122K the previous month. There will also be a new Trade Balance, where we expect some pull-forward to beat potential tariff activity which will likely take this headline number into a deeper deficit. And we get a pair of readings from the Services sector — ISM and S&P PMI — both of which are expected to again come in comfortably ahead of the 50 threshold.Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ford Motor Company (F): Free Stock Analysis Report QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM): Free Stock Analysis Report Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): Free Stock Analysis Report Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP): Free Stock Analysis Report Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG): Free Stock Analysis Report The Walt Disney Company (DIS): Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report Snap Inc. (SNAP): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks