tl;dr
U.S. stock index futures on Friday pointed to a higher open, boosted by a premarket jump in Apple (AAPL) after the world's largest publicly listed firm delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and unveiled a record $110B buyback. Market participants are also looking ahead to the latest nonfa...
U.S. stock index futures on Friday pointed to a higher open, boosted by a premarket jump in Apple (AAPL) after the world's largest publicly listed firm delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and unveiled a record $110B buyback. Market participants are also looking ahead to the latest nonfarm payrolls report due in about an hour. The data is being keenly watched for clarity on future monetary policy actions, especially in light of a much more dovish-than-expected Federal Reserve earlier this week. The blue-chip Dow futures (INDU) gained the most from Apple's (AAPL) advance, surging 1.27% to 38,521.91 points. The benchmark S&P 500 futures (SPX) rose 0.38% to 5,083.28 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures (US100:IND) added 0.67% to 17,659.69 points. Apple (AAPL) announced FQ2 2024 results after the closing bell on Thursday. Expectations were low going into the report amid slumping demand and declining sales for iPhones in China, along with a perceived falling behind for the tech giant in the artificial intelligence race. But the Tim Cook-led company managed to deliver better-than-feared results. Investors were also cheered by Apple (AAPL) adding a record $110B to its share buyback program and raising its quarterly dividend by 4%. "Apple (AAPL) had a pretty decent second-quarter overall as the company reached a new Services revenue record and the Services business, as a percentage of consolidated sales, reached its highest sales representation ever at 26%. This means that Apple's (AAPL) push to diversify its hardware sales-dependent enterprise is succeeding," Seeking Alpha contributor The Asian Investor said in an earnings reaction on Thursday. "The most compelling element of an investment in Apple (AAPL) is that the company is earning a ton of free cash flow that is set to be returned to shareholders through a very generous $110B stock buyback program," The Asian Investor added. Though Apple (AAPL) grabbed a chunk of the spotlight on Friday, investors were also looking ahead to a key piece of economic data. The April nonfarm payrolls report is expected to show more than 200K jobs added to the economy for a fourth straight month, indicating that the U.S. labor market remains stubbornly resilient to the Fed's aggressive monetary policy tightening. "The U.S. employment report looms. Around 119,000 companies will be asked about their employees. Around 67,000 companies will not bother to reply. Markets will obsess about the data anyway. The expectation is for slower job creation, with a stable monthly change in average earnings," UBS' Paul Donovan said. "Uncertainty about immigration clouds U.S. employment data. The household survey may be less likely to pick up on illegal immigrant employment than the payrolls survey. Increased immigration may improve trend rates of growth—directly by increasing the labor force and productivity, and indirectly by easing labor force bottlenecks that hinder other job creation," he added. In a bright spot, the consensus estimate for 243K new jobs in April represents a deceleration from 303K added in March. Meanwhile, the quits rate is anticipated to stay unchanged. "I very much get that with payrolls, the prior trend is usually your friend. But that might be about to change, soon. The 240K consensus for today looks on the high side to me, though anything can happen on any given day," Pantheon Macro's Ian Shepherdson said on X (formerly Twitter). Treasury yields were lower ahead of the jobs data. The longer-end 30-year (US30Y) and 10-year yields (US10Y) were both down 3 basis points each to 4.70% and 4.56%, respectively. The shorter-end more rate-sensitive 2-year yield (US2Y) was down 1 basis point to 4.87%. Other than the nonfarm payrolls report, the economic calendar on Friday is fairly light. Market participants will be receiving readings on the services industry from S&P Global and the Institute for Supply Management. Looking at other active stocks ahead of the opening bell, Amgen (AMGN) rallied more than 13% and provided another boost to the Dow (INDU), after the pharmaceutical major gave a positive update on its investigational obesity drug and reported quarterly results.
More about Apple Inc
Apple Inc. Stock Analysis Company Overview
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company that specializes in consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. As of 2021, Apple is the world's largest technology company by revenue, totaling $274.5 billion in 2020. Since January 2021, it is also the world's most valuable company.
More about Amgen Inc
Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Focused on molecular biology and biochemistry, its goal is to provide a healthcare business based on recombinant DNA technology.
Industry: Life Sciences
Product Category: Biological Products (No Diagnostic Substances)
Market Cap: $149.32 billion
Current Stock Price: $22.27
Dividend Yield: 8.52%
Price-to-Earnings Ratio: 12.5
52-Week High: $52.69
Beta (5Y Monthly): 0.238
Revenue: $28.19 billion
Net Income (TTM): $306.2 million
EPS (TTM): -0.524
Profit Margin: 0.198
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