Stock Talk Weekly: Edition 4
Updated: Dec 27, 2024
Reviewing the week of December 23rd – 27th
Major Market Events:
📉 Markets Stay Flat Throughout Holiday Trading: The S&P 500 experienced miniscule change this week, closing with a 0.3% increase. As holiday trading volumes were lower than anticipated, investors turned their attention to the Federal Reserve’s cautious outlook for 2025. The Dow Jones advanced by 0.5% and the Nasdaq remained relatively similar..
💰 Bitcoin Corrects After Rally: Bitcoin’s momentum changed as it experienced a significant 7.3% drop from last week’s highs. Analysts believe the decrease to be caused by many investors' selling their positions in Bitcoin due to increased scrutiny on cryptocurrency exchanges. Regardless of regulation changes and recent news, investors remain optimistic about the future of Bitcoin.
📈 Oil Prices Rebound: Brent Crude closed near $86 per barrel, shooting crude oil prices up 4.2% this week. The increase was due to unexpected demand in China and stabilizing supply chains. The ripple effect impacted Chevron and ExxonMobil, influencing average returns.
This Week's Winners:
🟢 NVIDIA (NVDA): A partnership between Nvidia and Meta drove the stock up 10.1%. They’ve teamed up to solve supply issues with GPUs improving AI development software in the Metaverse. The deal was particularly beneficial to Nvidia as it established its presence in the AI chip industry.
🟢 Meta Platforms (META): Investor optimism about the metaverse project coupled with the better-than-anticipated holiday ad revenues resulted in Meta shares increasing by 7.4%. Analysts have a strong outlook for Meta due to its constant search for innovation and improvement.
🟢 Procter & Gamble (PG): The Procter & Gamble stock price rose 5.6% following a strong quarterly report. Aggressive pricing strategies and pressure from inflation increased activity in the personal care segment–driving the success of their quarterly revenues.
🟢 Bank of America (BAC): A report featuring the increase in demand for loans and lower net interest margins caused Bank of America shares to climb 4.9%. Analysts projected greater resilience in the financial sector for the upcoming year which also influenced the change in share price.
🟢 Netflix (NFLX): This holiday lineup reeled in a record-breaking number of viewers for Netflix. Additionally, users from all regions of the world were subscribing to Netflix, which sparked a 6.8% jump in stock price.
This Week's Losers:
🔴 Pfizer (PFE): As COVID-19 becomes a thing of the past, Pfizer's revenue trends downward, and the share tumbles 3.8%. The remaining investor confidence was recently shattered as the RSV vaccine has been further delayed.
🔴 Intel (INTC): Intel announced disappointing updates regarding its next-generation chips and the stock fell 4.5%. The recent news has investors concerned about Intel’s relevance in the semiconductor market.
🔴 General Motors (GM): GM hints towards its struggles to transition to electric vehicles by laying off many employees in the EV division. Following the recent changes, the company’s shares faced a 3.9% decline.
🔴 Snap Inc. (SNAP): Snap underperformed this holiday as its ad spending fell short of expectations. Their shares suffered a 6.7% loss over concerns regarding user growth and competition from other growing social media platforms.
🔴 American Airlines (AAL): Throughout the holiday season, American Airlines canceled countless flights due to weather-related conflicts. Furthermore, the airline faced backlash for operating inefficiently, and the stock dropped 5.3%.
Upcoming Events:
📅 Federal Reserve Minutes Release: On January 3rd, the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its December meeting. Investors are closely watching this release as it’ll establish rough expectations for 2025 interest rates.
🎯 Tech Sector Spotlight: Apple, one of many leaders in the technology sector, is scheduled to release its quarterly iPhone sales revenue on January 30, 2025. This data will provide investors insight into global consumer demand considering the ongoing economic conditions. As usual, the ripple effect from Apple may affect other technology companies and their stock prices.
🎯 Energy Reports: We can expect the weekly petroleum status report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). They're tasked with publishing current information about crude inventory and recognizing supply trends as the prices change.
📊 Labor Market Update: As the week progresses, jobless claims and payroll reports will be released for investors and analysts to review. This key employment data helps paint a clear picture of the U.S. labor market's resilience to ongoing changes.
Next Week's Watchlist:
⭐ Apple (AAPL): Investors are on their toes waiting for data surrounding the iPhone 15 sales. They’re especially curious to see how the iPhone 15 performs in international markets like India and China. These results foreshadow the next quarter for Apple.
⭐ ExxonMobil (XOM): ExxonMobil takes a greater stance in the energy sector as they’ve been performing exceptionally and the oil prices are making a recovery.
⭐ Walmart (WMT): With the upcoming release of retail sales data, Walmart’s performance will serve as a reference point for consumer spending in 2024’s final quarter.
⭐ Microsoft (MSFT): Microsoft’s Azure cloud division has become more popular and is starting to establish a presence in its field. Analysts are anticipating an announcement that Azure Cloud will partner with another company that’s dedicated to new AI focuses.
⭐ Delta Airlines (DAL): Investors are tuned into Delta and are monitoring their progress to recover from holiday travel conflicts. They’re keeping a close watch on the company’s travel demand for early 2025 to forecast how the remainder of the year will turn out.
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