Monthly Buzz: Earnings season in full swing

Hey, mooers!

Welcome back to Monthly Buzz!

The first week of April brought unexpected news to the market as OPEC+ announced an oil production cut, spiking oil prices and complicating the Fed's fight against inflation. The jobs report also showed a cooling of hiring trends, which initially caused some concern, but the non-farm payroll report helped to ease some of those worries.

In the second week, data showed a downward trend in inflation, but the Fed remained cautious about the state of the economy. And as the Q1 earnings season progressed past mid-April, bank stocks reported results that outperformed expectations, alleviating concerns about the banking crisis that occurred in February. Many companies also surpassed their projected earnings, but cautious outlooks from some raised suspicions of a potential recession.

All three major indexes finished the month in the green. The Dow was up 2.48%, the S&P 500 was up 1.46% during the month, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.04%.

In terms of sector performance during the month, the financial and energy sectors rebounded strongly, while consumer staples and real estate also performed well. The industrial sector rally decelerated due to higher commodity prices.(Data as of Apr 30, 2023)

Let's take a look at how the stocks that created the most buzz on the moomoo app performed during the month.

1. TSLA – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Apr 03: Tesla shares fell 6.12% after it reported Q1 production and delivery numbers, which raised concerns about its margins and profitability. The company's previous steep price cuts have resulted in only a small increase in deliveries, and investors are concerned that such a move will affect future margins.

Apr 12: Tesla shares fell 3.35%, following a report which shows its EV market share YoY decline and a major indices jump after the release of the FOMC minutes, which shows an agreement among Fed officials to continue raising interest rates to fight inflation.

Apr 20: Tesla shares dropped 9.75% after it reported first-quarter revenue that climbed past muted expectations and the topline growth was the worst since the second quarter of 2020. Its earnings were in line with the consensus but dropped 20% YoY, as margins fell amid the multiple price cuts. Its SpaceX starship exploded shortly after launching an uncrewed test flight at 9:30 am.

2. AMC – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Apr 04: The shares of AMC Entertainment dropped 23.48% as the company moved closer to converting its preferred shares into regular stock. The company said late Monday that it had agreed to settle a lawsuit from shareholders over the Apes, allowing it to proceed with the planned stock conversion.

Apr 06: AMC Entertainment shares rallied 20.99% after a Delaware court rejected the company's motion to lift the status quo order regarding a shareholder litigation settlement. The company said in a regulatory filing that it would not move ahead with plans "to effect the share increase and the reverse stock split previously approved by stockholders or the conversion of AMC Preferred Equity Units (APEs) into Class A common stock" until the court lifts the status quo order.

3. FRC – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Apr 08: First Republic Bank shares dropped 5.55%. Shares of several banks and financial services companies are trading lower amid U.S. economic concerns after job openings came in below estimates and factory orders declined by more than expected.

Apr 19: First Republic Bank shares rallied 12.40%. Western Alliance Bancorp led a rally in regional bank stocks in premarket trades with a 19% increase, reflecting banks caught up in the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank's failure rebounding amid earnings season.

Apr 25: First Republic Bank shares plunged 49.38% after the company reported quarterly results. Despite exceeding profit and revenue estimates, shares of First Republic Bank sold off after it announced an unprecedented deposit outflow of $100 billion in the quarter, excluding $30 billion in time deposits obtained from major U.S. banks.

4. MULN – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

Apr 21: Mullen Automotive stocks rallied 21.49% from its 52-week low after announcing test results of its recently acquired joint venture technology, which can improve electric vehicle performance by boosting the range by 60-70%. U.S. provisional patent application has been filed covering technology.

5. CXAI – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

Apr 13: CXApp shares soared 345.62% on an abnormally-high volume of 163.8 million in Thursday's regular session and remain volatile after hours. CXApp is a spinoff of Inpixon (NASDAQ:INPX). The stock debuted on Nasdaq last month following a SPAC merger with KINS Technology Group Inc.

Apr 14: Shares of CXApp and parent (NASDAQ:INPX) soared for the second day in a row Friday, with CXApp rocketing as high as 200% to hit a new 52-week high. The stock closed at $13.85, up 94.25%. Neither company appeared to release any news or make any SEC filings during the week.

6. BBBY – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

Apr 04: Bed Bath & Beyond shares dropped 7.96%, reaching another new all-time low of 35 cents after it was reported former CEO Mark Tritton is suing the beleaguered company for $6,765,000. The company also recently entered into a market offering program worth $300 million, which is bearish for the stock.

Apr 06: Bed Bath & Beyond shares dropped 8.28% after it said its board recommended that shareholders approve the proposed reverse split because the company may not be able to avoid bankruptcy if the reverse split proposal fails. Board recommends voting for reverse split at the May 9 meeting.

Apr 20: Bed Bath & Beyond shares dropped 35.34% as the company has revived plans to file for bankruptcy as its last-minute attempts to raise funds have proved unsuccessful. The company filed for Chapter 11 on April 23, after spending several months teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

7. AAPL – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

Apr 05: Apple shares were trading 1.13% lower. U.S. private companies added fewer jobs than expected in March, sparking fears of a recession, as Nasdaq dropped 1.07% and S&P 500 dropped 0.25%.

Apr 10: Apple shares slid 1.60% after IDC reported Sunday that Apple's global PC shipments fell 40.5 percent YoY in the first quarter, which marks a tough start to the year for PC makers still grappling with a glut of inventory.

Apr 13: Apple shares were trading 3.41% higher after producer price index (PPI) data for March showed the inflation metric coming in lower than economists estimated. In company news, Apple tapped the French premium television channel CANAL+ Group to broaden the reach of its Apple TV+ streaming service.

8. NIO – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

Apr 03: NIO stocks fell 6.76% after announcing its quarterly delivery figure was up 21% from a year before but down from the 40,052-unit figure seen in the December quarter. Deutsche Bank analyst said that weak auto sales in China due to consumer confidence are expected to improve in Q2.

Apr 19: NIO stocks plummeted 7.18%, in the wake of more price cuts from Tesla, which is also due to report first-quarter results after the closing bell. NIO CEO William Li told CNBC at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 17 that NIO wouldn't match Tesla's price cuts, believing NIO's products and services were worth what consumers are paying today.

Apr 12: Nvidia stocks were down 2.48% after the release of the FOMC minutes, which shows an agreement among Fed officials to continue raising interest rates to fight inflation. Nasdaq was down 0.85%, and S&P 500 was down 0.41%.

Apr 20: Nvidia stocks slid 2.96%, with TSLA down 9.75% after earning release and Nasdaq down 0.78%. Tech companies are expected to see the biggest earnings drop in the entire stock market during the earnings season. Analysts expect profits for information-technology companies to fall 15% in the first quarter.

10. BABA – Buzzing Stars: ⭐⭐

Apr 06: Alibaba shares jumped 4.25% after "Tongyi Qianwen", Ali Cloud's new large language model officially announced the opening of the user testing experience. The model will act as a ChatGPT-like interface for all its business apps, including the DingTalk workplace communications app and the Tmall Genie personal assistant speaker.

Apr 12: Alibaba shares plummeted 5.93% following a report that SoftBank Group Corp. has moved to sell most of its stake in the Chinese tech giant. The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Japan's SoftBank had sold about $7.2 billion in Alibaba shares this year through prepaid forward contracts, which will eventually lower its stake to just 3.8%.

That's all for today's Monthly Buzz. Thanks for reading!