Morning in New York: giants' reports in the spotlight

Daily review and forecast of events on the U.S. stock market from Mikhail Denislamov, Deputy Director of Freedom Capital Markets Research.

Investor sentiment during the upcoming session will be largely determined by corporate reports. Before the start of the main trading Caterpillar (CAT) and Honeywell (HON) will present quarterly results, which will become an important benchmark for the whole industrial segment, which since the beginning of the year demonstrates outperformance. Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) releases will be of heightened interest in terms of consumer spending and payment trends, as well as in the context of potential regulatory discussions. Apple (AAPL) reports will be published at the postmarket, where the most important points for investors will be the sustainability of demand for ecosystem products and services, margin dynamics, as well as management's comments on the AI strategy. Apple's report as one of the largest chip consumers could have an impact on the semiconductor sector. ETFs of chipmaker stocks are updating highs, reflecting continued interest in AI infrastructure.

SAP ADR (SAP), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Comcast (CMCSA) and Valero Energy (VLO ) will report before the main session. SanDisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC) and KLA Corp. (KLAC ) will release results after the market closes.

As usual, on Thursdays will be released weekly statistics of applications for unemployment benefits, which is an important indicator of the state of the labor market. In the week to January 17, the number of initial applications amounted to 200 thousand.

The results of the Fed meeting, which ended the previous day, will most likely be perceived by the market neutrally, as it did not bring any surprises. Rates, as expected, remained unchanged, and the regulator's rhetoric did not give new signals to revise the guidelines.

Futures on American stock indices demonstrate positive dynamics. We assess the balance of risks for the upcoming trades as neutral with increased volatility. We focus on the S&P 500 fluctuations in the range of 6930-7050 points (from -0.7% to +1% of the previous session's closing level).

- Meta Platforms (META) shares reacted to the release of its quarterly report and updated guidance by rising more than 7% despite higher capital expenditures. Revenue guidance for the current quarter puts it in the range of $53.5-56.5 billion (consensus: $51.27 billion). Capex for fiscal year (FY) 2026 is projected at $115-135 bln, with average market guidance of $110.74 bln.

-Microsoft (MSFT) reported strong financial results of its main business segments for the second quarter of the current fiscal year, but the market reacted to the release with sell-offs: the corporation's shares are falling by more than 5%. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $4.14 versus the consensus of $3.93, while revenue rose 17% YoY to $81.3 billion, also exceeding expectations. At the same time, the Azure cloud division's 39% revenue increase was only slightly ahead of forecasts. At the same time, the increase in capex by 66% YoY, to $37.5 bln, reinforces the investment community's concerns about the issuer's investment burden.

-Tesla (TSLA) reported fourth-quarter EPS and revenue of $0.5 billion and $24.9 billion with consensus of $0.45 billion and $24.78 billion, respectively. In addition, the auto giant's overall gross margin hit a two-year high at 20.1%, while the automotive division's figure rose to 17.9%. Management reiterated that the development of autonomous driving technologies as well as AI remains a priority. As part of this strategy, it plans to launch Cybercab and invest heavily in its own AI chips. TSLA shares are adding more than 2% before the opening of the main session.

- IBM (IBM) stock is up about 8% as its EPS beat consensus by $0.23 to $4.52 and revenue reached $19.7 billion versus expectations of $19.22 billion.

- Despite strong fourth-quarter 2025 results, ServiceNow (NOW) shares are down nearly 5% amid lingering concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on future performance. The company announced a partnership with Anthropic to integrate Claude AI models into its platform.

- Joby Aviation's (JOBY) capitalization fell 11% after announcing plans for a $1 billion equity and convertible bond offering.

Trades on January 28 on American stock exchanges ended mixed. S&P 500 decreased by symbolic 0.01%, NASDAQ 100 grew by 0.32%, Dow Jones added insignificant 0.02%, Russell 2000 corrected by 0.49%.

Most sectors of the broad market closed in the negative. Technology companies (XLK: +0.8%) and energy (XLE: +0.77%) were the leaders of growth. The outsiders were producers of consumer staples (XLP: -1.01%) and real estate (XLRE: -0.97%).

The shares of the "Magnificent Seven" showed mixed dynamics. NVIDIA (NVDA: +1.59%) was the most popular stock, while Apple (AAPL: -0.71%) came under pressure.

The key event of the day was the expected decision of the FOMC to keep the rate in the range of 3.5-3.75%. At the same time, two members of the Board of Governors - Christopher Waller and Stephen Miran - voted in favor of its reduction by 25 bp. In a statement, the regulator described economic activity as solid, noted weak but stabilizing labor market indicators and persistent inflationary pressures. The primary interpretations of the document were closer to moderately hawkish, while market expectations for rate cuts by the end of the year did not change significantly.

At the press conference following the meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized that the current course of monetary policy remains closer to the upper boundary of the neutral range and the regulator is "well positioned" to pause and assess the state of the economy. Powell noted a slight reduction in risks to both targets of the dual mandate and signaled that the Fed is likely to maintain a wait-and-see stance in the near term.

-Stride (LRN: +14.3% at the close of trading on January 28) beat earnings and revenue forecasts, citing stabilization of its core platform as well as growth in the number of students using it, and raised its operating profit guidance for the year.

- According to Digitimes, NVIDIA (NVDA: +1.59%) may engage Intel (INTC: +11%) to work on its Feynman AI platform, which is expected to launch in 2028.

- Chinese regulators have approved the first shipment of NVIDIA's (NVDA: +1.59%) H200 gas pedals. The shipment included several hundred thousand chips, distributed primarily to three major Chinese Internet companies.

-Textron (TXT: -7.9%) reported fourth-quarter revenue and earnings slightly better than average expectations, but the market took a negative view of its 2026 free cash flow guidance, which was about 25% below consensus due to higher capital expenditures related to investments in the MV-75 program.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor