Morning in New York: Intel and SAP reports will set the tone for trading

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

The situation in the Middle East continues to determine the dynamics of stock markets. US President Donald Trump announced the extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon for three weeks, which temporarily reduces the risks of escalation and creates space for a diplomatic solution to the problem. At the same time, the situation around the Strait of Hormuz remains tense: Washington's rhetoric has toughened, and there are statements about its readiness to use force against ships planting mines. Problems with transportation of cargoes by sea and pressure on Iranian oil exports increase the risk of continued supply disruptions. Against this backdrop, oil prices are rising, increasing inflationary pressures and curbing risk appetite.

Macroeconomic statistics is likely to have a limited impact on the upcoming trading. The focus will be on the final data of the consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan for April (consensus: 48.4 points, preliminary estimate: 47.6). A decline in inflation expectations will be welcomed by the market, although there is not enough evidence for such dynamics yet, as gasoline prices in the US remain high.

Procter & Gamble (PG), SLB Limited (SLB), HCA Healthcare (HCA), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Charter Communications (CHTR), Western Union (WU) and Flagstar Financial (FLG ) will report quarterly results before the open.

Technology stocks may continue to outperform the broader market thanks to the reaction to reports from Intel (INTC) and SAP (SAP). We forecast a rally in chip makers and software developers. Note that the SMH ETF and SOXX ETF are already severely overbought on the RSI indicator following double-digit gains in April, but the positive momentum is still in place. The sentiment is further supported by the fact that OpenAI released a new GPT-5.5, signaling that it remains in a strong position to compete with Anthropic and Alphabet (GOOGL).

The S&P 500 futures show about zero dynamics, and NASDAQ 100 grows by about 0.5%. We assess the balance of risks for the upcoming session as moderately positive with increased volatility.

- Intel (INTC) stock is up about 20% in the premarket after strong reporting. A new demand driver is starting to be built into the company's quotations: as cloud providers move from model training to model deployment, the role of CPUs more suitable for autonomous AI agents and reasoning computing is growing. INTC shares are further supported by higher chip prices amid rising costs and supply shortages.

- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Arm Holdings (ARM) are up 7% and 12%, respectively, reflecting increased interest in the CPU segment in AI infrastructure.

- SAP (SAP) stock is adding more than 6% as its quarterly revenue rose 6% to €9.56 billion and cloud services revenue rose 19% to €5.96 billion. Operating profit was €2.87 billion with a consensus of €2.71 billion. Its forecast for cloud services revenue growth of 23-25% is confirmed.

- Shares of MaxLinear (MXL) soared more than 30% as its EPS was $0.22 with a consensus of $0.18 and revenue increased 43% YoY to $137.2 million. Strong demand for optical data center solutions drove these results. The company's own revenue guidance for the current quarter in the range of $160-170 million was well above average market guidance.

- Comfort Systems (FIX) shares are up about 6% on the back of the report, which reported EPS and revenue of $10.51 billion and $2.87 billion on forecasts of $6.81 billion and $2.39 billion, respectively. The growth in the figures was driven by HVAC and data center projects. The company's dividend was raised by 14%.

- Coursera (COUR) is down about 10% as it reported EPS of $0.07 with average forecasts of $0.08, and its own revenue guidance for the current year was cautious: it expects results in the range of $805-815 million. At the same time, the company recorded in the release an increase in revenue to $195.7 million and expansion of the number of users to 205 million.

April 23 trading on the U.S. stock exchanges ended in the negative. S&P 500 decreased by 0.41%, NASDAQ 100 corrected by 0.57%, Dow Jones fell by 0.36%, Russell 2000 - by 0.37%.

Negative dynamics was caused by the strengthening of geopolitical tension and profit taking after the renewal of highs.

Most securities of the "Magnificent Seven" traded on the negative territory, the most active was the sell-off of Microsoft shares (MSFT: -3.97%). The corporation for the first time in its history offered to voluntarily dismiss 8.7 thousand of its employees in the U.S., promising them "generous support". This offer was made to employees whose total length of service and age combined exceed 70 years. However, this news, in our opinion, did not have a direct effect on the company's shares. Their decline was due to the general negative sentiment in the software segment.

Utility providers (XLU: +2.72%) became the leaders of growth in the broad market on the background of increased demand for protective assets. The technology sector (XLK: -1.42%) was the outsider due to pressure from quotations of software companies and some AI-related stocks.

Macroeconomic statistics was mixed. The number of initial jobless claims rose to 214,000 from the consensus of 210,000, indicating some cooling of the labor market. At the same time, preliminary PMI data from S&P Global for April exceeded expectations: the composite index amounted to 51.3 points, and the manufacturing index - 54, which reflects the stability of business activity and a strong inflow of new orders.

The news background around the Middle East conflict remained unfavorable for the demand for risk assets. Tougher US rhetoric and reports about the risks of escalation in the Strait of Hormuz region caused an increase in WTI oil prices (+3.1%) and increased volatility.

- Mobileye (MBLY: +10.1%) reported last quarter revenue growth of 27% YoY on a 28% increase in EyeQ chip shipments. The company also raised its outlook for 2026 and announced a $250 million share buyback.

- Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP: +7.5%) exceeded consensus on revenue and profit thanks to the impact of price and sales volume growth. The beverage segments in the US and international business showed the most pronounced positive dynamics.

- Hasbro (HAS: +6.6%) reported preliminary results for the quarter, reporting revenue of $970-985 million with an average market guidance of $908.9 million. Management kept its full-year guidance unchanged despite a cyber incident that could affect the timing of its second-quarter earnings release.

- Dover's (DOV: +5.5%) quarterly revenue and earnings were above average market expectations. Organic growth was 5.3% vs. consensus of 3.3%, and orders increased 23.8% YoY, indicating solid demand in key business segments.

- Las Vegas Sands (LVS: -8.6%) reported quarterly revenue and EBITDA stronger than forecast. However, due to the increase in operating expenses, the margins of the Macau business remain in question. However, the company expects to further expand its market share.

- Lockheed Martin (LMT: -4.6%) generated revenue in the latest reporting period at the same level as last year, while EPS and cash flow came in below expectations due to weaker results in the aircraft segment and adjustments to the F-16 program.

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