10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Weak iPhone sales sink Apple. The tech giant earned $1.45 per share, topping the $1.41 that Wall Street was expecting. Revenue climbed 32.5% to $49.6 billion, edging past the estimate of $49.4 billion. But iPhone sales of 47.5 million units missed the target of 48.8 million. According to CEO Tim Cook, the iPhone miss was due to a lower channel inventory. The stock was down more than 7% in after hours trade.
Microsoft took a huge write-off on its Nokia phone business. Microsoft earned an adjusted $0.62 per share, outpacing the $0.58 that Wall Street was expecting. Revenue slid 5.1% to $22.2 billion, but still managed to beat the $22.04 billion that analysts were anticipating. However, the company announced a $7.6 billion write-off on its Nokia phone business and the costs associated with eliminating 7,800 jobs. Factoring those costs in, the company lost $0.40 per share or $2.1 billion. "Our approach to investing in areas where we have differentiation and opportunity is paying off with Surface, Xbox, Bing, Office 365, Azure and Dynamics CRM Online all growing by at least double-digits," CEO Satya Nadella said.
Yahoo disappointed. The search giant announced earnings of $0.16 per share, missing the $0.19 analyst estimate. Revenue ticked up 0.3% from last year to $1.04 billion, edging out the $1.04 billion that was expected. CFO Ken Goldman said the company expects to pay more for search traffic.
Chipotle's quarter was mixed. The fast-casual burrito maker earned $4.45 per share, which topped expectations by two cents. Revenue jumped 14.1% to $1.2 billion, just shy of the $1.22 billion that analysts were looking for. Same store sales came in light at 4.3%in the quarter versus expectations of of 5.8%. "We feel good about our second quarter results, as our revenue, average restaurant sales, and comparable restaurant sales have continued to grow even comparing to a very strong 2014," CEO Steve Ells noted.
GoPro crushed estimates. The wearable camera maker posted adjusted earnings of $0.35 per share, easily beating the $0.26 that Wall Street analysts were expecting. Revenue surged 71.7% to $419.9 million, which was well ahead of the $396.3 million that was anticipated. "I couldn't be more proud of our aggressive pace of innovation. With the introduction of HERO4 Session and HERO+ LCD, we've launched five new cameras in the past 10 months, exciting both new and existing customers and contributing to strong second quarter results," CEO Nick Woodman said in a statement.
The AT&T-DirecTV merger is closer to being approved. The head of the Federal Communication Commission has given the go ahead for AT&T's planned $48.5 billion buyout of DirecTV. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he approved the deal under a few conditions. The other four commissioners of the FCC have yet to vote and the deal has already received approval from the Department of Justice.
The Bank of England minutes warned on inflation. The latest Bank of England minutes showed a "number of members" voiced their concerns that inflation risks are "skewed to the upside." According to the Telegraph, Monetary Policy Committee members think inflation is "likely to pick up notably" into the end of the year. However, the minutes showed all nine members voted to keep both the benchmark interest rate and asset purchase program on hold. The British pound is up 0.3% at 1.5608.
Stock markets around the world are lower. Overnight, Japan's Nikkei (-1.2%) paced the decline while China's Shanghai Composite (+0.2%) outperformed. In Europe, Britain's FTSE (-1.1%) lags. S&P 500 futures are down 8.25 points at 2106.25.
US economic data is light. Data begins with the 9 a.m. ET release of the FHFA Housing Price Index, which is followed by existing home sales at 10 a.m. ET. Crude oil inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 1 basis point at 2.33%.
Earnings releases will come fast and furious after the close. American Express, Las Vegas Sands, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments highlight the names scheduled to report following the closing bell.