STOCK MARKET NEWS: Meta shares slide on earnings following Microsoft, Google, Mobileye IPO soars

POLITICS

Second rail union rejects deal with freight railroads, elevating chance of strike

A second rail union voted against ratifying a tentative agreement with the nation's freight railroads Wednesday, raising chances for a nationwide strike.

Members of a second railroad union have voted against the tentative deal brokered by the Biden administration.

The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) announced Wednesday its members voted against ratifying their new contract by a 60.57% to 39.23% margin, with the highest participation rate in the union's history.

Spirit A319 (Photo: Michael Lopardi/Spirit Airlines)

Spirit Airlines Inc. (SAVE) on Wednesday reported a loss of $36.4 million in its third quarter.

On a per-share basis, the Miramar, Florida-based company said it had a loss of 33 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 3 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 9 cents per share.

The airline posted revenue of $1.34 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.35 billion.

Ford logo at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany Sept. 10, 2019. (Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay)

Ford Motor Co on Wednesday reported a third-quarter net loss driven by its decision to shift spending from the Argo AI self-driving business.

Ford posted a net loss in the quarter of $827 million, after taking a $2.7 billion noncash pretax impairment on its investment in Argo AI.

The automaker said Argo will be "wound down" and that "talented engineers" will be offered positions with Ford.

The U.S. automaker said third-quarter revenue jumped to $39.4 billion, up 10% from a year ago, while adjusted operating profit fell to $1.8 billion from $3.0 billion last year.

Ford said it expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to rise to about $11.5 billion, up around 15% from a year ago.

Facebook's Meta logo on smartphone in this illustration, Oct. 28, 2021. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

Meta Platforms is lower in after-hours trading. Investors did not like its fourth quarter forecast.

The parent of Facebook expects fourth quarter 2022 total revenue to be in the range of $30-32.5 billion. Analysts on average expected revenue of $27.38 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Third quarter revenue fell 4% to $27.7 billion.

The company said it is making significant changes across the board to operate more efficiently.

“We are holding some teams flat in terms of headcount, shrinking others and investing headcount growth only in our highest priorities. As a result, we expect headcount at the end of 2023 will be approximately in-line with third quarter 2022 levels,” Meta said in a statement.

On a per-share basis, the Menlo Park, California-based company said it had net income for the three months ended September 30 was $1.64.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.88 per share.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Wolfspeed is lower in extended trading. The developer and manufacturer of wide bandgap semiconductors expects fiscal second quarter results to be lower than the previous quarter.

For its second quarter of fiscal 2023, Wolfspeed is targeting revenue in a range of $215 million to $235 million. First quarter revenue rose 54% to $241.3 million, topping the analyst estimate of $239.3 million.

The GAAP net loss is targeted at $83 million to $93 million. The net loss for the three months ended September 25 narrowed to $26.2 million from $70.1 million.

The non-GAAP net loss is targeted at 8 to 16 cents per share. The Q2 non-GAAP diluted loss per share was 4 cents, better than the Wall Street estimate of 5 cents.

Kanye West watches an NBA basketball in Los Angeles, Calif., Mar. 11, 2022 (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

RETAIL

Kanye West brand Yeezy dropped by TJ Maxx after rapper’s antisemitic comments

Retailer TJ Maxx said Wednesday that it instructed buying teams not to purchase Yeezy-branded merchandise following antisemitic remarks made by rapper Ye.

TJ Maxx has joined Adidas, Gap and Kering unit Balenciaga in dropping rapper and designer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, following his recent anti-Semitic remarks.

MARKETS

Seagate announces layoffs, accused of selling hard drives to Huawei

Seagate shares fell more than 7% Wednesday following an announcement of layoffs and a report that it sold hard drives to China's Huawei in violation of U.S. law.

Seagate Technology Holdings said in a filing on Wednesday the U.S. government has warned the company that it may have violated export control laws by providing hard disk drives to a customer that a source familiar with the situation identified as Huawei Technologies.

Reuters was the first to report the disclosure on Wednesday and to identify Huawei as the customer. Huawei is on the U.S. Commerce Department's entity list and banned from receiving U.S. exports and certain foreign-made items without government approval.

The filing said the company's position is that the hard disk drives are not subject to the U.S. export regulations, and that it did not engage in prohibited conduct as alleged by the Commerce Department.

A spokeswoman for Huawei had no immediate comment for Reuters.

Separately, Seagate plans to reduce its worldwide headcount by approximately 3,000 employees, or 8% of the global workforce, along with other cost saving measures.

The company reported revenue of $2.04 billion, down from $3.16 billion.

Net income was $29 million from $526 million.

Reuters contributed to this story.

Spotify logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, May 3, 2018. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Spotify Technology SA on Tuesday said third-quarter profit margins were squeezed by slow advertising growth, fanning concerns about the weak global economy's effect on digital advertising. Spotify shares slid 4% in after-hours trading, stung by sector-wide weakness after Google parent Alphabet Inc missed market estimates for quarterly revenue as advertisers cut spending.

Spotify, whose stock has fallen 58.5% this year, said third-quarter margins were less than it had expected, blaming "some softness in advertising," currency fluctuations and retroactive royalty payments to songwriters and music publishers.

The number of monthly active users rose to 456 million in the third quarter, an addition of 23 million users in three months that beat Spotify's guidance and analysts' forecasts of 448.6 million.

Premium subscribers, who account for most of the company's revenue, grew 13% to 195 million, topping analyst estimates of 194 million.

Spotify revenue for the third quarter reached 3 billion euros ($3 billion), up 21% from the same time last year and consistent with analyst estimates of 3 billion euros ($3 billion), according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Spotify posed a quarterly operating loss of 228 million euros ($227.3 million) in the quarter, higher than analyst projections of 168.6 million euros ($167.9 million).

Rollins Inc. on Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings of $107.6 million.

On a per-share basis, the Atlanta-based company said it had net income of 22 cents.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 20 cents per share.

The operator of Orkin and other pest and termite control services posted revenue of $729.7 million in the period.

The 10.9-inch iPad features a liquid retina display, powerful A14 Bionic chip and more (Photo: Apple)

Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a 16-inch screen iPad, The Information reported exclusively.

A person familiar with the product told the website that Apple is aiming to release the big iPad in the fourth quarter of next year.

Apple offers several types of tablets, ranging from the 9th generation iPad with a 10.2 inch display starting at $329 to the 12.9 inch iPad Pro which starts at $1,099.

LIFESTYLE

Bob Evans sausage products recalled due to potential rubber contamination

Bob Evans Farms Foods Inc. recalled more than 7,500 pounds of pork sausage products after it received consumer complaints that the product reportedly had pieces of rubber.

Bob Evans Farms Foods is recalling approximately 7,560 pounds of Italian pork sausage products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically thin blue rubber, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider. Bob Evans Farms is a unit of Post Holdings.

Nabors Industries says the pace of dayrate increases has been particularly brisk in the U.S. lower 48 states, with the company starting to sign contracts with revenue per day approaching $40,000.

"We expect to see higher dayrates through the end of this year and into 2023." said CFO William Restrepo.

Third quarter revenue rose 33% to $698.95 million. Analysts were expecting $678.93 million.

The net loss attributable to Nabors shareholders for the quarter was $14 million, or $1.80 per share. This compares to a loss of $83 million, or $9.41 per share, in the second quarter.

Wall Street was looking for a net loss of $4.71.For the next quarter, the oil and gas drilling contractor sees Lower 48 adjusted gross margin per day of approximately $13,400 - $13,600. Third quarter Lower 48 daily adjusted gross margin was $11,165.

Full year free cash flow for the full year 2022 is expected to be above $100 million.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) on Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings of $261.2 million.

On a per-share basis, the Milwaukee-based company said it had net income of $1.78.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.45 per share.

The motorcycle maker posted revenue of $1.65 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $1.44 billion, also topping Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.33 billion.

Wingstop Inc. (WING) on Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings of $13.4 million.

On a per-share basis, the Addison, Texas-based company said it had profit of 45 cents.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 36 cents per share.

The restaurant chain posted revenue of $92.7 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $89.8 million.

Wingstop expects full-year earnings to be $1.61 to $1.63 per share.

Smartphone is seen in front of Microsoft logo in this illustration, July 26, 2021. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

Gloomy results from Alphabet and Microsoft stoked fears of a global economic downturn and derailed an earnings-led surge in stock markets on Wednesday, while setting the tone for results from other megacap technology giants.

Heavyweights Netflix, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Apple have already lost a combined market value of more than $2.5 trillion so far this year and were set to shed another $330 billion on Wednesday.

Alphabet missed Wall Street's target for revenue growth in the third quarter as ad sales remained weak, while inflation and a strong dollar led Microsoft to report its slowest topline growth in five years.

Glasses of Heineken beer at a restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam May 30, 2019. (Reuters/Kham)

Heineken NV, the world's second-largest brewer, has seen signs of slowdown in demand for its beer in some European markets over recent weeks, it said on Wednesday, after its third-quarter sales rose by less than expected.

The maker of Europe's top-selling beer Heineken, along with Sol and Tiger lagers said beer volumes rose by 8.9% on a like-for-like basis in the third quarter, with the strongest increase in Asia, but compared with the 12.0% average market expectation.

Heineken said it retained its full-year outlook for operating margin to be stable or increase modestly this year.

However, it made no reference to its 2023 forecast, issued in August, that its operating profit would rise by a mid to high single-digit percentage.

ECONOMY

New home sales tumble in September as mortgage rates march higher

Mortgage rates have more than doubled over the past year, pushing many prospective homebuyers out of the market

New home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 603,000, the Census Bureau said. Sales were down 19.9% compared to August and declined 17.6% year over year.

The median sales price of new houses sold in September 2022 was $470,600.

The average sales price was $517,700.

The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of September was 462,000.  This represents a supply of 9.2 months at the current sales rate.

Stock Traders (AP)

U.S. equity futures were trading lower, as earnings results from some major technology names disappointed.

The major futures indexes suggest a decline of more than 1% on the Nasdaq on weakness in shares of Google's parent company Alphabet and Microsoft.

Alphabet shares were 6% lower in premarket trading after revenue grew 6% to $69.1 billion, but the tally fell short of Wall Street estimates. The growth was the slowest since 2020 as reported by Dow Jones.

Microsoft shares were 5.6% lower in premarket trading after the software giant reported revenue of $50.12 billion, higher than the same-period a year ago and besting Wall Street estimates of $49.6 billion.

Profits, however, fell short at $2.35 per share or $17.56 billion, less than $20.51 a year-ago and short of Wall Street's $2.71 per share target.

Oil prices eased on Wednesday after industry data showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded around $84.00, reversing the previous session's gain.

Brent crude futures traded around $92.00 a barrel, after settling 26 cents higher in the previous session.

On the economic agenda, the Census Bureau is expected to say that sales of new single-family homes tumbled 13.9% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 585,000. 

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, slipped to 4.03%.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 0.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1% and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8%.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 1.6% 3,859.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 31,836.74. The Nasdaq advanced 2.3% to 11,199.12.

Gas Prices (AAA)

The average price of a gallon of gasoline slipped on Wednesday to $3.764, according  to AAA, continuing a recent trend.

The price on Tuesday was $3.775, down from Monday’s $3.793. 

On Sunday, that same gallon of gasoline cost $3.796 nationwide. One week ago a gallon of gasoline cost $3.87.

Gas hit a high of $5.016 on June 14. Diesel's price slipped to $5.316 per gallon.

Oil rigs pumping (Reuters)

Oil prices turned higher early Wednesday after industry data showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded around $85.00, reversing the previous session's gain.

Brent crude futures traded around $93.00 a barrel, after settling 26 cents higher in the previous session.

U.S. crude inventories rose by about 4.5 million barrels in the past week. a market source tells Reuters, citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute.

That was higher than expectations from five analysts polled by Reuters, who on average had expected a build of about 200,000 barrels.

Official U.S. stockpile data from the government's Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday .

Bitcoin was trading around $20,000, after gaining 4% on Tuesday.

The cryptocurrency has gained in four of the last five days.

For the week, Bitcoin was trading higher by more than 3%. For the month, the cryptocurrency has gained more than 3%, but remains down 56% year-to-date.

Ethereum was trading around $1,500, after gaining more than 11% in the past week.

Dogecoin was trading at 6 cents, after gaining more than 4% in the past week.

Mobileye driverless car logo is seen on a vehicle at the Nasdaq Market site (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)

Intel Corp. priced its self-driving car unit Mobileye Global's initial public offering at $21 a share, a dollar above the top of its targeted range.

Mobileye raised $861 million by selling 41 million shares, valuing the company at roughly $17 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

That value comes in higher than the $15.3 billion that Intel paid for the Mobileye in 2017.

When Intel announced plans to IPO the unit last year, it was looking at a possible value of $50 billion or more.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Intel was expected to price the IPO at or above the top of its $18 to $20 a share range.

For more on the story, click here: Intel's Mobileye IPO prices above expected range

A worker rides a rail car at a BNSF rail crossing in Saginaw, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Union rail workers unhappy with the new contract proposals from major freight railroads brokered by the Biden administration say their voices are not being heard, arguing that the deal struck in September granted unfair leverage to their employers in a dispute that could very well result in a nationwide strike.

Workers represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED), the third largest of the 12 unions part of the negotiations, became the first labor organization to reject the new contract earlier this month.

BMWED union representatives then presented the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents major railroads like BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, with additional demands from the workers.

But the NCCC turned those down and noted that BMWED union leadership "hailed the tentative agreement" the workers rejected, saying in response that "now is not the time to introduce new demands that rekindle the prospect of a railroad strike" after President Biden's Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) "carefully considered and rejected" those "additional benefits."

One BMWED member, who has worked at CSX for several years and spoke with FOX Business on the condition of anonymity, said the demands are not new and that the union should not have agreed to the tentative agreement in the first place.

"What hurt us is our union officials accepted it," the worker said.

Some union members FOX Business who spoke with were fine with the pay increases in the contract but cast doubt on the NCCC's claims on what rail workers actually make. The railroads' negotiators claim the workers impacted by the new contracts made an average of $122,000 per year as of 2018. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for a railroad worker was $64,150 as of 2021.

Regardless, the workers agreed on one major thing they are fighting for: a better way to take sick time off.

Read more on the story by clicking here: Union rail workers rejected latest deal with railroads: What to know