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What you need to know today
Asia rebound
Asia-Pacific stock markets mostly rebounded on Friday, minimizing weekly losses as Australia shares bounced from a one-year low. On Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index is now down more than 10% from its highest close for the year in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 251.63 points, or 0.76%, while the S&P 500 dipped 1.18%. During Thursday's session, the S&P 500 dipped into correction territory at its low of the day — ending the session nearly 10% off from its closing high, notched in July.
Amazing Amazon?
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy has been laser focused on trimming costs across the company for over a year, eliminating 27,000 jobs since last fall, axing riskier bets and reshaping Amazon's fulfillment network to emphasize speed and efficiency. Suddenly, Amazon is a profit machine. The Seattle-based online retail giant reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that sailed past analysts' estimates. Its ad business recorded $12.06 billion in revenue during the third quarter, marking a 26% jump from the year-earlier period. Amazon Web Services, its cloud unit, grew revenue 12% year over year in the third quarter.
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Cost and quality issues
Ford Motor missed Wall Street's third-quarter earnings expectations, as it restructures its operations and regroups following the end of a nearly six-week U.S. labor strike that in total has cost the company $1.3 billion. The company withdrew its previously announced earnings guidance, citing the strike by the United Auto Workers union, which ended Wednesday with a tentative deal. Ford will postpone spending $12 billion to expand EV manufacturing capacity as buyers in North America are unwilling to pay a premium for electric vehicles.
Cost cutting
Intel shares rose about 7% in after-hours trading after the company reported third-quarter earnings on Thursday that beat expectations for profit and sales, even as overall revenue declined. For the fourth quarter, Intel expects earnings of 23 cents per share, adjusted, on revenue of between $14.6 billion and $15.6 billion, versus LSEG expectations of 32 cents per share on $14.31 billion in sales.
Rest in peace
China's former premier Li Keqiang died early Friday after suffering a heart attack while in Shanghai, state broadcaster CCTV reported Friday. He was 68. Li served two terms as premier, only stepping down in March after about 10 years in that role.
[PRO] Slowdown plays
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Money Report
The bottom line
Strong consumer spending in the face of higher interest rates and stubbornly high inflation partly buoyed the U.S. economy in the third quarter.
But a slew of recent economic indicators seems to be pointing to U.S. consumers quickly running out of excess cash, while household savings are coming under pressure.
"I think the U.S. consumer is walking towards a cliff, basically," Chris Watling, chief executive of financial advisory firm Longview Economics, told CNBC's Squawk Box Europe on Wednesday.
Earnings guidance for the fourth quarter has not been as rosy as well.
Shares of Hasbro and Mattel fell on Thursday, as both toymakers suggested sales will slow in the fourth quarter. Consumers are cutting back on spending as the holiday season approaches as inflation pressures start to hit their wallets.
Burritos at Chipotle are also about to get even more expensive. Executives said the company will pass along the higher labor costs after California raised wages for fast-food workers to $20 an hour in April.
Despite issuing strong third-quarter results, shares of Meta closed down more than 3% Thursday on the tech giant's cautious guidance about potential ad softness due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The idea of a looming recession has been lingering at the back of people's minds for well over a year now. Will it ever come to pass, or is the market correction merely wiping the froth off recent exuberance?
