Lackluster results from Tesla and 3M dragged Wall Street’s main indexes lower on Tuesday, shifting investor focus to earnings from big technology companies, including Microsoft and Alphabet, later in the day, Reuters reported.
Electric-car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) dropped 3%, weighing on the S&P 500 (.SPX) and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), as its revenue beat was largely supported by sales of environmental credits and bitcoin liquidation rather than vehicle sales. read more
“Tesla is a special case. A lot of the gains for the company were driven by its bitcoin bet, which is a sideline. It’s good that it sold a lot of cars, but it didn’t make a lot of money from the cars,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) slipped, while shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), slated to report later this week, were mixed. The five companies combined account for about 40% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization.
“When you come in to earnings season with companies that are near all-time highs, the reaction function is difficult,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.
“A great example of that is Tesla. For most parts the company blew past expectations, but the reaction to that is down and I suspect that could be the case for companies reporting after the close today. The markets are really preparing themselves for that.”
Shares of 3M Co (MMM.N) fell 3.3% after the conglomerate said supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and the February winter storm were pushing up its costs. read more
First-quarter overall earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to jump 35.1% from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended at record levels on Monday, and have mainly been supported by ebbing inflation worries, improving economic data, swift vaccine distribution along with unprecedented monetary and fiscal measures.
Meanwhile, investors will monitor the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting for cues on the central bank’s thinking on inflation, bond buying and risks to the financial system posed by soaring asset prices. The Fed is not expected to change its policy guidance at the end of the meeting on Wednesday.
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