Several companies were making headlines before the opening bell, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) reporting that its U.S.-traded shares fell 2.4% despite beating revenue and profit expectations in the first quarter. The company reassured investors that there was no structural damage from the earthquake in Taiwan earlier in April, but noted that some wafers had to be scrapped. Management expects most of the lost production to be recovered in the second quarter and forecasts healthy growth in 2024. Additionally, TSMC guided second-quarter revenue to a range between $19.6 billion and $20.4 billion.
Tesla saw its shares drop more than 2% following a Deutsche Bank downgrade to hold from buy. The bank expressed concerns over the delay of Model 2 efforts, which creates the risk of no new vehicle in Tesla’s consumer lineup for the foreseeable future. D.R. Horton, a homebuilder, experienced a 3.3% jump in its shares after surpassing expectations in its fiscal second quarter. The company earned $3.52 per share and revenue of $9.11 billion, beating analysts’ forecasts of $3.06 per share and $8.27 billion in revenue.
Alaska Air added nearly 3% following better-than-expected first-quarter results, with losses per share of 92 cents ex-items lower than analysts’ estimates. Revenue came in at $2.23 billion, topping forecasts of $2.19 billion. On the other hand, Blackstone slipped 2.2% after lowering its dividend to 83 cents per share from 94 cents per share, despite earnings in the first quarter coming in slightly higher than consensus estimates. Alcoa gained 2.4% after beating first-quarter revenue expectations, posting $2.6 billion in revenue, though it also reported a wider-than-expected loss of 81 cents per share, excluding items.
In the e-commerce sector, eBay saw its shares rise nearly 4% following a double upgrade at Morgan Stanley to overweight from underweight, while Etsy slumped nearly 5% after a downgrade by the same firm to underweight from equal weight. Morgan Stanley cited margin expansion constraints and a bearish medium-term growth outlook for Etsy. Similarly, Match Group shares slipped nearly 2% after a Morgan Stanley downgrade to equal weight from overweight due to slowing growth in online dating. Elevance Health, a health insurance company, saw its shares climb 3.3% after reporting an earnings beat and raising its full-year guidance, with earnings per share ex-items exceeding analyst estimates.
Finally, Zoom Video Communications rose about 2% after Rosenblatt Securities upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, citing optimism about Zoom’s “refocused” channel strategy and healthy balance sheet. Overall, these companies are experiencing a mix of positive and negative developments that are impacting their stock prices and investor sentiment.
