Global Equities Roundup: Market Talk

Dow Jones2023-02-09

The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1731 EST [Dow Jones]--Mattel executives said on an analyst call that retailers reduced replenishment orders in the 4Q as they responded to lower consumer demand. Mattel says the order reductions, which were more than the toymaker had anticipated, impacted its performance in the quarter, which ended with sales down 22% and plunging profit. Retailers are now taking a more cautious approach to their inventory as they work through leftover supply, execs said on the call. (kathryn.hardison@wsj.com)

1725 EST [Dow Jones]--Mattel Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz said he expects the toy industry to report flat to slightly higher sales in 2023, given economic headwinds that could continue to weigh on consumer spending. In the long term, he said on a call with analysts that the toy industry will continue to grow. U.S. industry sales edged lower in 2022 after logging massive gains during the pandemic when people bought more toys to keep kids occupied at home. (kathryn.hardison@wsj.com)

1702 ET - SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Wednesday at an industry event that she's spending no time thinking about a potential public offering for Starlink, the company's satellite-industry business. "I think the reason to take any company public is to give employees liquidity, and we have been able to give employees liquidity," she told reporters. She said she wasn't saying a potential offering was never possible, however. SpaceX said last December it had more than 1M subscribers. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg)

1702 ET - Less-than-truckload carrier XPO posts a net loss of $94M for 4Q in its first earnings since spinning off freight brokerage RXO. The Greenwich, Conn.-based firm says the loss is primarily due to costs related to the RXO spinoff. XPO reports revenue of $1.83B for 4Q, up 3.3% compared with the year-ago period. North American LTL tonnage rose 0.9% in 4Q, driven by a 1.5% increase in shipment count, despite industry headwinds. XPO CEO Mario Harik says tonnage for January was up year-over-year and "trended better than typical seasonality." (liz.young@wsj.com)

1655 ET - Suncorp maintained its guidance target of 10-12% underlying insurance trading ratio for FY 2023 when handing down its 1H results yesterday, with Goldman Sachs analysts believing the insurer can meet this. In a note they forecast 11.6% underlying ITR for 1H FY 2023 reflecting the benefit of the earn through of strong premium rates. "The benefit between 2H versus 1H is largely pricing worth about 1.8% to margin," says Goldman. For FY 2023, the investment expects 10.8% underlying ITR, and sits at 11% for FY 2024. For the 1H the group underlying ITR came in at 10% versus GS' forecast of 9.7%, which the investment bank says was a beat on an underlying basis. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

1626 ET - Walt Disney's latest results show that demand for trips and experiences is still strong. The entertainment company says revenue in F1Q from Disney parks, experiences and products grew 21% to $8.74B from a year earlier. Disney says operating income growth at domestic parks and experiences was due to higher volumes and increased guest spending, partially offset by cost inflation, higher operations support costs and increased costs for new guest offerings. Disney adds that increased results at its international parks and resorts were due to growth at Disneyland Paris and higher royalties from Tokyo Disney Resort, partially offset by a decrease at Shanghai Disney Resort. Shares tick up 2.5% in after-hours trading after reporting a narrower loss in its streaming business. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1619 ET - Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is on track to slip at the open as investors continue to digest suggestions that global interest rates may remain higher for longer than many expect. ASX futures are down by 0.4%, suggesting that the benchmark index will pull back from Wednesday's 0.35% rise. On Wednesday, the president of the New York Federal Reserve said the U.S. central bank will need to keep monetary policy sufficiently restrictive for "a few years" to bring down inflation. India's central bank also increased interest rates. US stocks also provided a weak lead. The DJIA slipped 0.6%, the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.7%. (stuart.condie@wsj.com; @StuartLCondie)

1616 ET - Sonos beat Wall Street expectations for 1Q revenue and profit after the sound system company reported "tremendous customer response" over the holiday period. Chief Executive Patrick Spence says the company entered the quarter with its healthiest in-stock inventory position in three years, which helped it meet demand. Shares climb 17% after hours. (kathryn.hardison@wsj.com; @knhardison)

1612 ET - Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz says the toy company is kicking off the new year with elevated inventory after an anticlimactic holiday season that saw 4Q sales and revenue fall below earlier expectations. The Barbie and Hot Wheels maker ends the year with $894.1M in inventory, up 15% from a year earlier. Kreiz describes the inventory as "current" and expects it to weigh on the company in the first half of the year. While the spike in spending in December was not enough to offset low demand in October and November, Kreiz projects point-of-sale growth in the coming year. Shares fall 9.4% after hours. ( dia.gill@wsj.com, @_diagill)

1608 ET - Mattel says it will resume its share buybacks this year, and the toymaker has roughly $200M remaining under its current authorization. Chief Financial Officer Anthony DiSilvestro says the move is in response to its improved balance sheet and outlook for increased free cash flow. (kathryn.hardison@wsj.com; @knhardison)

1604 ET - US stocks fall reversing yesterday's gains as investors continue to weigh Fed Chair Powell's comments and the likely path for interest rates. Fed governor Waller says the central bank will need to keep monetary policy sufficiently restrictive for a few years to tamp down inflation. Shares of Google parent Alphabet drop 7.4% after a demonstration of its new AI chatbot, Bard, just one day after Microsoft held its own event. Uber Technologies gains 5.5% and CVS Health rises 3.5% after posting quarterly results. Disney is set to report after the bell. DJIA falls 207 points to 33949, the S&P 500 slides 1.1% to 4117 and the Nasdaq drops 1.7% to 11910. (patrick.sullivan@wsj.com)

1526 ET - Members of Netflix's standard or premiums plans will be paying extra in several countries if they want to share their passwords outside their home, the streaming giant says. The company has unveiled details of a new plan that it aims to implement in countries including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. In Canada and New Zealand, members would have to pay an extra C$7.99 and NZ$7.99, respectively to add an extra person to their membership accounts. The price for this service in Portugal and Spain is set at EUR3.99 and EUR5.99 per addition, Netflix says. Shares are up 1% at $366.66. (sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2023 17:32 ET (22:32 GMT)

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