Stock Market's Fed Reaction Is Overdone. But New Year Cheer Is Still Unlikely. -- Barrons.com

Dow Jones12-19 19:53

Micron Technology disappointed investors late Wednesday as the semiconductor maker issued an unexpectedly weak revenue outlook, missing Wall Street's predictions by $1 billion. Shares of the leading memory-chip company were sharply down, despite what was otherwise a solid quarter.

   -- The earnings weren't bad. Micron reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted 
      earnings per share of $1.79, slightly above Wall Street's estimate of 
      $1.76, according to FactSet. Revenue was in line with analysts' 
      expectations at $8.7 billion. 
 
   -- Yet, the guidance overshadowed the quarterly results, and the shares fell 
      double digits in after-hours trading. 
 
   -- The chip maker guided the current quarter to $7.9 billion in sales, at 
      the midpoint of its range, versus an $8.9 billion estimate from analysts. 
 
   -- Management blamed the outlook largely on a weaker-than-expected PC 
      upgrade cycle, and also flagged softness in the auto and industrial 
      markets.

What's Next: Micron's CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sees things turning around by late next year. "While consumer-oriented markets are weaker in the near term, we anticipate a return to growth in the second half of our fiscal year," he said in a statement.

-- Tae Kim and Elsa Ohlen

***

Even though workers can get a much higher monthly Social Security payout if they wait until full retirement age, or even max out their payments at age 70, many claim earlier.

Security, peace of mind and longevity concerns are some of the reasons cited by retirees about why they took Social Security before age 70. In fact, only 4% of retirees wait until age 70 or later to claim Social Security, according to a new study by nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies in collaboration with the Transamerica Institute.

MarketWatch talked to some experts about the implications of not waiting.

For more on this, read here.

-- Jessica Hall

***

-- Newsletter edited by Liz Moyer, Patrick O'Donnell, Rupert Steiner

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 19, 2024 06:53 ET (11:53 GMT)

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Stock Market's Fed Reaction Is Overdone. But New Year Cheer Is Still Unlikely. -- Barrons.com

Comments