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Global IT Outage Hits Pre-Markets; AXP, TRV Beat in Q2
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Friday, July 19th, 2024
Even though Q2 earnings season continues to heat up, it’s not our main story this morning. That would be the “Blue Death Screen” IT outage originated at CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) this morning from an “operating defect” and has been affecting companies across the globe. This passed through Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) system, which has also been dealing with this massive software failure. Outages resulting in a “blue screen” — as in a throwback to early computer technology — have hit Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas. The event is currently recognized as having been an accident, not an outright attack.
The good news here is companies are already on the rebound. Neither the Nasdaq nor the NYSE expects a delay to today’s opening bell, while major airlines American (AAL - Free Report) , United (UAL - Free Report) and Delta (DAL - Free Report) are coming back online, hopefully thwarting any major flight delays today. At this hour, Microsoft shares are down just -1.3%, but CrowdStrike is down -12.6%. This gives back a decent chunk of its more than +35% gains year to date.
American Express (AXP - Free Report) Q2 results are out ahead of the open. Earnings of $3.49 per share outpaced the $3.22 in the Zacks consensus — and this subtracts additional 66 cents per share based on the company’s sale of Accertify, which was completed during the quarter. However, revenues of $16.33 billion came up short of the $16.57 billion expected. The company also raised earnings guidance for the full-year while keeping revenue projections intact. Shares are down -1.6% at this moment in the pre-market.
Dow component The Travelers Companies (TRV - Free Report) also posted Q2 figures this morning. The insurance giant also posted a strong beat on its bottom line — earnings of $2.51 per share, for a +25.5% positive beat — but missed on the top, with revenues of $11.35 billion amounting to a -1.04% miss. This is only the second quarter in the past five where Travelers has beaten earnings estimates. Record net income of $534 million has helped bump the stock up +1.5% so far in early trading. For more on TRV’s earnings, click here.
SLB (SLB - Free Report) put up modest beats on both top and bottom lines. Earnings of 85 cents per share notched ahead of the 83 cents analysts had expected, while revenues of $9.14 billion reached +0.82% higher than the Zacks consensus. The oilfield services leader (formerly known as Schlumberger) is seeing a slight uptick on the news, +1.6%, cutting into the -6% loss in the shares year to date. For more on SLB’s earnings, click here.
Finally, after today’s opening bell, we’ll see appearances made by New York Fed President John Williams and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic at separate events. No doubt both will address the growing odds for an interest rate cut, most likely in September or later, not at its upcoming FOMC meeting July 30th and 31st. These will likely be the final public Fed statements ahead of its “blackout period” prior to the July meeting, which begins tomorrow.
Image: Bigstock
Global IT Outage Hits Pre-Markets; AXP, TRV Beat in Q2
Friday, July 19th, 2024
Even though Q2 earnings season continues to heat up, it’s not our main story this morning. That would be the “Blue Death Screen” IT outage originated at CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) this morning from an “operating defect” and has been affecting companies across the globe. This passed through Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) system, which has also been dealing with this massive software failure. Outages resulting in a “blue screen” — as in a throwback to early computer technology — have hit Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas. The event is currently recognized as having been an accident, not an outright attack.
The good news here is companies are already on the rebound. Neither the Nasdaq nor the NYSE expects a delay to today’s opening bell, while major airlines American (AAL - Free Report) , United (UAL - Free Report) and Delta (DAL - Free Report) are coming back online, hopefully thwarting any major flight delays today. At this hour, Microsoft shares are down just -1.3%, but CrowdStrike is down -12.6%. This gives back a decent chunk of its more than +35% gains year to date.
American Express (AXP - Free Report) Q2 results are out ahead of the open. Earnings of $3.49 per share outpaced the $3.22 in the Zacks consensus — and this subtracts additional 66 cents per share based on the company’s sale of Accertify, which was completed during the quarter. However, revenues of $16.33 billion came up short of the $16.57 billion expected. The company also raised earnings guidance for the full-year while keeping revenue projections intact. Shares are down -1.6% at this moment in the pre-market.
Dow component The Travelers Companies (TRV - Free Report) also posted Q2 figures this morning. The insurance giant also posted a strong beat on its bottom line — earnings of $2.51 per share, for a +25.5% positive beat — but missed on the top, with revenues of $11.35 billion amounting to a -1.04% miss. This is only the second quarter in the past five where Travelers has beaten earnings estimates. Record net income of $534 million has helped bump the stock up +1.5% so far in early trading. For more on TRV’s earnings, click here.
SLB (SLB - Free Report) put up modest beats on both top and bottom lines. Earnings of 85 cents per share notched ahead of the 83 cents analysts had expected, while revenues of $9.14 billion reached +0.82% higher than the Zacks consensus. The oilfield services leader (formerly known as Schlumberger) is seeing a slight uptick on the news, +1.6%, cutting into the -6% loss in the shares year to date. For more on SLB’s earnings, click here.
Finally, after today’s opening bell, we’ll see appearances made by New York Fed President John Williams and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic at separate events. No doubt both will address the growing odds for an interest rate cut, most likely in September or later, not at its upcoming FOMC meeting July 30th and 31st. These will likely be the final public Fed statements ahead of its “blackout period” prior to the July meeting, which begins tomorrow.
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