Eyes on the Federal Reserve
U.S. stock futures were trading cautiously early Wednesday as traders awaiting the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy meeting later in the day.
While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to maintain target interest rates at near-zero, markets will be looking for hints on its plan to taper its massive bond-buying program.
The central bank will publish its policy statement at 2 p.m. ET, followed by Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
As of 5:25 a.m. ET, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 42 points, or 0.28% to 14,989.75. S&P 500 futures rose 8.25 points, or 0.19% to 4,402.75 while the blue-chip Dow futures were little changed.
Apple Q3 results smash expectations
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported better-than-forecast third quarter financial results after the markets closed on Tuesday, helped by strong iPhone sales.
For the quarter, the iPhone maker earned $21.74 billion, or $1.30 per share, compared with $11.25 billion, or $0.65 per share in the third quarter of last year. Companywide revenue jumped 36% on a year-over-year basis to $81.43 billion.
Analysts expected the company to come out with earnings of $1 per share on revenue of $72.93 billion.
Revenue from its iPhone business was $39.57 billion, well ahead of the $36.5 billion that analysts had projected.
Google’s ad revenue soars 69%
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), the owner of Google, said Tuesday that earned $18.53 billion, or $27.26 per share during its fiscal second quarter, up from $6.96 billion, or $10.13 per share in the year-ago period.
Total revenue increased 62% on a year-over-year basis to $61.88 billion, with ad revenue jumping 69% to $50.44 billion. Alphabet attributed the revenue growth to retail, entertainment, and travel ads.
Analysts expected the company to post earnings of $19.21 a share on revenue of $56.02 billion.
Microsoft posts record quarterly revenue
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) shares traded higher in premarket trading hours Wednesday after the company posted upbeat fourth-quarter earnings that impressed Wall Street.
The tech behemoth said late Tuesday that it made a profit of $16.46 billion, or $2.17 per share, compared with $1.46 per share in the same period last year. Revenue grew 21% to a record $46.15 billion, from $38.03 billion in the prior-year quarter.
Both earnings and revenue surpassed analyst estimates of $1.90 per share and revenue of $44.10 billion.
At the time of writing Microsoft stock was up $3.66, or 1.28% to $290.20.
