The front facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, U.S., April 8, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
My top 10 things to watch Thursday, April 24
1. Wall Street opened muted today after China said trade talks with the U.S. have not started. The stock market was coming off a strong two-session rally on softening tariff rhetoric in Washington.
2. Bristol Myers Squibb reported strong quarterly beats and raised its revenue and earnings outlook for the year. The guidance includes estimates of current tariffs of U.S. products shipped to China but not the U.S. tariffs on pharmaceutical imports that President Donald Trump has said were coming. The ramp of Bristol Myers’ Cobenfy continues with the schizophrenia drug recording $27 million in first quarter sales versus $10 million in Q4. Cobenfy did have a late-stage trial setback this week after it failed to show efficacy as an add-on schizophrenia treatment.
3. Merck delivered a quarterly beat but lowered guidance on tariffs. The drugmaker expects $200 million of added costs due to the levies currently in place. Quarterly sales for top-selling cancer therapy Keytruda increased 4%.
4. ServiceNow shares soared 9% today following the best enterprise software quarter of any company. It turns out it’s a winner in Washington, too, as it enables companies to cut waste and get the job done faster. ServiceNow is moving into customer relations management. That’s Club name Salesforce‘s lane.
5. IBM shares were down badly, off 6%, but I question that. It was actually a pretty good quarter of excellent free cash flow. It did have some deceleration with RedHat. New mainframe cycle is coming.
6. PepsiCo delivered slight quarterly beats but said consumer conditions in many markets are subdued. Supply chain costs are going up. Management missed on its core constant currency earnings per share outlook.
7. Procter & Gamble narrowly beat on quarterly earnings but missed on revenue. P&G cut its forecasts for full-year core EPS and sales, citing Trump’s tariffs and consumer uncertainty about the economy.
8. Chemical giant Dow beat on quarterly EPS and revenue. The company launched a cost-cutting plan and is reconfiguring its supply chain. Tariffs are slowing things down. The Club owns rival DuPont.
9. Wells Fargo research analysts raised their price target on Club name Capital One to $225 per share from $210. The analysts, who kept their buy-equivalent rating, cited a decline in delinquency rates, revealed in Tuesday’s solid quarter, and big share buybacks as the Discover Financial acquisition closes next month.
10. Price target cuts on two of our megacap names: Bank of America takes Apple to $240 per share from $250 (estimates lowered on costs) and Goldman Sachs lowers Microsoft to $450 from $500 (cites macro volatility). Both research firms kept their buy-equivalent ratings on the stocks.
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