Movers: Cisco, Conagra, Ericsson, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Taiwan Semiconductor

Barry Adams
14 Jul, 2022
New York City

U.S. stocks rebounded from morning losses and wholesale inflation surged.  

The S&P 500 index declined 0.5% to 3,780.81 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 0.2% to 11,226.51.

The volatile energy prices dropped after the release of the wholesale price report on the worries that the economy may slow down faster than estimated and the Middle Eastern nations may keep the elevated supply flowing.  

Futures of crude oil prices declined $4.40 to $91.85 and natural gas edged down to $6.68 a unit. 

The producer price index soared 11.3% in June from a year ago and increased 1.1% on a monthly basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. 

On a monthly basis, the producer price index increased 0.9% in May and jumped 0.4% in April. 

Core producer price index, excluding food and energy, rose 6.4% in June. 

Banks were in focus after JP Morgan earnings disappointed investors. 

JPMorgan Chase declined 3.8% to $107.67 after the bank said second quarter revenues increased 1% to $30.7 billion. 

Net income in the quarter fell 28% to $8.64 billion from $11.95 billion and diluted earnings per share fell to $2.76 from $3.78. 

Return on equity fell to 13% from 18% and return on tangible equity dropped to 17% from 23% a year ago. 

Morgan Stanley dropped 0.9% to $74.26 after the financial services company reported net revenues in the second quarter ending in June fell to $13.1 billion compared to $14.8 billion a year ago. 

Net income fell to $2.5 billion or $1.39 per diluted share compared to net income of $3.5 billion or $1.85 per diluted share for the same period a year ago.  

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson ADR Class B declined 9.2% to $6.78 after the telecom networking equipment maker said revenues in the June quarter rose 14% to skr 62.5 billion from skr 54.9 billion. 

Net income rose 19% to skr 4.7 billion or skr 1.35 per share from skr 3.9 billion or skr 1.10 a share a year ago. 

Free cash flow in the quarter increased to skr 4.4 billion from skr 4.1 billion a year ago.    

Experian Plc gained 1.9% to $31.45 after the British credit reporting service reported revenues in the latest quarter increased 7% and jumped 9% on a constant currency basis. 

North America revenues rose 8% and represented 65% of total revenues of the company. 

The credit reporting service guided organic revenue growth in the range of 7% to 9%, total revenue growth in the range of 8% to 10% and modest margin accretion based on constant exchange rates.

Conagra Brands declined 7.9% to $32.89 after the company reported sales in fiscal year fourth quarter ending in May increased 6.2% to $2.9 billion.

The 6.8% increase in organic net sales was driven by a 13.2% improvement in price/mix, which was partially offset by a 6.4% decrease in volume.

Higher input costs and wages costs dragged the net income. 

In the quarter, net income decreased 48.6% to $159 million or $0.33 per diluted share from $309.5 million or 64 cents a share a year ago. 

Cisco Systems declined 1.1% to $42.26 after Goldman Sachs downgraded stock to "neutral" from "overweight" citing weakening enterprise spending budgets. 

Taiwan Semiconductor increased 2.5% to $83.30 after second quarter revenues increased 36.6% to $18.16 billion from a year ago and jumped 3.4% from the previous quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter was 59.1%, operating margin was 49.1%, and net profit margin was 44.4%. 

Earnings in Taiwanese dollars increased 78% to NT$9.14 from NT$5.18 a year ago. 

The semiconductor chip maker also lifted its third quarter revenues outlook to between $19.8 billion and $20.6 billion.