U.S. Movers: Arm Holdings, PayPal, Spirit Airlines, Walt Disney

Scott Peters
08 Feb, 2024
New York City

Walt Disney Co. soared 7.9% to $107.0 after the media and entertainment company reported better-than-expected revenue, earnings, and full-year outlook.

The media company announced a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, the creator and developer of Fortnite.

Disney confirmed that the company is on track to launch its ESPN streaming service in 2025.

The company also said it is on track to cut $7.5 billion in costs by the end of fiscal 2024.

PayPal Holdings declined 9.5% to $57.35 after the payments services provider estimated weaker-than-estimated earnings in the first quarter and full year.

However, the company reported fourth-quarter results that were ahead of consensus estimates.

Revenue in the fourth quarter increased 9% to $8.0 billion from $7.4 billion, net income soared 52% to $1.4 billion from $521 million, and diluted earnings per share rose 61% to $1.29 from 81 cents a year ago.

The company estimated revenue in the first quarter of 2024 to increase between 6.5% and 7%, and diluted earnings per share are expected to increase "mid-single-digit" from 70 cents a year ago.

For the full-year 2024, earnings per share are expected to be between $3.60 and $3.80, lower than $3.84 in 2023.

Spirit Airlines jumped 4.2% to $7.24 after the deep discount airline reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Revenue in the fourth quarter declined to $1.32 billion from $1.39 billion, net loss shrank 32% to $183.6 million from $1270.6 million, and diluted loss per share fell to $1.68 from $2.49 a year ago.

Total revenue per passenger flight segment declined 15.3% to $114.84, driven by a 25% decrease in fare revenue to 48.24 and a 6.6% fall in non-ticket revenue to $66.60.

Arm Holdings soared 27.9% to $98.45 after the advanced chip designer reported sharply higher revenue and earnings in its latest quarter.

The UK-based chipmaker reported fiscal third quarter revenue rose 14% to $824 million from $724 million, net income fell 52% to $87 million from $184 million, and diluted earnings per share decreased to 8 cents from 18 cents a year ago.

The company exceeded its fiscal third-quarter revenue estimate of between $720 million and $800 million.

The company estimated fiscal fourth quarter revenue between $850 million and $900 million and lifted its full-year revenue estimate range to between $3.155 billion and $3.205 million from the previous range between $2.96 billion and $3.08 billion.