Before the bell: Amazon goes it alone

Markets are being driven by quarterly earnings and the accompanying outlooks for the rest of the year. That produces both winners and losers.

The Bel20 traded sideways yesterday, but Umicore (+15.3%) stood out within the index. The materials group is benefiting from higher commodity prices and issued strong full-year guidance. The Euro Stoxx 50 lost 2.2%. The biggest decliner in the index was Deutsche Post (-7.3%), which, like its US peers, had a weak day. US indices edged lower, although losses for the S&P 500 (-0.4%) and the Nasdaq (-0.2%) were smaller than in Europe. Norwegian Cruise Line (-8.6%) lowered its full-year profit outlook. Higher fuel costs and significantly fewer passengers weighed heavily on the stock.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (-1.2%) is unable this morning to build on yesterday’s gains. In Japan, markets are closed today for Children’s Day. In Belgium, AB InBev reported results this morning, with the world’s largest brewer producing 1.2% more beer. Home Invest, Ontex and Syensqo are holding their annual shareholder meetings today. In Italy, Leonardo and Ferrari open their books. In the United States, results are expected today from Shopify, PayPal, Pfizer, AMD and fiber-optics specialist Lumentum.

Arc de Triomphe for Palantir

Big data and defense company Palantir Technologies raised its full-year guidance following strong quarterly results. In the first quarter, Palantir generated revenue of 1.6 billion dollar, an increase of 85% compared to the same period a year earlier. For the full year, the company expects revenue of 7.65 billion dollar, while analysts had anticipated only 7.2 billion. The results are meant to alleviate concerns that Palantir could eventually be replaced by artificial intelligence. According to CEO Alex Karp, that will not happen. Nearly all the data used by AI on the battlefield originates from Palantir, and without that data AI cannot function. Nevertheless, investors remain unconvinced. Palantir’s shares fell 2.7% in after-hours trading.

US postal companies under pressure

Amazon is sending shockwaves through the US logistics sector. The e-commerce giant wants to take more control of the logistics side of its business model, which is clearly unsettling investors in delivery companies such as UPS (-10.4%) and FedEx (-9.8%). But is this sell-off justified? Amazon has been building its logistics capabilities for years. It is unlikely that the company will suddenly absorb the entire market of other logistics players—that is simply not feasible. Moreover, e-commerce logistics is not the same as the high-margin routes that companies like UPS and FedEx rely on. A similar reaction occurred in 2017 when Amazon acquired Whole Foods’ 470 stores. At the time, investors feared the worst for Ahold Delhaize. In reality, the opposite happened: Ahold’s share price has risen more than 150% since then.

Did you know…

that Lotus Bakeries is launching a collaboration with Tomorrowland? The two are working on a limited edition of Biscoff biscuits, including a version with espresso filling.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.