The markets traded in another wild range today as mixed results from earnings caused an undecided market. The Dow 30 finished the day higher by 40 , the S&P 500 fell 1, and the Nasdaq 100 was lower by 25.
Ebay (EBAY ) shares popped 13% on Thursday despite posting a loss of $2.51 per share. The company had a net loss of $2.6 billion, which included a tax charge thanks to the new tax laws. This comes in stark contrast to the $4.6 billion tax benefit they saw last year prior to the new tax laws. It was also reported that the company will start moving away from PayPal in favor of rival Adyen.
Facebook (FB ) shares popped 4% after releasing earnings yesterday after the close. Revenue popped 47% in the fourth quarter, adding net revenue of $4.3 billion thanks to their adjustments in their ad schedules. We recently reported that Facebook changed the way users see content, favoring relevant content from friends over ads. This adjustment seems to have led to higher bids for advertisers to get in front of the consumer, in turn leading to higher revenues. Shares are now trading at new highs after trading lower initially as it was reported that users spent 50 million fewer hours on the platform. Facebook continues to focus on "time well spent" vs. "time spent" on its ecosystem.
Apple (AAPL ), Amazon (AMZN ), and Alphabet (GOOGL ) are all due to report after the close, which is highly likely to cause increased volatility going into Friday. For Apple, the focus is on the iPhone X and the actual numbers sold during the holiday quarter. Recent news of production cuts and sluggish sales are highly speculated to already be priced in. For Amazon, the focus will be on any comments about the new headquarter and their new healthcare partnership. Alphabet's headlines will likely include their recent push to move YouTube into more content avenues. In addition, the "Google Other" category is also something analysts have focused in on which includes their hardware offerings. Good numbers from this category will further solidify their efforts to add to their "non-advertising" revenues.