2023-10-27 06:45:04 ET
Summary
- GM's Cruise suspends all driverless operations to rebuild public trust.
- Amazon beats earnings expectations in Q3, with strong retail sales offsetting disappointing growth at Amazon Web Services.
- Masimo jumps after winning a fight with Apple at the U.S. International Trade Commission, resulting in an import ban on certain Apple Watch models.
Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
GM's Cruise ( GM ) pauses all driverless operations. (00:23) Amazon ( AMZN ) beats forecast as cost cuts, strong sales trump AWS growth worries. (01:38) Masimo ( MASI ) jumps after win in patent fight with Apple ( AAPL ) at Intl Trade Commission. (02:49)
This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.
General Motors' (NYSE: GM ) Cruise self-driving vehicle unit said late Thursday that it is pausing operations of its autonomous vehicles (AVs).
The company had already suspended driving in San Francisco.
The announcement came at 9pm Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Cruise said in the tweet that “the most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust. Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable and difficult.”
The initial pause that began on Oct. 24 followed the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspending Cruise's deployment and driverless testing permits.
The suspension was prompted by an Oct. 2 incident in San Francisco in which a woman was hit by a vehicle driven by a human driver. According to multiple reports, that impact thrust her into the path of the Cruise AV. The AV ended up pinning the woman underneath. The other vehicle left the scene.
In a post on X , Cruise said the pause is not related to any new on-road incidents. The post also said that “supervised AV operations will continue.”
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ) is up 6% in premarket action. This after the company on Thursday reported that it topped expectations for the third quarter, riding the strength of retail sales even amid disappointing growth at its Amazon Web Services unit.
Amazon reported earnings per share of $0.95 compared to the average analyst estimate of $0.60. Sales of $143.08B compared to the revenue of $141.56B.
For the fourth quarter, net sales were forecast at $160B to $167B, compared to the estimate of $166.57B.
CEO Andy Jassy said on the company’s earnings call that Generative AI will be worth tens of billions of dollars in revenue over the next several years for AWS.
The tech giant reported Amazon Web Services sales of $23.06B, which missed the average analyst estimate of $23.13B.
Amazon ( AMZN ) noted that the revenue for the segment grew 12% year-over-year.
Shares of Amazon ( AMZN ) are up 39% year-to-date.
Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI ) is up 10% premarket after it won a fight with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) at the U.S. International Trade Commission related to the Apple Watch .
According to the ITC decision on its website, it granted a limited exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order.
Apple will now be prohibited from importing certain Apple Watch models in the U.S. after the ITC judgment.
The import ban is expected to take effect in 60 days unless it's overturned by the Biden administration.
In January, an ITC judge found that certain models of the Apple ( AAPL ) Watch infringe one of five Masimo patents related to the use of light sensors for measuring the amounts of oxygen in the blood.
Apple ( AAPL ) first released its pulse oximeter sensor with the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020.
Medical technology company Masimo ( MASI ) first filed a complaint with the ITC seeking an Apple Watch import halt, alleging patent infringement in June 2021.
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On our catalyst watch for the day,
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The go-shop period expires on Sycamore Partners' offer for Chico's FAS ( CHS ).
U.S. stocks on Thursday ended solidly lower.
The Dow ( DJI ) declined 0.76% while the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) slipped 1.18%.
The Nasdaq ( COMP.IND ) retreated 1.76%, adding onto its decline from the previous session in which the gauge notched its worst intraday performance since late-February and pushed into correction territory.
Of the 11 S&P sectors, eight ended in negative territory, led by Tech and Communication Services. Real Estate, Utilities and Materials were the three gainers.
Treasury yields were lower. The 10-year yield ( US10Y ) was down 11 basis points to 4.84%. The shorter-end more rate-sensitive 2-year yield ( US2Y ) was down 8 basis points to 5.04%.
Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. The Dow is up 0.2%, the S&P 500 is up 0.5% and the Nasdaq is up 0.9%%. Crude oil is up 2.2 % at more than $85 a barrel.
In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is up 0.3% and the DAX is up 0.6%.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) is up 7.6% following upbeat Q3 results and outlook . Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH ) is down 22% after posting mixed Q3 earnings and a downbeat outlook .
On today’s economic calendar,
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10 am, The latest reading on consumer sentiment will be released by the University of Michigan.
For further details see:
Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: GM's Cruise Pauses Driverless Operations