Stocks are skidding in the early going. Crude oil is lower along with silver, though gold is flat. Treasuries are down a bit, while the dollar is rallying.
Boeing Co. (BA) followed up its pre-announcement of bad earnings news with…more bad earnings news. The firm reported a $6.17 billion quarterly loss, the biggest since the pandemic shut down air travel in 2020. Operating cash flow was negative to the tune of $1.3 billion, one reason the firm recently filed to sell up to $25 billion in new shares and debt.
If there’s any good news, it’s that union workers should ratify their new contract in a vote today. That will allow striking Boeing workers to return to their jobs for the first time since mid-September. BA shares are down 38% year-to-date.
MCD, BA, SBUX (YTD % Change)
Data by YCharts
I’m drinking a Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) nitro cold brew as I write this column. But apparently, not enough other people are doing the same...because the coffee and snack chain just reported a 7% decline in same-store sales. That fiscal fourth-quarter decline was the biggest in four years, and much worse than Wall Street expected.
Not only that, but new CEO Brian Niccol suspended guidance for the year to give him and the management team time to come up with a solid turnaround plan. SBUX shares dropped a couple of percent in early trading, after badly lagging the S&P 500 all year with a gain of just under 3%.
Finally, McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) shares are sliding amid news of an E. coli outbreak tied to the fast-food company’s burgers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked MCD’s quarter pounders to illnesses and one death in several states across the western and midwestern US. MCD’s stock had been up about 8% on the year before the news.
