U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 0.25% to stimulate the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.94% to 26,942, the S&P 500 index dipped 0.75% to 2,990 and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.70% to 8,215.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) fell more than 10% after announcing second-quarter results. The company posted earnings of 8 cents per share on $1.53 billion in revenue, reflecting a 13.1% decline from the prior-year quarter. The company fell 1 cent short of earnings estimates, but beat revenue expectations by $10 million.
“I am pleased with our financial performance and execution in the quarter as we ramped production of three leadership 7nm product families,” President and CEO Lisa Su said.
The gross margin was 41%, up 400 basis points or 4 percentage points year over year. The operating income was $59 million, compared to $153 million a year ago, and the non-GAAP operating income was $111 million, down from $186 million. The decline was due to lower revenue and higher operating expenses.
Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2019, the company expects revenue to be approximately $1.8 billion. It also anticipates the non-GAAP gross margin will be approximately 43%.
During the quarter ended March 31, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) reduced his position by 64% to 18,095 shares and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) curbed his holding by 51% to 10,270 shares. On the other hand,Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) boosted his stake by 232% to 5,261,582 shares, Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) increased its holding by 4.7% to 6,112,632 shares and Caxton Associates (Trades, Portfolio) established a new 91,300-share position.
Gainers
- Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM, Financial) +5.8%
- Allstate Corp. (ALL, Financial) +5.7%
- Edison International (EIX, Financial) +5.6%
- Hess Corp. (HES, Financial) +5.2%
- Electronic Arts Inc. (EA, Financial) +4.2%
Losers
- Micron Technology Inc. (MU, Financial) -4.3%
- Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN, Financial) -3.9%
- Western Digital Corp. (WDC, Financial) -3.5%
- Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL, Financial) -3.3%
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded mixed. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.78%, France's CAC 40 swelled 0.14%, Germany's Dax gained 0.34% and Spain's IBEX 35 fell 0.17%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.86%, India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.33%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 1.31% and China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.67%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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