1) US 1Q GDP contracts 1.4% and misses expectations
The U.S. economy shrank 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022 after recording gradual growth for more than a year, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report released Thursday. The figure was below economist expectations of 1% growth and down from 6.9% expansion in the last quarter of 2021.
The data released on Thursday fueled concerns about recession in the future, while inflation is still running high amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
2) Elon Musk offloads $4 billion of Tesla shares
Elon Musk sold 4.4 million shares of Tesla worth roughly $4 billion on Tuesday this week, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After the filings became public yesterday, Tesla CEO tweeted that he does not have any plan to sell further Tesla shares after this point.
Tesla’s share price fell 12% on the day that Musk offloaded his stake and closed slightly lower by 0.45% yesterday.
3) Apple Q2 beats expectations
Apple’s Q2 performance beated analyst expectations, reporting earnings per share of $1.52 vs. $1.43 expected. Meanwhile, revenue came in at $97.28 billion vs. $93.89 billion expected. Revenue of iPhone, Mac, and iPad all beat expectations.
The board of directors authorized a new $90 billion share buyback and hiked dividend 5% to $0.23 per share.
4) Amazon reports first loss since 2015 as stocks plunge 9%
The share price of Amazon plunged 9% after trading hours over its poor performance in the first quarter of 2022. Amazon reported earnings per share loss of ($7.56) vs $8.4 expected, marking its first loss since 2015. Meanwhile, revenue was $116.44 billion vs. $116.30 billion expected. The loss was due to rising costs and its investment in the electric vehicle company Rivian.
Moreover, the company also gave a weak guidance for Q2, expecting revenues of $116-$121 billion, which is lower than the $125.48 billion estimate.
