CNBC Daily Open: Markets rise in a relief rally, but Alphabet earnings disappoint
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday paused tariffs on Mexico and Canada (but, notably, not China), and, in so doing, also stemmed the dip in stocks, at least for now. Major U.S. benchmarks snapped a two-day losing streak in a relief rally.
With the temporary respite in U.S. tariffs on key countries, investors could turn their attention to earnings. But what they saw on Tuesday wasn't likely to comfort them after the turmoil wreaked by tariffs.
Alphabet's scorecard for its fourth-quarter performance missed the "A" grade so many expect from Big Tech names. Meanwhile, AMD's data center sales, a key part of its business, missed estimates.
Investor disappointment was immediate: Shares of both companies slumped in extended trading, signaling that corporate fundamentals remain critical to stock performance.
Alphabet falls short of revenue estimate
Alphabet fourth-quarter results missed revenue expectations, causing shares to fall as much as 9% in extended trading. The tech giant's revenue came in at $96.47 billion, compared with $96.56 billion expected by LSEG. CEO Sundar Pichai said in the earnings release that Google expects to invest "approximately $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025."
AMD data center sales disappoint
Advanced Micro Devices shares slumped nearly 9% in extended trading after the company reported fourth-quarter data center sales of $3.86 billion, which missed the FactSet estimate of $4.14 billion. Net income came in at $482 million, down from $667 million a year ago. The chipmaker, however, beat Wall Street expectations for overall sales and earnings.
UBS share buyback fails to impress
UBS on Tuesday reported net profit attributable to shareholders of $770 million, compared with a $483 million estimate in a