CNBC Daily Open: Markets rise on tariff pause, but 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.
Tech revenue falls short of estimates
Alphabet fourth-quarter results missed revenue expectations, causing shares to fall around 7% in extended trading. CEO Sundar Pichai said in the earnings release that Google expects to invest "approximately $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025." Meanwhile, fourth-quarter data center sales of Advanced Micro Devicesmissed estimates, while net income dropped to $482 million from $667 million a year ago. Shares of AMD slumped nearly 9% in extended trading.
Roadblocks for Japanese automakers
Honda and Nissan are calling off merger talks, according to a Wednesday report by Asahi Shimbun, citing sources. Honda had proposed making Nissan a subsidiary of the merged entity, an idea opposed by the latter, the report said. Separately, Toyota Motor reported fiscal third-quarter operating profits that dropped 28% from a year earlier and missed LSEG estimates. The results mark Toyota's second