The Daily Chase: Apple, Amazon drop on holiday warnings; G20 leaders to tackle supply chain woes
BNN Bloomberg
The seized-up supply chains and inflationary pressures that are backing central banks around the world into corners are having real, quantifiable impacts for the biggest names in technology.
The seized-up supply chains and inflationary pressures that are backing central banks around the world into corners are having real, quantifiable impacts for the biggest names in technology. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on a call with analysts that his company suffered a US$6-billion hit from supply problems in the latest quarter. Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy said his company is facing "several billion dollars" in costs this quarter as it contends with the one-two punch of inflation and supply chain problems. Toss in Amazon's warning that it might not turn an operating profit in the current quarter (forcing us to ask if the COVID-19 growth boom is history) and Apple's mere US$83.4 billion in quarterly revenue (which missed expectations) and we’re left with shares in both companies falling. And that, as our Bloomberg News partners have pointed out on the terminal this morning, is setting up Microsoft to leapfrog Apple as the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization.
G20 SUMMIT
The leaders are meeting in Rome this weekend, where no doubt the pandemic and emissions will be near the top of the agenda. Relating to our top story today, however: an advisory from the White House shows U.S. President Joe Biden will host a discussion with his peers on Sunday about global supply chain resilience. We’ll chase insight on what leaders can possibly accomplish that would alleviate immediate pressures.
BIG OIL CASH GUSHER
The biggest names in the U.S. energy industry are reporting today. So far, we’ve seen Chevron post US$6.7 billion in third-quarter (record) free cash flow, compared to US$5.2 billion in the prior quarter. We await Exxon Mobil’s numbers, as well as Imperial Oil’s. And Exxon Mobil said it swung to a profit of US$6.8 billion, compared to a loss of US$680 million a year earlier; while cash flow beat expectations at US$12.8 billion – no doubt contributing to the decision to repurchase up to US$10 billion in its shares starting next year. We await Imperial Oil’s numbers.
COUNTDOWN TO ROGERS V ROGERS
