Newsquawk Daily US Equity Opening News: Huawei plans mass shipments of 910c chip to China; TSLA delays affordable car production; NFLX beats

TODAY'S AGENDA:

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  US INDEX FUTURES ES -1.1%, NQ -1.4%, YM -0.8%, RTY -0.9%.


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  DAY AHEAD: The US calendar is very light with data only seeing the release of the monthly change in the Leading Index for March, exp. -0.5%, prev. -0.3%.


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  BROKER MOVES: DIS upgraded at Wolfe; AMZN downgraded at Raymond James on earnings pressures. For the full list, please click here.
  


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  MAJOR MORNING MOVES RECAP: NVDA, SMH, TSLA, NFLX, AMZN, DFS, COF, BA, GOOG, F. To see the full list, please click here.
  


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  WEEK AHEAD: Highlights include Global Flash PMIs, PBoC LPR, Tokyo CPI, UK Retail Sales. For the full report, please click here.
  


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  CENTRAL BANK WEEKLY - Previewing PBoC LPR; Reviewing Fed Chair Powell, ECB, BoC, BoK, RBA Minutes and CBRT. For the full report, please click here.
  


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  WEEKLY US EARNINGS ESTIMATES - Plethora of earnings as highlights include: VZ, TSLA, T, BA, IBM, PEP, MRK, PG, INTC, GOOGL. For the full list, please click here.
  

MACRO

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  Trump-Powell- White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett on Friday said President Donald Trump and his team were continuing to study if they could fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell; "The president and his team will continue to study that matter," Hassett said in response to if "firing Jay Powell is an option in a way that it wasn't before."


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  US-Japan - Japan is mulling relaxing automobile safety rules for imports as part of US tariff negotiations, Nikkei reports. Japan mulls higher US rice imports in tariff talks, via Yomiuri. That said, PM Ishiba said Japan won't concede to all US demands in trade talks, citing the need to protect national interests.


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  US-South Korea - South Korea's Acting President Han said they expect the first trade meeting with the US this week to be the start of meaningful cooperation, but adds tariff negotiations with the US may not be easy and talks will be held on April 24th at 08:00EDT/13:00BST. Note that Han has said South Korea will not fight US President Trump’s tariffs, while he added that Seoul owes a historical debt and is open to dropping trade barriers ahead of talks with Washington, according to FT.


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  US-China - China's MOFCOM said China respects all parties to resolve their economic and trade differences with the US through consultations on an equal footing, while it believes all parties should stand on the side of fairness and justice on reciprocal tariffs; Willing to strengthen solidarity and coordination with all parties, join hands to deal with the situation, and jointly resist unilateral bullying.


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  China stocks - Brokerages in China are helping to boost stock buybacks as hundreds of mainland Chinese companies have repurchased over CNY 100bln of stocks, according to China Securities Times.

EQUITY NEWS:

TECH

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  US Chip names - Huawei Technologies plans to begin mass shipments of its advanced 910C artificial intelligence chip to Chinese customers as early as next month, two people familiar with the matter said as per Reuters. Some shipments have already been made, they added. The timing is fortuitous for Chinese AI companies which have been left scrambling for domestic alternatives to the H20, the primary AI chip that Nvidia had until recently been allowed to sell freely in the Chinese market.


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  Uber (UBER), Hertz (HTZ) - Uber CEO responded to Bill Ackman's post on X, regarding the accumulation of a 19.8% stake in Hertz with "Hertz has been a great partner of Uber"; "excited to brainstorm on how we can expand on our relationship".


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  Intel (INTC) - CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, is flattening the leadership team, with important chip groups reporting directly to him, according to a memo from Tan seen by Reuters.


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  Strategy (MSTR) - Purchased 6,556 Bitcoins between Apr 14 - Apr 20 at an average price of USD 84,785 for USD 555.8mln.

COMMUNICATIONS

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  Netflix (NFLX) Q1 2025 (USD): EPS 6.61 (exp. 5.65), Revenue 10.54bln (exp. 10.48bln). Cash flow from operations 2.79bln (exp. 2.21bln); Free cash flow 2.66bln (exp. 2.04bln). Revenue breakdown: US & Canada 4.62bln (exp. 4.68bln, +9.3% y/y); EMEA 3.41bln (exp. 3.31bln, +15% y/y); Latin America 1.26bln (exp. 1.26bln, +8.3% y/y); APAC 1.26bln (exp. 1.24bln, +23% y/y). Q2 guidance: Revenue 11.04bln (exp. 10.88bln), EPS 7.03 (exp. 6.24); Op. income 3.68bln (exp. 3.28bln); Op. margin 33.3% (exp. 30%). FY guidance: Still sees revenue 43.5-44.5bln (exp. 44.33bln), op. margin at 29% (exp. 29.2%) and FCF at ~ 8bln (exp. 8.51bln); Revenue tracking above the midpoint of 2025 forecast range; will roughly double advertising revenue in 2025; 2025 revenue outlook assumes "healthy" member growth, higher subscription pricing and a rough doubling of ad revenue, partially offset by F/X net of hedging. Reed Hastings will transition to serve as Chairman of the board of directors and non-executive director, effective April 17th.


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  Google (GOOG) - Faces a trial on Monday as US antitrust enforcers in Washington seek to force Co. to sell off its Chrome browser as part of a bid to restore competition to the market for online search engines, Reuters reports. The trial comes on the heels of a win in a Virginia court on Thursday where a judge ruled in a separate antitrust case that Google maintains an illegal monopoly in advertising technology. Google plans to appeal the final ruling in the case. Separately, Google plans to appeal against the "adverse" portion of the court decision in the U.S. Department of Justice’s monopoly case.


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  Disney (DIS) - Upgraded at Wolfe Research to 'Outperform' from 'Peer Perform'. The firm noted Disney has "durable advantages" in parks, cruises, and streaming, which create a path to USD 7 EPS. Wolfe sees only a 17% downside in a worst-case scenario.


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  Nintendo (NTDOY) - Maintained Nintendo Switch 2 pricing with retail pre-orders to begin on April 24th in the US.

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

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  Tesla (TSLA) - Tesla's production launch for an affordable car has been delayed, Reuters reports, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter. Global production of the lower-cost Model Y is expected to begin in the US. Production is expected to occur at least a few months later than originally outlined in Tesla's public plan, with a range of revised targets from Q3 to early next year


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  Amazon (AMZN) - Downgraded to 'Outperform' from 'Strong Buy' at Raymond James with a USD 195 PT (prev. 275). The firm notes the street is underestimating Amazon's earnings pressures in 2025 and 2026 in an "uneven" macro environment, tariffs, and "steepening investment intensity". They add, that regardless of tariff "stickiness," further supply chain and logistics diversification likely create a drag for Amazon given its China and rural US demand-side platform exposures. Raymond James now prefers shares of Meta Platforms (META), Uber (UBER), and MercadoLibre (MELI) to Amazon.


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  Ford (F) - Halted shipping pricey pickup trucks, SUVs and sports cars to China to avoid current tariffs, WSJ reports. Halted shipments this week include F-150 Raptors, Mustang muscle cars and Bronco SUVs built in Michigan, as well as Lincoln Navigators, made in Kentucky, according to people familiar with the matter. A Ford spokeswoman, without specifying models or timing, said “We have adjusted exports from the U.S. to China in light of the current tariffs".


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  General Motors (GM) - General Motors' Buick sales were up 39% in the first quarter of the year due to its refreshed lineup of compact SUVs, but this uptick will likely come to an end due to tariffs in the US, Reuters reports.


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  Volkswagen (VWAGY) - Prepares to lay off up to 800 workers in the US amid uncertainty over how the US tariff policy will affect demand, Reuters reports. The company plans to lay off 550-800 people at its Mack trucks site in Macungie, Pennsylvania as well as at two Volvo Group facilities in Dublin, Virginia, and Hagerstown, Maryland.


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  Toyota Motor (TM) - Eyeing producing the next version of its RAV4 SUV in the US in response to tariffs, Reuters reported on Friday. Toyota originally planned to export new RAV4 to the US from Canada and Japan, but it is now also considering production in Kentucky as one option, people familiar with the matter say. The sources note that Toyota's overall output in Canada is likely to be maintained.


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  XPeng (XPEV) - Will release its XPeng P7+ ultra-long battery Max flagship version at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 23rd which will allow commuting for a month with charging for 10 minutes.

FINANCIALS

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  Discover Financial Services (DFS) - US banking regulators said on Friday they approved Capital One's (COF) USD 35.3bln purchase of Discover Financial Services, Reuters reports.


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  Apollo Global Management (APO) - Said Gary Cohn has been appointed as lead independent director.


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  Crypto-Banking - President Donald Trump's pledge to make America a "bitcoin superpower" has set the stage for crypto to become more intertwined with the banking system, WSJ reports. Crypto firms including Circle and BitGo plan to apply for bank charters or licenses, people familiar with the matter said; Coinbase and Paxos are considering similar moves.

ENERGY

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  Phillips 66 (PSX) - Argued that Elliott Investment Management should back down from its push to break up the energy company because Elliott is conflicted from a separate effort to acquire one of Phillips 66's rivals, according to a letter seen by Reuters.


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  EU-Methane - The EU may alter methane rules for US gas to help with trade talks, according to Reuters citing three sources familiar with the matter.

INDUSTRIALS

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  Boeing (BA) - Has begun flying the 737 Max jets that were refused by Chinese airline customers back to the US, Bloomberg reported over the weekend. There are at least two other planes in Zhoushan awaiting delivery. Separately, Boeing has secured new stocks of specialized nuts and bolts that hold together its top-selling commercial jet, two industry sources told Reuters, avoiding for now any slowdown in US plane production due to a fire at a key supplier's factory.


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  Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN) - QXO (QXO) announced today that it is extending its all-cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of BECN for USD 124.35/shr.

HEALTHCARE

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  Sanofi (SNY), Regeneron (REGN) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi announced that the US FDA approved Dupixent for the treatment of adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older with chronic spontaneous urticaria who remain symptomatic despite histamine-1 antihistamine treatment.

GEOPOLITICS

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  Russia-Ukraine - Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine's forces reported nearly 3000 Russian violations of Moscow's own Easter ceasefire, while he adds that Ukraine will respond to silence with silence and to Russian strikes with strikes. This follows Russian President Putin earlier declaring an Easter ceasefire and the Kremlin said the Russian side will halt all hostilities from 18:00 on April 19th to 00:00 on April 21st, while Putin said Russia has always been ready for negotiations and welcomed the desire of the US, China and other countries for a fair settlement on Ukraine. However, it was also reported that both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaking the one-day ceasefire and a Kremlin spokesperson said Russian President Putin had not ordered to extend the Easter ceasefire.


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  US-Ukraine - Ukraine is under pressure to respond this week to the Trump administration's plan to end the Ukraine conflict in which the US proposal includes recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and blocking Ukraine from joining NATO, according to WSJ.

21 Apr 2025 - 13:53- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk