Reddit Stocks: What meme stocks are trending today? – October 24, 2023

US futures

• Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.5%
• S&P 500 is up 0.6%
• Nasdaq 100 is up 0.7%

US futures are pushing higher as US treasury yields have pulled back after briefly spiking above 5% for the first time since 2007 and attracting money out of equities at the start of the week. Markets are digesting a wave of earnings from big-names, including but not limited to the likes of Coca-Cola, RTX, Verizon, General Motors, General Electric and Spotify, and bracing for Big Tech earnings season to kick-off when Alphabet and Microsoft report after the close.

The economic calendar today is headlined by flash PMI figures and the API crude oil stock change.

Bitcoin hits 17-month high

Bitcoin has spiked again this morning, having leapt 15% since the start of Monday to trade at $34,380. That marks a 17-month high for the cryptocurrency, with the rally being driven by hopes that a bitcoin exchange-traded fund could be approved in the near future.

Retail traders have also been busy discussing what this means for cryptocurrency stocks like Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms and Coinbase, which are trading between 8% to 16% higher this morning.

Most discussed Reddit stocks

Below is a list of the top 10 most mentioned US stocks on the WallStreetBets thread on Reddit over the last 24 hours, according to data from Quiver Quantitative. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and other instruments have been excluded:

1. NVIDIA
2. Tesla
3. C3.ai
4. Microsoft
5. Visa
6. Meta
7. Marathon Digital
8. Riot Platforms
9. AMD
10. Coinbase

Most active US stocks before the bell

Below are the most active stocks with a valuation of at least $500 million before the bell, based on trading data taken from Bloomberg:

1. Marathon Digital
2. IonQ
3. Tesla
4. Riot Platforms
5. Nikola
6. Coinbase
7. Palantir
8. Cleanspark
9. Spotify
10. RTX

US premarket winners and losers

Here are the stocks worth at least $500 million experiencing the sharpest movements in premarket trade, according to data from Bloomberg:

Top US stocks to watch

Let’s have a look at the top stocks to watch today.

Microsoft: Can it maintain its premium?

Microsoft is up 0.9% ahead of first quarter results out after the closing bell. Microsoft boasts a premium over its Big Tech rivals at present because markets feel more confident that its diversified business blended of software, hardware and cloud computing can continue to deliver, even if conditions deteriorate. That means the bar is higher for Microsoft than its rivals this season. Its perceived leadership in AI is also helping, and the progress here and the outlook for its Azure cloud unit that powers ChatGPT will be key to sentiment.

You can prepare by finding all the key consensus figures to watch out for and our latest technical analysis in our Microsoft Q1 Earnings Preview.

Alphabet: Ad strength and AI in focus

Alphabet is up 1.2% and reports third quarter results after markets close today. Markets want to see signs that the advertising market is starting to make a comeback, discover whether Google Cloud has maintained momentum and what sort of impact artificial intelligence is having on its business.

You can find out everything you need to know, including all the consensus numbers you need and our technical analysis, in our Alphabet Q3 Earnings Preview.

Meta, Amazon and Apple earnings to come

More Big Tech earnings are due out later this week, with the sector rising today as US treasury yields ease.

Meta is up 1.5% and reports earnings tomorrow. All eyes are on whether the advertising market and ad prices are still recovering, aided by improving impressions from its shift to Reels. Demand for ads on social media platforms has taken longer to rebound than other avenues, but markets are hoping we are approaching the bottom. A strong performance may be needed here to avoid increased scrutiny of its major investment into everything from the metaverse, VR/AR headsets and new AI products – little of which is yet to be properly monetised.

Amazon is up 1.3% and releases results on Thursday. Trends appear to be improving across the board for Amazon. Growth now appears to be stabilising at AWS after experiencing a huge slowdown over 18 months. Ecommerce growth is accelerating again and consumers are still seeing value in its subscription services like Prime. Advertising is also powering ahead when others in the industry are struggling, allowing it to gain ground.

Apple is up 0.2% and will publish its latest earnings next week, when all eyes will be on initial demand for the iPhone 15 amid concerns that demand is softening, both in the US and in China. Apple has already warned revenue will fall as demand for consumer electronics remains weak. Markets are much more hopeful for the new financial year, so Apple’s commentary on what to expect will be a big influence on how markets react.

You can find out what to expect from all three updates in our Big Tech Q3 Earnings Preview.

Visa to provide insight into consumer spending

Visa is up 0.4% this morning and rebounding from two-week lows ahead of results due out after markets close today, with the payments giant set to provide insight into how consumer spending is shaping-up. Travel demand and cross-border spending will be particularly in focus as markets gauge whether spending here is starting to wane of continuing to defy the broader slowdown.

Visa is forecast to report a 9.9% year-on-year rise in quarterly revenue to $8.55 billion and adjusted EPS is expected to climb 16% to $2.24, according to consensus numbers from Bloomberg. Visa announced last week that chairman Alfred Kelly, who was previously CEO, is standing down next year and being replaced by lead independent director John Lundgren.

Keep an eye on Mastercard as any beat or miss could impact its share price ahead of its own results due out later this week, when analysts believe it will grow at a faster pace than Visa by delivering a 13.4% year-on-year rise in revenue to $6.52 billion and a 20.4% jump in EPS to $3.23.

NVIDIA and Arm team-up versus Intel

NVIDIA is up 1.7% on reports that it is using technology from Arm to develop chips that could compete with Intel’s processors used in personal computers, according to unnamed sources speaking to multiple media outlets like Reuters and Bloomberg.

Intel is down 0.2% and set to open at its lowest level in almost two months as investors fret that it will face more competition.

NVIDIA is known for its leadership in AI but is working on central processing units for PCs, the sources said. The CPUs will power Microsoft’s Windows operating system, the report said, and could become available as soon as 2025. AMD, which is up 1.2%, is also thought to be developing chips for PCs with the help of Arm, which is up 2.4% today and returning above its IPO price for the first time this week.

General Motors withdraws guidance

General Motors is up 1.6% despite withdrawing its guidance for the rest of the year as the strike action being undertaken by the United Auto Workers union continues to disrupt its operations.

GM, as well as others like Ford and Stellantis, have been hit by strike action for six weeks now. The UAW is pushing for big pay raises and improved conditions at a time when automakers are trying to limit costs. The company warned strikes are now costing it $200 million a week! There were hopes last week that GM and the UAW were close to striking a tentative deal, but the withdrawal of the outlook today will cast doubt.

That came as GM delivered a strong beat in the third quarter, when adjusted EPS of $2.28 came in much higher than the $1.84 forecast thanks to higher prices and growth in North America.

GM also said it is abandoning its goal of building 400,000 electric vehicles between 2022 and mid-2024, and instead is planning to produce cars to meet demand and focus more on margins rather than volumes.

Ford is up 0.7% today and Stellantis is down 0.4%.

RTX delivers beat and accelerates buyback

RTX is up over 8% this morning and at its highest level in over a month after beating expectations in the latest quarter and announcing it is accelerating its share buyback programme by almost $10 billion, allowing it to maintain momentum amid increased appetite for defence stocks amid conflict in the Middle East.

The company said it has upped its buyback to $12.8 billion from just $3.0 billion as it upgraded its outlook for the full year. Sales will now be at the top-end of its range at around $68.5 billion and its adjusted EPS range has been raised to $4.95 to $5.05 from its previous one of $4.98 to $5.02. It also upped its free cashflow goal to $4.8 billion from $4.3 billion.

That improved outlook came as RTX reported a 3% rise in adjusted EPS of $1.25, beating the $1.21 estimate. Revenue plunged 21% as a result of the problems with powder used on Pratt & Whitney engines, which ultimately made it book a loss at the bottom-line.

That is feeding through to other defence stocks. Lockheed Martin is up 0.7% while Northrop Grumman, which reports later this week, is up 0.4%. Northrop Grumman is forecast to report a 6.8% rise in quarterly revenue to $9.58 billion and a 1.8% decline in EPS to $5.79 when it reports on Thursday.

Coca-Cola ups guidance on strong demand

Coca-Cola is up 2.4% today after raising its outlook today as demand for its array of beverages remains strong despite higher prices, showing consumers are still willing to pay more for their favourite drinks.

Net revenue rose 8% to $12.0 billion in the latest quarter, buoyed by a 9% rise in average selling prices. Volumes still rose 2%. Adjusted EPS rose 7% to $0.74 and beat expectations.

Coca-Cola said it is now anticipating organic revenue to grow 10% to 11% this year, up from its previous range of 8% to 9%. Core EPS is now on course to rise 7% to 8% rather than 5% to 6%.

Rival Pepsi is up 0.6% today.

Verizon delivers beat and raise

Verizon is up 3.7% and at October-highs after the telecoms giant delivered higher profit and more subscribers than anticipated in the latest quarter, prompting it to raise its cashflow guidance for the year.

Verizon added around 100,000 mobile phone subscribers on a net basis in the quarter, considerably more than the 68,197 predicted by analysts thanks to a strong performance from its business unit that countered a contraction in subscribers on the consumer side. Adjusted EPS of $1.22 came in ahead of the $1.18 forecast by Wall Street.

Verizon said it is now anticipating annual free cashflow of $18 billion, up from its previous goal of $17 billion.

Rival AT&T is up 1.2% this morning.

General Electric ups outlook, again

General Electric is up 4.9% after raising its guidance for the third time this year. The company said it is now targeting adjusted EPS of $2.55 to $2.65 over the full year, up from its previous range of $2.10 to $2.30. It also said free cashflow will be between $4.7 billion to $5.1 billion, having previously guided for $4.1 billion to $4.6 billion.

Strong demand for air travel has lifted demand for engines, spare parts and services while losses from its renewables business narrowed.

Spotify posts first operating profit in 2 years

Spotify is down 2.4% despite adding more subscribers than expected in the latest quarter and posting its first operating income in two years.

The music streaming platform said it ended the third quarter with 574 million subscribers, about 2 million ahead of its guidance. It said that would hit 601 million by the end of the year. Premium subscribers that pay rose 16% while subscribers to its ad-supported tier increased 16%, showing strong demand for its different price tiers.

Operating income came in at EUR32 million following 24 months of losses, as revenue increased 11% to EUR3.4 billion.

IonQ sinks as co-founder leaves

Quantum computing stock IonQ is among the most-traded stocks this morning and is down over 13% and at its lowest level in over four months after co-founder and chief scientific officer Chris Monroe announced he is stepping down to return to his passions in academia, research and policy.

H

ow to trade US stocks

You can trade US stocks and indices with City Index in just four easy steps:

1. Open a City Index account, or log-in if you’re already a customer.
2. Search for the stock or instrument you want in our award-winning platform
3. Choose your position and size, and your stop and limit levels
4. Place the trade

Or you can practice trading risk-free by signing up for our Demo Trading Account.