“McDonald’s sales are showing unexpected strength and investors are lovin’ it,” Keris Alison Lahiff reports for The Street. “Shares of the fast-food chain were the clear winner on markets Thursday, by far the largest contributor to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.”
“Mickey D’s sales in the U.S. rose in the third quarter for the first time in two years, proving that efforts to simplify its menu and improve locations had begun to have an impact on the topline. Domestic same-store sales rose 0.9%, triple expectations. If not for the stronger U.S. dollar, overall sales would have grown 7%,” Lahiff reports. “Its success was felt marketwide and gave the earnings season energy after a lackluster start. The S&P 500 added 1.7% on Thursday, the Dow was up 1.9% or 320 points, and the Nasdaq gained 1.7%.”
“AT&T added 2% after earnings bested estimates and revenue saw a double-digit percentage increase thanks to the completion of its DirecTV acquisition. Excluding merger costs, earnings of 74 cents a share topped forecasts by 6 cents. The telecom expects full-year earnings between $2.68 and $2.74 a share, above analysts’ estimates of $2.61,” Lahiff reports. “Google parent Alphabet rocketed 9% higher after reporting net income of $5.73 a share in its recent quarter, up from $3.98 a share. Adjusted earnings, excluding one-time charges, came in at $7.35 a share compared to estimates of $7.20 a share. Sales jumped 13% to $18.68 billion, driven by advertising revenue on its Google sites.”
“There were other earnings wins scattered throughout the markets on Thursday. In tech, Texas Instruments increased its sales outlook on greater focus on its analog chip business, and Citrix Systems raised its full-year outlook thanks to better operating margins, while eBay beat earnings estimates in a quarter which saw the successful spinoff of its PayPal business,” Lahiff reports. “That gave tech giants a pep in their step. Consumer tech stocks including Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook, and Alibaba rallied, while the Technology SPDR ETF climbed 2.3%.”
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