Markets
Nikkei 225
26,775.79
▼ -341.97 / -1.16%
SSE Composite
3,084.94
▲ +12.96 / +0.42%
IBOVESPA
114,121.41
▲ +2,049.06 / +1.83%
Straits Times
3,015.75
▼ -23.86 / -0.78%
BMV IPC
46,186.82
▲ +743.47 / +1.64%
Dow Jones
30,210.85
▲ +576.02 / +1.94%
DAX 30
12,649.03
▲ +211.22 / +1.70%
BSE SENSEX
58,410.98
▲ +491.01 / +0.85%
FTSE 100
6,920.24
▲ +61.45 / +0.90%
JSE Top 40
59,638.26
▲ +1,793.77 / +3.10%
Last Week’s Highlights
JP Morgan’s better-than-expected results
JP Morgan Chase presented its results for the third quarter of the year. The banking entity generated revenues of 32.7 billion dollars, an increase of 10.4% year-on-year, and exceeded the figure estimated by several analysts of 24.32 billion dollars. In the same period last year, JPM had earnings per share of $3.74. Analysts speculated that the profit for the third quarter of this year would be $2.90 per share; however, the figure was exceeded and reached $3.12 per share. Looking ahead, there is optimism regarding JP Morgan’s stock. Specialists give it a “moderate buy” rating, and the average price forecast for the company’s shares is $135.25, implying an upside potential of 23.6% at current levels.
Amazon’s Prime Day fails
Amazon made an effort to attract new customers with Prime Day, however the figures are not so positive. With Prime Day held on October 11 and 12, for the first time Amazon had discounted sales twice in one year, the other being in July. The results were not what the e-commerce company expected, as it was just like any other day. Amazon Worldwide Stores CEO, Doug Herrington, stated that Prime Day is just the beginning of what the company plans. “Customers will find millions of must-have deals all season long that will help them continue to save money on gifts for their loved ones,” he concluded. According to company reports, there were more than 100 million items sold in this week’s Prime sale, a figure that was down from July’s sales of more than 300 million items.
Coming Up This Week
The booster shot against Omicron
Pfizer claims that the new vaccine booster for the Omicron variant has better protection compared to the original vaccine. The US drugmaker, together with its partner BioNTech SE, presented positive results from the Phase 2/3 booster dose study for its bivalent Omicron variant vaccine. An increase in neutralizing antibodies against substrates was found compared to pre-booster levels.Pfizer President and CEO Albert Bourla said, “We are pleased to see encouraging responses just one week after vaccination in young and older adults. These early data suggest that our bivalent vaccine is expected to provide better protection against currently circulating variants than the original vaccine and potentially help curb future increases in cases this winter.” In addition, Pfizer is trying to increase its demand for vaccines through a partnership with Marvel comics to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of vaccination.
Ad-supported Netflix to come in November
Netflix announced that as of November it will start streaming plans with advertising for a price of $6.99 per month. It will be the cheapest plan of this platform, with which the company expects to recover several customers lost in recent times. The plan will be available in 12 countries and will be launched progressively between November 1 and 10. Subscribers to this plan will not have benefits such as downloading content or high resolution in series and movies. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, each ad will last between 15 and 30 seconds, and about five minutes of ads will appear every hour before and during the playback of any content. The very strong competition in this market, and the current global economic situation create a complicated scenario for Netflix, and its shares have already lost 61.1% of their value.
