Trading Day – Dis-Chem reports strong earnings growth

Dis-Chem’s earnings per share (EPS) for the half-year ended August 2022 grew 45% to R0.70, while revenue grew 9% to R16.3 billion.

Dis-Chem currently has 251 retail pharmacy stores and 53 retail baby stores. The company declared an interim dividend of R0.28 per share.

AirBnB shares fall 7% on a weaker growth outlook despite beating expectations with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.79.

AMD is up 6% after slightly missing expectations with EPS of $0.67 but still showed very strong revenue growth, up 29%.

US markets showed a slight decline, with the S&P 500 closing 0.4% lower and the Nasdaq falling 0.9%.

The Nikkei 225 is mostly flat in early morning trade, down 0.1%. The Hang Seng continued its rebound, climbing 2.4%.

In other news, BP joined other oil giants posting bumper profits, as US president Joe Biden warns them to stop “war profiteering”.

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• AirBnB shares fell 7% on a weaker growth outlook despite beating expectations. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.79 compared to analyst estimates of $1.53. Revenue was $2.88 billion compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Growth slowed to 29% in the third quarter compared to 58% in the second quarter and 67% a year earlier.

• AMD slightly misses expectations but still shows very strong growth. Earnings per share (EPS) for the third quarter came in at $0.67 compared to analyst estimates of $0.68, while revenue of $ 5.57 billion missed expectations of $5.62 billion. Revenue still managed to grow 29% from last year. Net income fell 93% to $66 million, mainly because of AMD’s $49 billion acquisition in February of Xilinx. AMD’s share price rose 6% after hours on these results.

• BP joins oil giants posting bumper profits. Underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, came in at $8.2 billion for the third quarter, a significant increase from $3.3 billion last year and well ahead of the $6 billion forecast by analysts. BP however reported an actual net loss of $2.2 billion for the quarter due to inventory holding losses net of tax of $2.2 billion and a charge for adjusting items net of tax of $8.1 billion. US President Joe Biden on Monday called on oil majors to stop “war profiteering” and threatened to pursue higher taxes if industry giants did not work to cut gas prices. Combined with BP, oil majors Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon, and Chevron have posted third-quarter profits totalling nearly $50 billion.

• Pfizer beats earnings expectations. The company reported third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $1.78 compared to analyst estimates of $1.39. Revenue fell 6% from last year to $22.6 billion, but still topped analyst expectations of $21 billion. Pfizer increased its full-year EPS guidance to between $6.40 and $6.50.

• Dis-Chem reports strong growth in earnings. Earnings per share (EPS) for the half-year period ended August 2022 grew 45% to R0.70, while revenue grew 9% to R16.3 billion. Dis-Chem currently has 251 retail pharmacy stores and 53 retail baby stores. The company declared an interim dividend of R0.28 per share.

• US job openings rise, but manufacturing slows. Job openings increased by 437 000 to 10.7 million in September. There are currently 1.9 job openings for every unemployed worker, indicating that pressure on wage growth might remain elevated. US manufacturing PMI numbers fell to 50.2 in October from 50.9 in September. While growth is stagnating, a reading above 50 still indicates expansion.

• China’s factory activity shrinks in October due to Covid curbs, but the impact is less than in September. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 49.2 in October, up from 48.1 in September and slightly above analysts’ expectations for 49.0. But the figure was still below the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.