Hollywood studios and the actors union reached an agreement to end the 118-day strike and shares of the Walt Disney Company (DIS) jumped as its streaming service delivered a beat on subscriber growth.
1. Hollywood Studios, Actors Union Reach Tentative Agreement to End Strike
Hollywood studios reached a preliminary agreement with the actors unions that would end the 118-day strike, which will be reviewed Friday by the national board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. News of the agreement helped send media stocks higher, with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shares moving higher by 2.8% in the pre-market, while Paramount (PARA) shares moved up by 1.8% and Netflix (NFLX) shares gained 0.1%.
2. Disney Shares Jump After Earnings Beat, Streaming Subscriber Growth
Shares of the Walt Disney Company (DIS) surged nearly 4% after it reported adding 7 million new Disney+ subscribers to reach 150.2 million. The media giant reported quarterly earnings per share of $0.82, better than the $0.74 that analysts forecast, though its revenue of $21.24 billion was lower than the analyst forecasts of $21.33 billion as ad revenue slowed.
3. Arm ADRs Sink After Chip Designer Misses on Earnings Outlook
In its first report since its September public offering, British chip designer Arm Holdings (ARM) reported $806 million in revenue, above the $744.3 million that analysts were anticipating. But American depositary receipts of Arm fell 7% in the pre-market after the company said it expected earnings of between $0.21 and $0.28 a share on revenue of between $720 million and $800 million in the current quarter. That’s slightly lower than the earnings of $0.27 on revenue between $730 million and $801 million that analysts expected.
4. Apple Shares Fall as EU Court Official Pushes for Review of $14 Billion Tax Case
Shares of Apple (AAPL) dropped 0.4% in pre-market trading after a European Union court official said that a EU Court of Justice made legal errors when it ruled in favor of the iPhone maker in a $14 billion tax case. The official said the case should be referred back to lower courts, creating a potential setback for Apple as it fights off charges that it unfairly benefited from Irish tax rulings that artificially reduced the company’s tax burden for more than two decades.
5. Initial Jobless Claims Expected to Rise, Powell to Deliver Afternoon Remarks
At 8:30 a.m. ET, initial jobless claims are projected to come in at 220,000 for the week ending Nov. 4, up from the 217,000 claims in the prior week. At 2 p.m. ET, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak on an International Monetary Fund panel, while Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker will give remarks at 8:40 p.m. ET.
