Stocks are set to open lower on Monday after the eagerly awaited OPEC-Russia oil production freeze meeting in Doha ended up being a dud — a big, fat dud.
The verdict: No deal.
That was the result of more than 10 hours of contentious deliberations by a bunch of guys that don’t really like each other. And with it, crude oil futures opened below the $40-per-barrel threshold while equity futures opened sharply lower as well. The drop is the worst selloff for oil futures in seven months.
Disappointment is in the air after a possible agreement to cap production — and start the process of rebalancing global energy markets — was first hinted at on Feb. 11.
With that out of the way, investors are now free to focus on the increasing tempo of the Q1 earnings reporting season. Here are three charts of companies set to report today: Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Morgan Stanley (MS)
Morgan Stanley shares have been consolidating below $26 since January, attempting to end a long downtrend that started last July. Bank stocks have come under pressure on worries over energy sector loans, the push for negative interest rates in places like Japan and Europe, and a slowdown in initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions.
Better-than-expected results from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and others last week seemingly lifted the pall, however.
Morgan Stanley followed suit with earnings of 55 cents per share that easily beat Wall Street estimates for 46 cents. Revenues of $7.8 billion fell just shy of expectations for $7.87 billion. Nonetheless, MS shares were on their way up in Monday premarket trading.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
IBM has been on the slide since 2013 as the company struggles with persistent revenue declines made worse by currency headwinds from the stronger dollar over the past two years. Shares rallied by more than 25% off of their February low and a focus on software and cloud products.
The company is expected to report earnings tonight of $2.09 per share on revenues of $18.3 billion.
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)
Netflix, a one-time momentum darling, hit the skids starting last summer on concerns over its U.S. subscriber growth amid increasing competition for channels and exclusive content.
The question now is whether a focus on international growth can compensate.
The company is expected to report earnings tonight of 3 cents per share on revenues of nearly $2 billion.
Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge and Edge Pro investment advisory newsletters. Free two- and four-week trial offers have been extended to InvestorPlace readers.
