Citing improving economic data, the Federal Reserve again left interest rates unchanged following the conclusion of its two-day meeting Wednesday, indicating that the central bank will wait for signs regarding the impact of last month’s Brexit outcome before evaluating increasing borrowing costs.
The Fed news left stocks mixed as the S&P 500 fell 0.12%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.58%.
With the Fed in focus, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA) and State Street Corp (NYSE:STT) climbed following impressive earnings reports.
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Apple Inc. soared 6.5% after delivering fiscal third-quarter results that topped analysts’ estimates. AAPL delivered earnings of $1.42 per share on sales of $42.4 billion. Wall Street expected AAPL to earn $1.38 per share on sales of $42.09 billion. Last year, AAPL earned $1.85 per share on sales of $49.61 billion.
For the current quarter, AAPL forecast revenue of $45.5 billion to $47.5 billion.
AAPL’s bullish earnings report prompted a spate of positive chatter among analysts. For example, Raymond James raised its rating on AAPL to “outperform” from “market perform” with a price target of $129. Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty boosted her price target on AAPL to $123 from $120 while maintaining an “overweight” rating on the shares.
Panera Bread Co (PNRA)
Shares of fast-casual restaurant operator Panera Bread Co climbed 3.3% after the company posted second-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations. On an adjusted basis, PNRA earned $1.78 per share. Analysts expected PNRA to earn $1.75 a share.
PNRA notched revenue of $698.9 million during the quarter, slightly ahead of the $698.3 million analysts expected. Missouri-based PNRA forecast full-year earnings of $6.60 to $6.70 per share.
State Street Corp (STT)
State Street Corp, the third-largest U.S. issuer of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), surged 9.3% after reporting second-quarter earnings of $1.46 per share.
A year earlier, Boston-based STT earned $1.36 per share.
Analysts expected STT to earn $1.26 per share. STT’s revenue fell 1.5% to $2.57 billion from $2.61 billion.
At the time of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.
