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Ford (F) shares fell Tuesday, as analysts from JPMorgan and Bank of America cut their price targets after the automaker's underwhelming third-quarter results. 

Shares of Ford fell more than 8% Tuesday morning. The company reported on Monday that its third-quarter profits missed analysts' expectations and trimmed its full-year outlook,  projecting full-year adjusted earnings of about $10 billion, compared with its previous estimate of $10 billion to $12 billion.

JPMorgan analysts cut their price target to $14 from $15, citing the company's “persistently high warranty expense" giving it an overweight rating.

Bank of America lowered its price target to $19 from $20, noting lighter-than-expected revenue from Ford Blue, the company’s passenger gas-powered cars and hybrid division, but maintained a buy call to the company.

BofA cited Ford's "positive picture" of its recent operations, noting the automaker's management mentioning the strength in its core truck market—and especially its Pro division, which serves commercial customers.

Third-quarter revenue at the Ford Pro division rose 13% year-over-year and above Wall Street estimates, while Ford Pro Intelligence paid software subscriptions jumped 30%.

BofA said it had kept its buy call due to "Ford's strong near-term product cadence combined with management's focus."

[W]e expect better profits and progress in 2025+," said BofA.

JPMorgan, meanwhile, said it was keeping its overweight rating on Ford due to the "deep value" afforded by its shares. The broker noted that Tesla (TSLA), while one of the few profitable battery electric vehicle (EV) makers, was expected to generate a much lower level of free cash flow this year than Ford.

Ford Shares were down 8% Tuesday.

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) aka petrol, from N980 to N1,025 per litre in Lagos and nearby regions.

This adjustment, announced on Tuesday, marks the third price change in September and October 2024 and is part of the government’s deregulation policy, which allows prices to fluctuate based on supply and demand dynamics.

According to reports, this new increment will see Nigerians in Abuja and Lagos buy petrol for N1,060 and N1,025 per litre respectively.

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Shares of Pfizer (PFE) fell Tuesday as a strong earnings report is seen as likely to limit activist investor Starboard Value from driving major changes at the drugmaker. 

Pfizer reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.06, with revenue soaring 31% year-over-year to $17.70 billion. Both were well above analysts' estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

The company got a boost from rising demand for its Paxlovid treatment for COVID-19, which saw sales soar to $2.70 billion after bringing in just $202 million a year ago.

Pfizer raised its outlook for full-year adjusted EPS to $2.75 to $2.95, and revenue to $61.0 billion to $64.0 billion. Previously it had anticipated adjusted EPS of $2.45 to $2.65 and revenue of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Albert Bourla and the board have been under fire from Starboard, which has taken what's reported to be a $1 billion stake in the company and called for changes. At a recent investor conference, Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith is said to have spelled out where the pharmaceutical firm has gone wrong, but didn't give details on what the hedge fund felt was needed to be done.

In the quarterly report, Bourla said he is confident "that we will deliver on our financial commitments in 2024 and that we are well positioned to continue advancing scientific breakthroughs meaningful to our patients and our company, as well as creating long-term shareholder value, in the years to come."

Pfizer shares, which had been essentially flat on the year through Monday's close, were down 1.4% to $28.45 in recent trading.

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Fast-food chains lamented slow restaurant traffic in the first half of the year. It hasn't gone away, executives at McDonald’s (MCD) said today. 

McDonald’s shares were recently a bit lower after the company said third-quarter same-store sales were lower than Wall Street expected. On a conference call with analysts, CEO Chris Kempczinski said that “traffic has remained pressured, reflecting industry-wide challenges.”

“While we anticipated a challenging environment in 2024, our performance so far this year has fallen short of our expectations,” Kempczinski said on the call, a transcript of which was made available by AlphaSense. 

Consumers, notably lower-income ones, continue to eat at home more frequently, he said; the company has repeatedly extended the life of a value meal offering it says has helped bring lower-income diners back to the brand. An increase in U.S. same-store sales was offset by declines elsewhere, McDonald’s said. 

Lower restaurant traffic has affected companies across the industry. French-fry maker Lamb Weston (LW), a McDonald’s supplier, said earlier this month that it expected that to continue into next year. Executives at ConAgra (CAG) and spice company McCormick (MKC) have lately echoed those sentiments. 

For McDonald’s—and other companies in the industry—the climate seems to point toward a continued battle for the dollars of value-minded diners. 

“We have spoken before about our customers recognizing us as the value leader versus our key competitors, but our value leadership gap has shrunk,” Kempczinski said on the call. “In response, we have moved with urgency in partnership with our franchisees to improve our value offerings in most of our major markets.”

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U.S.-listed shares of HSBC Holdings (HSBC) advanced Tuesday as the British financial firm's third-quarter results beat forecasts and it announced another $3 billion stock buyback.

The bank reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.34, with revenue up 5% year-over-year to $17.00 billion. Both exceeded consensus estimates of analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

Revenue was driven higher by growth at its Wealth and Personal Banking division, which jumped nearly 13% to $7.41 billion. Net fee income rose 4% to $3.12 billion.

"We delivered another good quarter, which shows that our strategy is working," HSBC Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Georges Elhedery said.

In a note to clients, Jefferies called the results "steady," but said "investors will want to hear more on group strategy."

The bank said that it had completed a $3 billion share repurchase it launched earlier this year, and the board approved another up to $3 billion buyback, "which we intend to complete in the four-month period before our FY24 results announcement.”

U.S.-listed HSBC Holdings shares climbed more than 3% at midday to $46.70, their highest level since the summer of 2018.

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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will report third-quarter financial results after the closing bell Tuesday, with analysts calling for significant earnings growth.

Analysts expect the chipmaker to report revenue of $6.71 billion, up nearly 16% year-over-year, according to Visible Alpha. Net income is projected to be $815.76 million or 50 cents per share, more than double the $299 million or 18 cents per share AMD posted a year earlier.

In July, AMD reported data center revenue in the second quarter more than doubled year-over-year to a record $2.8 billion, as demand for the company's artificial intelligence (AI) chips surged.

Analysts expect data center revenue to rise to a fresh high of $3.52 billion for the third quarter. CEO Lisa Su said in July that AMD expects to “deliver strong revenue growth in the second half of the year led by demand for Instinct, EPYC and Ryzen processors." 

At the company’s Advancing AI event earlier this month, AMD launched its next generation of AI chips but did not raise its AI sales guidance or announce any new large customers as many investors had hoped. Jefferies analysts suggested investors could be watching for those updates to come with AMD's earnings Tuesday.

Over 80% or 13 of the 16 analysts covering AMD tracked by Visible Alpha have a "buy" or equivalent rating for the stock, with an average price target of $192.13, implying close to 18% upside from Tuesday's intraday price of $163.35. Shares of AMD have gained about 11% so far in 2024.

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