Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded lower early Wednesday, despite solid earnings-driven moves by Procter & Gamble and Travelers Companies.
Dow Jones consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble announced Q1 2024 results early Wednesday. Earnings accelerated for the third consecutive quarter, increasing 17% to $1.83 per share. Sales growth also rose for the third straight period, climbing 6% to $20.6 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.72 per share on $21.58 billion in revenue.
Procter & Gamble updated its full-year 2024 outlook with the results. The parent company of Charmin, Pampers and Crest, maintained its earnings forecast and expects 6% to 9% growth to range from $6.25 to $6.43 per share. Procter updated its sales guidance to range between 2% and 4% growth, putting revenue between $83.64 billion and $85.28 billion.
FactSet analysts predict full-year earnings of $6.39 per share on $84.87 billion in revenue.
Dow Jones Stock: PG
PG stock swung 2.5% higher Wednesday after earnings, leading the Dow. Shares slipped 3.5% so far this year, putting it in the middle of the Dow industrials pack.
Travelers Q3 Mixed
Dow Jones property and casualty insurance giant Travelers reported a sixth consecutive earnings decline for its Q3 results early Wednesday. Adjusted earnings fell 11% to $1.95 per share. Total revenue jumped 14% to $10.63 billion — a fifth straight quarter of accelerating growth. FactSet analysts expected earnings of $2.99 per share on $10.4 billion in revenue.
Catastrophe losses for the quarter totaled $850 million, up 66% compared to last year due to "severe wind and hail storms" in multiple states.
Dow Jones Stock: TRV
TRV stock eased slightly Wednesday after climbing 2.4% intraday. The stock gained 1% gain Tuesday. Travelers shares rose the past three trading days and retook their 50-day moving average. Still, TRV stock is down nearly 10.4% for the year through Wednesday's close.
Fed Move Dings Visa
Elsewhere among Dow Jones stocks, credit card giant Visa slipped premarket Wednesday on reports the Federal Reserve may reduce swipe fees for credit cards. The Fed is preparing a proposal that would lower the charges that merchants pay when customers use debit cards, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Merchants currently pay large card issuers like Visa 21 cents plus 0.05% of the transaction amount, a rate set by the Fed in 2011 and has yet to be lowered. The Fed plans to hold a meeting next week to vote on revising the fee cap and would then start a public comment period, which would likely include congressional discussions and lobbying from card issuers and merchants. The proposal would require a final vote from the central bank governors to enact, according to the WSJ.
Visa stock faded about 1.5% Wednesday. Shares climbed the past three weeks following a sharp retreat at the beginning of September. The Dow Jones stock jumped 16.1% in 2023 through Tuesday's close.
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