All three major US stock indexes were in the red in late-morning trading Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the way down, as new inflation data showed still-elevated prices ahead of the Federal Reserve's critical decision on interest rates next month.
The personal consumption expenditures price index rose by 0.2% in July, as expected in a survey conducted by Bloomberg as of 7:10 a.m. ET, keeping the year-over-year rate at 2.6%. The core PCE, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge that excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.3%, as expected and following a 0.3% rise in June. The year-over-year rate accelerated to 2.9% from 2.8% the previous month.
In company news, Alibaba Group (BABA) reported fiscal Q1 non-GAAP earnings Friday of 14.75 renminbi ($2.07) per diluted American depositary share, down from 16.44 renminbi a year earlier but above the FactSet consensus estimate of $14.16 renminbi. Fiscal Q1 revenue was 247.65 billion renminbi, up from 243.24 billion renminbi a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of 251.45 billion renminbi. Separately, Alibaba has developed a new AI chip aimed at performing a broader range of inference tasks as Chinese cloud providers seek alternatives to Nvidia (NVDA) chips, which are constrained by ongoing trade tensions, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Alibaba shares were up nearly 11% around midday, while those of Nvidia were down 3.1%.
Marvell Technology (MRVL) reported fiscal Q2 non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.67, up from $0.30 a year earlier and matching the FactSet consensus estimate. Fiscal Q2 net revenue was $2.01 billion, up from $1.27 billion a year ago and matching the FactSet estimate. For fiscal Q3, the company expects non-GAAP EPS of $0.74, plus or minus $0.05, and net revenue of $2.06 billion, plus or minus 5%. Analysts polled by FactSet expect non-GAAP EPS of $0.72 on net revenue of $2.11 billion. Marvell shares were down about 16%.
Caterpillar (CAT) said late Thursday in a regulatory filing it expects the net impact from incremental tariffs to be between $500 million and $600 million in Q3 and $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion for the full year. The company said it now expects its full-year adjusted operating profit margin to be close to the bottom of the target margin range, according to the filing. Caterpillar shares were down roughly 4%.
Dell Technologies (DELL) reported fiscal Q2 adjusted EPS late Thursday of $2.32, up from $1.95 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $2.31. Fiscal Q2 revenue was $29.8 billion, up from $25 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $29 billion. For fiscal Q3, the company expects adjusted EPS of $2.45 at the midpoint on revenue of $26.5 billion to $27.5 billion. Analysts expect $2.51 adjusted EPS on revenue of $26.4 billion. For the full year, Dell expects $9.55 adjusted EPS at the midpoint on revenue of $105 billion to $109 billion. Previously, the company expected $9.40 adjusted EPS at the midpoint on revenue of $101 billion to $105 billion. Analysts expect $9.38 EPS on $105 billion in revenue. Dell shares were down 8.2%.
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