Preview of US Stock Market | Three major stock index futures all fell, Intel announced its financial report after the market closed.

1. On April 23rd (Thursday) before the US stock market opened, the futures of the three major US stock indexes all fell, with Dow futures down 0.35%, S&P 500 index futures down 0.14%, and Nasdaq 100 index futures down 0.14%. 2. As of the time of publication, the Germany DAX index fell 0.34%, the UK FTSE 100 index fell 0.52%, the France CAC40 index rose 0.61%, and the Europe Stoxx 50 index fell 0.41%. 3. As of the time of publication, WTI crude oil rose 0.19% to $93.14 per barrel. Brent crude oil rose 0.16% to $101.75 per barrel. Market News Iranian sources: Iran-US negotiations are ready to make a breakthrough "tonight or tomorrow." An Iranian diplomatic source told Russian news agency on the 23rd that preparations for negotiations between Iran and the United States in Pakistan may make a breakthrough "tonight or tomorrow." Wall Street veteran Yardeni: The risk of war is far from over, but US stocks will not revisit the lows of March. Wall Street senior strategist Ed Yardeni observes the market cycle for a long enough time to know when panic is peaking. When the S&P 500 falls more than 9% from its historical high, and at the same time, President Trump appears increasingly eager to end the Middle East war that triggered this sell-off, he begins to believe that the US stock market is ready for a rebound. "Trimmed mean" inflation indicator becomes a rate cut breakthrough? Bank of America warns: Powell's "selective use of data" may harm credibility. Kevin Warsh, the next Federal Reserve Chairman nominated by President Trump, stated at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday that he hopes to change the way the central bank measures inflation. Warsh stated that he prefers to use the "trimmed mean" inflation indicator rather than the Fed's traditional Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index. Warsh said, "I am most concerned about what the potential inflation rate is. We exclude all tail risks, all one-time factors, and then assess whether the general change in prices is having a second-order impact on the economy." Warsh emphasized and praised the "trimmed mean" inflation indicator, which is based on the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, by regularly excluding the most extreme price fluctuations in that month to filter out temporary noise and restore a purer inflation trend. Stock News Earnings Outlook | Musk endorses Alphabet Inc. Class C, Intel Corporation Q1 earnings report: Dream come true or bubble warning? With Intel Corporation scheduled to announce its first-quarter earnings for 2026 after the US market closed on April 23 (Thursday), a harsh "performance test" is looming. With the stock price already reflecting extremely optimistic expectations, investors are facing a core question: can the recovery in fundamentals keep up with the sky-high valuation? Currently, the market generally expects Intel Corporation's Q1 revenue to be $12.32 billion, down about 2.75% year-on-year, with earnings per share of about $0.01. In fact, amidst the cheers, upon closer inspection of Intel Corporation's actual operating guidance, warning signals have already been lit. When the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings last January, management gave a worrying first-quarter outlook: revenue is expected to be between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion, a significant drop from the $13.7 billion in the previous quarter. Tesla, Inc. Q1 profit exceeds expectations, free cash flow unexpectedly turns positive, Musk announces plans to "significantly increase investment," targeting annual production of one million Optimus units. Tesla, Inc. Q1 company revenue was $22.387 billion, an increase of 16% year-on-year, slightly lower than the market's expectation of $22.792 billion; adjusted earnings per share were $0.41, higher than the $0.27 in the same period last year and the market's expectation of $0.34. This is Tesla, Inc.'s second consecutive quarter of profit exceeding expectations. The financial report shows that in terms of profitability, the company's GAAP net profit was $477 million, a 17% increase year-on-year; GAAP earnings per share rose from $0.12 in the same period last year to $0.13. Cash flow unexpectedly turned positive this quarter. In the first three months of 2026, Tesla, Inc. spent less than $2.5 billion in capital expenditures, roughly half of what is required to achieve the average expenditure target for the full year per quarter. IBM Q1 earnings exceed expectations but fail to dispel concerns about "AI disruption": both overall and software revenue growth rates slow down, full-year guidance remains unchanged. Earlier, IBM reiterated its full-year earnings forecast, despite reporting first-quarter profits above Wall Street's expectations. The company failed to dispel investor concerns about the potential impact of artificial intelligence on its business. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said that for the quarter ending March 31, software revenue grew by 11% to $7.05 billion, slightly above the expected $7.02 billion. Total revenue increased by 9% to $15.9 billion, higher than the analysts' average estimate of $15.7 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.91, also higher than expected. IBM's first-quarter revenue growth was lower than the 12.2% growth in the previous quarter. Another outperformance! Lam Research Corporation Q3 earnings report and guidance surpass expectations, with mainland China revenue accounting for 34% and remaining at the top. In the third quarter ending March 29, Lam Research Corporation reported a 24% year-on-year increase in revenue to $5.84 billion, better than the expected $5.75 billion; adjusted earnings per share were $1.47, also better than the expected $1.37. By business segment, system business revenue increased by 23% to $3.73 billion; customer service and other revenue was $2.11 billion, a 25% year-on-year increase. By region, revenue from mainland China was 34%, down from 35% in the previous quarter; South Korea and Taiwan accounted for 23% each, up from 20% in the previous quarter. The adjusted gross margin was 49.9%, higher than the 49% in the same period last year. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Lam Research Corporation expects adjusted earnings per share to be between $1.50 and $1.80 and revenue to be between $6.2 billion and $7.0 billion. Texas Instruments Incorporated continues its recovery! Q1 earnings report blooms across the board, with data center revenue surging by 90%, Q2 guidance crushing market expectations. Texas Instruments Incorporated reported a 19% year-on-year increase in first-quarter revenue to $48.3 billion, better than the analysts' average expectation of $45.2 billion; operating profit was $18.08 billion, up 37% year-on-year; net profit was $15.45 billion, up 31% year-on-year; earnings per share increased by 31% year-on-year to $1.68, better than the analysts' average expectation of $1.38. The analog chip giant expects second-quarter revenue to be between $5.0 billion and $5.4 billion, significantly outperforming the analysts' average expectation of $4.85 billion; earnings per share for the second quarter are expected to be between $1.77 and $2.05, also significantly outperforming the analysts' average expectation of $1.57. By business segment, the company's core analog chip business achieved revenue of $3.924 billion in the first quarter, a 22% year-on-year increase. Middle East conflict drags down subscription revenue growth, AI concerns remain, ServiceNow Q1 earnings just meet expectations and struggle to convince the market. ServiceNow reported first-quarter revenue of $3.77 billion, a 22% year-on-year increase, slightly higher than the analysts' average expectation of $3.74 billion. By business segment, subscription revenue increased by 22% to $3.671 billion year-on-year; professional services and other revenue increased by 18.5% to $99 million. In terms of profit, net profit was $469 million; adjusted earnings per share were $0.97, slightly higher than the analysts' average expectation of $0.96. The company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and raised its full-year performance guidance. However, the company pointed out that conflict in the Middle East has dragged down subscription revenue growth, in addition to ongoing doubts about the future of enterprise software in the AI era, which has cooled investor sentiment. Traditional business recovery + AI business explosion, STMicroelectronics NV ADR RegS Q1 earnings report and guidance exceed expectations. STMicroelectronics NV ADR RegS reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and expects further growth in the second quarter. Data shows that the company's Q1 revenue increased by 23% year-on-year to $3.1 billion, better than the analysts' expected $3.04 billion; non-GAAP operating profit was $171 million, also better than the expected $165.8 million. By business segment, the Analog, Power and Discrete, and MEMS and Sensors (APMS) product business revenue was $1.707 billion in the first quarter, a 16.4% year-on-year increase; MCU series, digital integrated circuits, and RF products (MDRF) business revenue was $1.384 billion, a 32.1% year-on-year increase. The company also predicts that second-quarter revenue will reach $3.45 billion, an 11.6% increase quarter-on-quarter and a 24.9% year-on-year increase, higher than the market's expected $3.21 billion. AI transformation showing initial results! Nokia Oyj Sponsored ADR Q1 profit exceeds expectations, optical networking business sales increase by 56% year-on-year. Nokia Oyj Sponsored ADR reported a 3% year-on-year increase in first-quarter net sales to 4.5 billion euros, slightly below the analysts' average expectation of 4.6 billion euros. In terms of profitability, adjusted operating profit for the quarter was 281 million euros, a 54% year-on-year increase, better than the analysts' average expectation of 244 million euros; profit for the quarter was 295 million euros, a 93% increase year-on-year; adjusted earnings per share was 0.05 euros, a 67% increase year-on-year. The network infrastructure department covering AI data center connections saw a 12% year-on-year increase in first-quarter sales to 1.829 billion euros; among them, optical network business sales increased by 56% year-on-year to 0.821 billion euros. The mobile infrastructure department covering traditional mobile device business saw a 3% year-on-year decrease in sales to 2.495 billion euros. How long can Dupixent rely on for a "lying win"? Sanofi Q1 performance good news hides research and development anxiety, stock price under pressure awaiting the new CEO to break the deadlock. French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced its first-quarter financial report for 2026 on Thursday. Thanks to the strong demand for its core product Dupixent, the company's revenue and profit both exceeded market expectations, giving a "welcome gift" to the incoming new CEO Beln Garijo. However, market focus has quickly shifted to how Garijo will handle the strategic challenges posed by a weak research and development pipeline and the future expiration of Dupixent's patents. For the first quarter ending March 31, Sanofi achieved total sales of 10.51 billion euros, higher than the analysts' average expectation of 10.22 billion euros. Operating profit was 2.97 billion euros, also exceeding the market's expectation of 2.85 billion euros. Excluding certain projects, earnings per share were 1.88 euros, better than the expected 1.78 euros. Musk's groundbreaking announcement! Tesla, Inc. plans to invest $3 billion to build a chip R&D plant, locking in Intel Corporation's most advanced process. Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company plans to invest approximately $3 billion in building a chip R&D plant in Texas, taking a crucial step in the mass layout of the chip manufacturing field. Musk also stated that the Terafab project will adopt Intel Corporation's most advanced 14A process technology, which is expected to make Tesla, Inc. the first significant customer of this cutting-edge technology. Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B announces that oral GLP-1 drug trial in adolescents has reached primary endpoints, plans to apply for new indications in the second half of 2026. Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B announced on Thursday that its oral GLP-1 drug significantly reduced blood sugar levels in children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes, achieving the main goals of the late-stage trial. The Danish pharmaceutical company tested the pill on 132 patients aged 10-17 over a 26-week period. The study showed that patients taking the drug had an average blood sugar level reduction of 0.83 percentage points compared to those taking a placebo, a difference the company deems "statistically significant." This trial marks the first test of oral GLP-1 therapy in children and adolescents - a class of drugs well known for their success in diabetes and weight loss treatments. Important Economic Data and Events Preview 20:30 Beijing time: Initial Jobless Claims in the US for the week ending April 18. 21:45 Beijing time: Preliminary SPGI Manufacturing PMI for April in the US. Next day at 04:30 Beijing time: Federal Reserve Balance Sheet for the week ending April 22 in the US. Earnings Preview Early Friday: Intel Corporation, SAP, Newmont Mining Pre-market on Friday: Nomura