Today's charts: Apple, Starbucks earnings; Tesla tumbles; DOJ considers blocking AT&T deal to buy Time Warner

Seana Smith
·Host

Apple earnings on tap and here’s what to expect

Wall Street is waiting for Apple (AAPL) to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the bell today. Analysts will want to hear from CEO Tim Cook about demand for the tech giant’s three new phones: iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X. They’ll also want to hear from Cook about supply issues. iPhone X preorders started last Friday, and within a few hours, the phone’s shipping date was delayed 5 to 6 weeks. According to Bloomberg, analysts are expecting Apple to report earnings of $1.87 a share on revenue of $50.70 billion. The tech giant is expected to sell 46.1 million iPhones during the quarter, up from 45.5 million a year ago. Apple shares have climbed 5.9% over the past three months.

Starbucks store traffic in focus ahead of earnings

Starbucks (SBUX) is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the bell today, and analysts will be paying close attention to store traffic. Starbucks retuned to 5% global same-store sales growth last quarter, after falling below that benchmark for several quarters. A key area of focus will be growth in China. Starbucks has said that the country will one day surpass the U.S. as the coffee giant’s largest market. Analysts are expecting a profit of 55 cents on revenue of $5.8 billion, up from $5.7 billion a year ago.

Tesla shares sink on wider-than-expected loss

Tesla (TSLA) disappointed Wall Street after reporting a wider-than-expected loss during the third quarter as the electric carmaker focused on ramping up production for its Model 3. A big focus in the earnings report was production of the Model 3, after the company disappointed investors last month when it reported it only delivered 220 Model 3s during the third quarter, a fraction of the number CEO Elon Musk had previously predicted. Tesla revised its production targets for the Model 3, saying it now expects to achieve a production rate of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by the end of the first quarter of 2018. It originally projected it would reach this ambitious goal by the end of the current quarter. Tesla shares were last trading down 6.9% at $299.03 a share.

DOJ reportedly considering antitrust suit against AT&T’s deal to buy Time Warner

Time Warner (TWX) shares were halted in early trading on reports that the Justice Department is weighing an antitrust suit challenging AT&T’s (T) buyout of Time Warner, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal is also reporting that the DOJ is in settlement talks with the two companies and could reach an agreement that the government will approve. Time Warner was last trading down 4.7% while AT&T was down 0.7%.