Stocks climb on positive corporate earnings

PSEi July 20, 2023

Top Gainers

By Jenniffer B. Austria

LOCAL stocks extended their climb Thursday to close above the 6,600 level, bucking the regional decline amid optimism on second-quarter corporate earnings.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, jumped 71.59 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 6,613.60, while the broader all-shares index went up 25 points to 3,515.91.

“Philippine shares climbed higher again on stronger-than-expected earnings results locally and regionally, the latter creating optimism for soft landing for the economy,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis

Top Losers

Most Active

close to ending their interest rate hikes were offset by worries about a lack of action by Chinese leaders to kick start the country’s stuttering economy.

The Fed is tipped to lift rates at its meeting next week but expectations are that it will stop after that, although there is still debate about whether it will announce another later in the year.

Limlingan said.

Limlingan said investors also cheered the Department of Tourism’s report that international visitor arrivals reached 3 million as of July 19, 2023 on track to meet the 4.8 million target for 2023. Foreign investors were net buyers by P419.8 million, which boosted trading value to P4.5 billion.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed Thursday as hopes that central banks are

The mood across trading floors has been generally positive of late, with last week’s news that US inflation had slowed more than expected coming alongside healthy data suggesting a recession could also be avoided.

That was compounded by a surprisingly low UK inflation reading Wednesday.

The figures have fanned hopes that the long-running campaign of rate hikes was kicking in and policymakers in Washington and London could tap the brakes.

Comments from a top European Central Bank official this week indicated a similar outlook in Frankfurt.

Netflix adds 6m subscribers after password crackdown

SAN FRANCISCO, United States—

Netflix on Wednesday said subscriptions to the media streaming service climbed by nearly 6 million in the wake of its crackdown on password sharing.

The streaming giant finished the recently ended quarter with a total of 238 million subscribers and a profit of $1.5 billion, according to an earnings release.

The pickup in subscribers came as a potentially crippling writers and actors strike hits the US entertainment industry, but with analysts saying Netflix is better positioned than its rivals to weather the storm.

“We are constantly at the table negotiating with everyone across the industry,”

Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said during an earnings presentation.

“We need to get to this strike to a conclusion so that we can all move forward.”

Revenue came in lower than expectations with Netflix posting $8.2 billion in sales over the April to June period, pushing the company’s shares down more than 8 percent in after hours trading on Wall Street.

Netflix in May expanded its crackdown on users sharing passwords with people beyond their immediate family as it seeks to shore up revenue after a rough patch last year.

Earlier this year the company complained that more than 100 million households were sharing accounts at the service.

“Let’s face it, the crackdown on passwords is working,” Navellier and Associates chief investment officer Louis Navellier said of Netflix.

“I was ecstatic with the results; I think they hit the ball out of the park with subscriber growth.”

In its earning statement, the company said that the policy would expand to all its markets worldwide.

To convert non-paying users, Netflix has introduced “borrower” or “shared” accounts, in which subscribers can add extra viewers for a higher price or transfer viewing profiles to new accounts. AFP