What's moving markets today
Estée Lauder reports first-ever $4 billion quarter
Shares of Estée Lauder (EL) are surging 12%.
In its second-quarter earnings report, the company said its quarterly sales surpassed $4 billion for the first time. It also raised its full-year guidance.
Estée Lauder's strongest sales came from the Asia/Pacific region, as well as some of its brands, including the flagship line, its fragrances and MAC Cosmetics.
CEO Fabrizio Freda said the company had an "impressive first-half performance." Estée Lauder expects this year's sales to rise between 5% and 6% compared to 2018.
Trump and Fed Chairman Powell meet for dinner
Our Donna Borak reports that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with President Donald Trump yesterday. The meeting comes weeks after White House aides floated the idea of inviting the former investment banker to sit with Trump in person to allay his concerns about a string of rate hikes.
Trump hasn't been the biggest fan of Powell and the Fed's rate changes. The president has attacked him on Twitter and expressed hope that central bankers would keep rates steady. But, such a move could risk letting the economy overheat amid continued strong hiring.
The President's dissatisfaction over increased market volatility heightened late last year, leading Trump to ask advisers whether he could fire Powell, even though it's unclear whether presidents can legally fire their Fed chairs.
Markets check before the bell
US futures are pointing higher this morning.
The Dow and the S&P 500 closed up 0.7% on Monday, while the Nasdaq jumped 1.2%.
Investors are keeping tabs on Estee Lauder (EL), Ralph Lauren (RL) and Viacom (VIAB), which are set to release earnings before the open.
Disney (DIS), Electronic Arts (EA), Plantronics (PLT) and Snap (SNAP) will follow after the close.
We'll also be watching the State of the Union. The address is typically an American president's most-watched speech of the year, and President Trump is expected to lay out his agenda for the coming year.
BP bet on US shale. It's paying off
Shares in BP (BP) jumped 3.7% in London after the company wowed investors with its results for 2018.
BP went big on US shale last year, buying major oil assets from mining firm BHP (BBL) for $10.5 billion. The investment paid off: profits in 2018 more than doubled over the previous year to $12.7 billion.
BP also said its oil and gas output soared to 3.7 million barrels a day, an 8.2% increase from 2017.
The US shale boom has helped oil and gas companies overcome major volatility in energy prices over the past few months. Recent earnings from Shell (RYDBF) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) have also topped analyst expectations.
Google shrugs off data privacy drama
Alphabet (GOOGL), the parent company of Google, said yesterday that its revenue for the final quarter of 2018 increased to $39.3 billion.
The jump, about 22% from the same period a year earlier, was better than expected.
It was fueled in large part by Google's advertising business. Sales in that business rose 20% over the previous year to $32.6 billion.
The numbers are remarkable given that the tech sector's data privacy practices are under more scrutiny now than ever, from both regulators and consumers alike.
But the company is also paying more to support its advertising business. Alphabet said its traffic and acquisition cost — the money it pays to companies to run its ads and services — was $7.4 billion during the quarter, up from $6.5 billion a year ago.
And its operating margin for the quarter fell to 21%— a noteworthy dip from 24% a year ago.
Alphabet's stock dropped roughly 3% in premarket trading.