#earnings

#earnings

UnitedHealth Group ( ) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings this morning that fell slightly short of analyst estimates, while offering guidance for the coming year that indicated a roughly 2% decline year-over-year due to its right-sizing efforts payment increase for Medicare Advantage plans in 2027 that was far below what was anticipated. The market's response was immediate, sending UnitedHealth's stock tumbling as much as 15% in premarket trading this morning.

Shares of cloud-based storage solutions provider Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) lost 6.93% over the past month after losing 6.26% and 5.34% the two months prior. But since hitting its one-year low on April 4, the stock is up nearly 62%. When the company reported FY 2025 Q3 earnings on Nov. 20, 2025, it beat on the top and bottom lines with EPS of 20 cents exceeding expectations of 15 cents, and revenue of $942.1 million exceeding expectations of $898.5 million.

Fortive's Q3 revenue of $1.03 billion grew just 2.3% while net income plummeted from $222 million to $55 million. Operating margin compressed 390 basis points to 15.5%. Management blamed operational challenges, but the numbers tell a story of lost pricing power in automation and sensing businesses. Full-year 2025 EPS of $1.86 represents a 38% decline from 2024's $2.99.

Ford beat earnings estimates in three straight quarters through Q3 2025, with a stunning 367% surprise in Q1. The stock responded by going... nowhere. Up 47% over the past year but still trading at $13.60, barely above where it sat in 2016. That's the Ford pattern in a nutshell: promise without payoff, execution without escape velocity.

When the company reported Q3 earnings on Oct. 30, it beat on the top and bottom lines, with EPS of $1.95 vs. an estimated $15.7, and revenue of $180.17 vs. $177.80 estimated. Meanwhile, revenue from Amazon Web Services was $33 billion and revenue from advertising was $17.7 billion. Concerns about the company's enormous AI CapEx remain, but after the Q3 earnings call, the stock was rewarded by bullish investor sentiment, hitting its first record high since February 2025.

Another holiday-shortened trading week begins today, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ( NYSEMKT: VOO) is feeling the Christmas spirit. The ETF opened up 0.6% Monday. Helping to fuel the rally is again Nvidia ( Nasdaq: NVDA), which plans to begin shipments of its H200 AI chip to China in February. Initial orders are said to total anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 H200 chips.

Shares of Micron ( NASDAQ: MU) are up about 14%, or by $31 this morning. All thanks to strong earnings. EPS of $4.78 beat by 82 cents. Revenue of $13.64 billion beat by $760 million. Moving forward, the company expects to earn between $8.22 and $8.62 per share, with revenue expected to be between $18.3 billion and $19.1 billion for the second quarter. Analysts were looking for $4.78 per share on revenue of $14.3 billion.

Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) gained 6.13% over the past month after gaining 9.65% the month prior. The legacy automaker's stock has gained more than 57% since its YTD low on April 8. So far this year, Ford is up 41.66%. It continues to pay patient shareholders with a dividend currently yielding 4.39%, or 15 cents per share quarterly.

After strong performance in 2025, the index is showing signs that future gains will depend less on liquidity and more on earnings quality and valuation resilience. "The market has shifted from being liquidity-driven to earnings-sensitive," said Saqib Iqbal, market analyst at Becoin.net. "With multiple rate cuts behind us and macro data softening, Nasdaq performance is now tied to profit growth and cash-flow resilience, rather than just cheap money."

Nike reported $0.49 per share in its August quarter against expectations of $0.27, delivering an 81% earnings surprise on revenue of $11.72 billion. The company has exceeded estimates in seven of its last eight quarters, averaging roughly 35% surprises. However, net income dropped to $727 million from over $1 billion a year earlier, and operating margin compressed to 7.9%. Gross margin held at 42.2%, but operating expenses ate into profitability as the company invested in digital infrastructure and premium product lines.

The U.S. stock market is drifting near its record levels on Wednesday following mixed reactions to profit reports from Macy's, Marvell Technologies, and other companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled within 0.7% of its all-time high set in late October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 174 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:50 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was virtually unchanged.

According to a survey conducted by Self.com earlier this year, 45% of Americans have a side hustle, with 10.5% of side hustlers noting that they earn over $1,000 monthly from their gigs. The survey also found that the average side hustle brings in $688 per month and that the highest proportion of those with a side hustle (36.2%) spend five to 10 hours per month on their side gig.