CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Higher, Apple Higher Into After Close Earnings, Peloton CEO Out & Job Cuts 5/2/24

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated at the open, midday, and close every weekday featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored and reported by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger, CNBC. Wall Street in the green this afternoon with the Dow up 152 points, four-tenths of a percent, back above 38,000. The S&P 500 index up 19 points. The Nasdaq is up 129 points, eight-tenths of one percent. Companies whose shares have hit fresh all-time highs today include Allstate, DaVita, Howomet, Aerospace, and Curtis Wright. The Dow is being led higher by shares of Boeing, which are 4% higher today.

Apple shares up almost 2%, heading into earnings, which come after the closing bell today. Some investors are worried it could be the company's fifth down quarter in the last six. The big number to watch going into Apple earnings today, greater China sales. China has been a sore spot for Apple. Sales have been plummeting in the country thanks to weak consumer demand and competition from Chinese phone brands like Huawei. So why does this matter? China contributes up to 20% of Apple's annual sales,

and Apple has yet to find a new market that's growing quickly enough to make up for the downturn there. CNBC's Steve Kovach. After Apple's earnings this afternoon, investors also on hold for the April jobs report coming from the Labor Department. That happens tomorrow morning. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week held steady, remaining historically low. Ford's April sales fell compared with April of last year as people buy fewer internal combustion engine vehicles. ICE vehicles down 9.2 percent. Where are people shifting? Well, they're clearly shifting towards green vehicles, if you will. EV sales in April more than doubled compared to April of last year, up 129 percent.

Hybrid sales up 59 percent. Look at the F-150 hybrid, the Maverick hybrid. Best months ever. Hybrids and EVs now make up 14 percent of Ford's monthly sales. A year ago, guys, it was 8 percent. CNBC's Phil LeBeau. Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy stepping down. The struggling company's in crisis mode. The company cutting global headcount by 15%.

The stock, a pandemic darling. It's all-time closing high in January of 2021 at $167 a share. Look, we're a far cry from there, right? After some expensive investments in showrooms and the company banking on the at-home fitness trend sticking post-pandemic. Barry stepped in in 2022 to help the company recover as consumers hopped off their bikes, jumped back into the world. But under him, you can see shares down over 90 percent. CNBC's Brandon Gomez. Corn prices popped to their highest since January on weather worries in the Midwest. It could hurt planting season and that

could impact what you pay for cereal in the morning and lots more. PepsiCo has launched new Pepsi Lime and Pepsi Peach flavors for the summer. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. CNBC is your ticket to Omaha, Nebraska for the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting. Watch live on air, online, or app. Warren Buffett meets with shareholders, plus their questions, his answers. Begins 9.30 Eastern, Saturday.