SOTS 2nd Hour: Big Tech, Big Earnings - Investor Takeaways from Meta, Microsoft, Tesla & More Results 1/29/26

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Laura Martin (0:58)

Good Thursday morning.

Sara Eisen (1:00)

Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Sara Eisen with Carl Quintanilla and David Faber. We are live as always with post night of the New York Stock Exchange. Today, big moves for big tech and more earnings are on the way. We're going to talk about results from Meta, Microsoft, IBM, and look ahead to Apple's report coming after the close. Plus, Elon Musk unveiling a major strategy shift for Tesla, saying the company will end Model S and X production and double down on robots. Former Tesla Board member Steve Wesley will tell us if he thinks the big bet will pay off.

Carl Quintanilla (1:30)

First up, some new economic data just crossing. Let's get to Rick Santelli. Hi, Rick.

Rick Santelli (1:35)

Yes, I'll tell you, Carl, there's some strong data here. Our factory orders, these are fresh November numbers, expecting one and a half, 1.6 percent. 2.7 percent. That would be the loftiest level since May of last year. And when you strip out transportation, well, it's not 2.7, but it's up 2 tenths. And before I see any revisions, it follows minus 2 tenths. So that's a good thing. That would be the best number since July of last year. Now, the durable good numbers are November final reads where we replace the mid-month. So 5.3 remains 5.3. But 5.3 is the best since, well, May of, excuse me, March of last year. Now, strip out transportation and it's up 4.0. 4.0. Well, that's a tenth lighter than the rear view mirror, which was up half a 1%. If we look at capital good orders, non-defense, ex-air proxy for capital spending, it moves down from 7 to 4.0. And that is something to pay attention to. 4 would only be the loftiest when you change that to September, when it was up 1%.

And finally, let's switch to shipments. Shipments coming in at 2.0. Half of what we looked at mid-month of 4.0, not good. Now, let's look at wholesale inventories. Up 2.0, exactly as expected. If you look at the sales side, we're expecting minus a tenth. Zoom, zoom, zoom up 1.3. That equals July of last year to find higher number you were too feb of last year. Very, very quickly this morning, we saw the trade deficit go up and it went up because exports went down, imports went up. That is a GDP buster. We're going to lose a little horsepower on GDP. So, we want to pay attention to Atlanta GDP now. Our last read was 5.3999. We'll call it 5.4. Most likely, it's going to lose a few tenths or more. Sara, back to you.

Sara Eisen (3:33)

Okay, Rick, thank you very much. It's post-Fed Day, and so, normally, we dissect every word of Fed Share Powell's news conference to determine what he's going to do next. But he has two more meetings, and the market is not betting on another cut during Fed Share Powell's tenure. He sort of made risk sound balanced between employment and inflation. The bigger news is about all the Fed drama. In other words, what's going to happen to him with this criminal investigation? He didn't say much there. But I did think it was very revealing to hear his answer to a reporter question about whether he had advice for the next Fed Share.

Jerome Powell (4:08)

One is, you know, stay out of elected politics. Don't get pulled into elected politics. Don't do it. And that's another thing. Another is, you know, our window into democratic accountability is Congress.

And it's not a passive burden for us to go to Congress and talk to people. It's an affirmative, regular obligation. If you want democratic legitimacy, you earn it by your interactions with the our elected overseers. And so it's something you need to work hard at. And I have worked hard at it. So and the last thing is, you know, it's easy to criticize government institutions so many ways. I will tell whoever it is, you're about to meet the most qualified group of people you not only have ever worked with, you will ever work with. And when you meet Fed staff, and not everybody's perfect, but there isn't a better cadre of professionals more dedicated to the public well-being than work at the Fed.