Alphabet Inc. and Snap Inc. have warned about severe downturns in the online-advertising market in the past week, and seen their stocks head higher.Facebook has already said that it is experiencing record usage but seeing advertisers slash their marketing budgets — that means more costs to support consumers desperate to connect with others while stranded at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but no guarantee that anyone is paying higher rates to advertise to those users.
Snap and Google were both able to stave off fears of a prolonged downturn, and it will be up to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg to do the same when they speak Wednesday afternoon — if they can grab the attention from several other high-profile earnings reports, including Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -2.43% and Tesla Inc. TSLA, -3.71% . Wednesday offers one of the most packed days of earnings this season, with 37 members of the S&P 500 SPX, -0.52% and two Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.
• Boeing Co.’s BA, +2.03% rocky flight is set to continue as the company deals with a sudden collapse in air travel alongside its existing 737 Max woes. The good news is that the pandemic isn’t an “extinction-level event” for Boeing or the air-travel industry, according to Benchmark analyst Josh Sullivan. It may even give the company an excuse Tuesday morning to make beneficial strategic changes.
• The COVID-19 outbreak served as a lifeline for struggling Blue Apron Inc. APRN, +10.67% , and the company will share how its logistics arm met the rising demand for its meal kits. Blue Apron should also give an early look at retention and satisfaction trends as it looks to keep customers on board even after consumers can more easily get food from outside their homes.• Chip customers are looking to build up inventory, but Qualcomm Inc.’s QCOM, -0.