Apr 17, 2025
Bespoke’s Conference Call Recaps use AI to summarize lengthy earnings calls. The commentary below is AI-generated and then edited by Bespoke for quality control. As always, none of these summaries should be construed as recommendations to buy or sell any securities, and investors should do their own research and/or consult with a financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Our latest recap available to Bespoke subscribers covers Charles Schwab’s (SCHW) Q1 2025 earnings call.
Charles Schwab (SCHW) is one of the largest investment services firms in the US, offering brokerage services, wealth management, banking, and trading platforms for individual investors and registered investment advisors (RIAs). The company serves over 34 million brokerage accounts and manages nearly $9 trillion in client assets. SCHW is a bellwether for investor sentiment and behavior, particularly among self-directed and retail investors, and provides valuable insight into asset flows, retail engagement, and the health of the wealth management industry. SCHW reported a strong start to the year, with core net new assets up 44% YoY to $138B, and a 41% jump in EPS. Legacy Ameritrade clients contributed meaningfully to growth as post-integration satisfaction surged. Retail engagement hit records, with daily average trades up 24% and thinkorswim adoption more than doubling. Wealth assets neared $500B as SCHW expanded into alternatives and invested in Wealth.com. The firm announced plans to open 16 new branches and hire 250 consultants. Amid market volatility and shifting Fed expectations, SCHW saw a surprising cash inflow, reduced high-cost funding, and reaffirmed confidence in its full-year earnings outlook. On better-than-expected results, the stock way up 3% at midday on 4/17…
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Apr 17, 2025
See what’s driving market performance around the world in today’s Morning Lineup. Bespoke’s Morning Lineup is the best way to start your trading day. Read it now by starting a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium. CLICK HERE to learn more and start your trial.
“Had it not been for the recent uncertainty from global tariffs and their downstream impacts, we would have raised our expectations for 2025.” – Tim Arndt, CFO, Prologis
Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.
It’s still early in the Q1 earnings season, but one of the most significant quotes we have heard in an earnings conference call came from Prologis (PLD) CFO Tim Arndt where he noted that business fundamentals were improving to close out the first quarter to the point where the company was planning to raise expectations. Then the President appeared with the Reciprocal tariffs on April 2nd, and that moment changed everything. That ceremony forced corporate America to reassess everything as we enter one of the most uncertain operating environments in at least a generation.
In addition to a trickle of earnings news this morning, we got updates on Housing Starts and Building Permits for March at 8:30, along with jobless claims, and the April Philly Fed report. Housing Starts were a big miss, but Building Permits came in stronger than expected. Initial Jobless Claims came in 10K lower than expected, while Continuing Claims were higher. The Philly Fed report was a big miss and came in at -26.4, which, outside of one reading in April 2023, was the weakest since the Covid crash.
Ironically, the main company of focus this morning has nothing to do with tariffs. Shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) are trading down over 20% in the pre-market after the company reported a reverse triple play with weaker-than-expected EPS and revenues while also lowering guidance. After dropping as low as $438 in late February, the stock rallied up just above $600 as recently as last Thursday, but this morning has given it nearly all back as the stock sinks to $460.
What makes today’s plunge even more painful is that investors had been gravitating to the stock as they took on more defensive positioning since the market peak in February. Since the 2/19 peak in the S&P 500 through yesterday’s close, UNH had been the 12th best performing stock in the S&P 500 and the best performing stock in the Dow, and that included a 12.5% downside gap on 2/21! When the defensive stocks start to fall, where is an investor to turn?
With the stock on pace to open down 20.52% as of this writing, it would go down as UNH’s second-largest downside gap at the open since 1990. The only one that was larger was a 20.57% gap in August 1998 when the company took a $900 million charge. At this point, though, it wouldn’t take much more downside for today’s decline to unseat that decline. Besides the August 1998 occurrence, the only other time that UNH gapped down anywhere near 20% was in July 1996 (-19.13%). It’s also interesting to see that this morning’s extreme downside gap follows what was one of the stock’s most extreme upside gaps less than two weeks ago!
Apr 16, 2025
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Looking for deeper insight into markets? In tonight’s Closer sent to Bespoke Institutional clients, we lead off with an evaluation of Fed Chair Powell’s comments today (page 1) followed by a look into the high correlation between stocks (page 2). After that, we dive into the latest earnings (page 3) followed by the Bank of Canada rate decision and TICS data (page 4). We close out with reviews of today’s NY Fed services data (page 5) and the latest update to industrial production (page 6).
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Apr 16, 2025
Bespoke’s Conference Call Recaps use AI to summarize lengthy earnings calls. The commentary below is AI-generated and then edited by Bespoke for quality control. As always, none of these summaries should be construed as recommendations to buy or sell any securities, and investors should do their own research and/or consult with a financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Our latest recap available to Bespoke subscribers covers Interactive Brokers’ (IBKR) Q1 2025 earnings call.
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is a global electronic brokerage firm offering low-cost, high-speed access to stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds, and funds across more than 150 markets. IBKR delivered record net revenues and account growth, adding 279,000 new accounts (up 32% YoY), driven largely by international retail demand, especially in Asia and Europe. Despite a drop in the S&P 500, client activity remained strong, with options volumes up 25%, futures up 16%, and equity share volumes up 47%. Margin balances dipped 12% amid market volatility, but net interest income still rose 3% to $770M. The company expanded its crypto offerings to 11 tokens following regulatory easing and saw overnight trading volumes surge 250% YoY. Tariff-related uncertainty hasn’t dampened global appetite for US stocks, but the stock fell more than 11% on 4/16 on a bottom-line miss…
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Apr 16, 2025
Bespoke’s Conference Call Recaps use AI to summarize lengthy earnings calls. The commentary below is AI-generated and then edited by Bespoke for quality control. As always, none of these summaries should be construed as recommendations to buy or sell any securities, and investors should do their own research and/or consult with a financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Our latest recap available to Bespoke subscribers covers Prologis’ (PLD) Q1 2025 earnings call.
Prologis (PLD) is the world’s largest industrial real estate company, owning and operating nearly 1.2 billion square feet of logistics space across the globe. It serves customers, including e-commerce giants, manufacturers, and logistics providers who rely on efficient, strategically located warehouse and distribution facilities. The company is also expanding into high-demand areas like data center infrastructure and renewable energy, with nearly 2 gigawatts of power under development. In Q1, PLD reported it is leasing 58 million square feet and beat expectations on earnings and rents, but held guidance steady due to heightened uncertainty from new global tariffs announced on 4/2. The company reported that over 300 customers are now accelerating shipments, rerouting goods, and demanding short-term storage as trade volatility disrupts planning. Build-to-suit leasing remained strong, with two large deals totaling 1.1 million square feet signed post-4/2. Data center development advanced, with 400 MW added to its advanced-stage pipeline. Management also flagged Mexico, Brazil, and India as rising demand hubs and emphasized that in a fragmented world, inventory duplication will drive the long-term need for warehouse space. On better-than-expected results, PLD shares rose around 2% on 4/16…
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Apr 16, 2025
Bespoke’s Conference Call Recaps use AI to summarize lengthy earnings calls. The commentary below is AI-generated and then edited by Bespoke for quality control. As always, none of these summaries should be construed as recommendations to buy or sell any securities, and investors should do their own research and/or consult with a financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Our latest recap available to Bespoke subscribers covers JB Hunt’s (JBHT) Q1 2025 earnings call.
JB Hunt (JBHT) is one of the largest surface transportation and logistics companies in North America, offering intermodal, truckload, dedicated contract carriage, brokerage, and final mile delivery. It operates a vast fleet of trucks and containers while partnering closely with railroads to move freight efficiently across long distances. The company posted record Q1 Intermodal volumes (+8% YoY), including 13% growth in its Eastern network and strength in Mexico, but margin repair remains elusive due to pricing pressure and excess capacity. Customers are actively reworking supply chains amid tariff and sourcing uncertainty, prompting more long-term mode shifts from highway to intermodal. Dedicated sales were solid with 260 trucks sold, though decision cycles remain elongated. Final Mile stayed weak in big-ticket categories like furniture and appliances, offset by fulfillment strength in off-price retail. After topping expectations, shares fell as much as 8.6% on 4/16 due to macro uncertainty that could hinder growth…
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