Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Rise Ahead of April Jobs Report as China Opens Door to Trad
May 2, 2025
Block Stock Tumbles on Weak Results, ‘Cautious’ Guidance39 minutes ago Shares of Block (XYZ) lost more than a fifth of their value in early trading Friday, a day after the payments technology provider posted worse-than-expected results and guidance as it warned about economic conditions ahead.
The operator of Square and Cash App reported first quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.56, well short of the $0.92 analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for. Revenue declined 3% year-over-year to $5.77 billion, also missing forecasts.
Gross profit rose 9% to $2.29 billion, and payment volume increased 4.4% to $56.80 billion. However, they were below expectations as well.
The results were dragged by falling bitcoin revenue, which slid 16% to $2.30 billion, and CEO Jack Dorsey explained that Cash App didn’t perform as anticipated as the company “saw changes to consumer spending as the quarter progressed that we believe drove the majority of our forecast miss.”
COO and CFO Amrita Ahuja added that “we’re operating in a more dynamic macro environment, so we’ve reflected a more cautious stance on the macro backdrop into our guidance.”
Block sees current-quarter gross profit of $2.45 billion and full-year gross profit of $9.96 billion. The Visible Alpha estimates were for $2.54 billion and $10.18 billion, respectively.
Block shares were down 21% recently, trading at their lowest levels since late 2023.
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Apple Sees Tariffs Taking a Bite Out of Results This Quarter1 hr 13 min ago Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said the Trump administration’s tariffs, if they remain at their current levels, will cost Apple about $900 million in the current quarter that runs through June.
During the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday, Cook said a majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. this quarter will come from India, rather than China, with iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and other products coming mostly from Vietnam.
The comments come amid concerns the company could be particularly hurt by trade tensions with China, where Apple manufactured an estimated 90% of its products until recently. Most Apple products are exempt from President Trump’s 125% “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods, but still affected by the 20% import tax the White House put in place earlier in the year to combat fentanyl trafficking, Cook noted.
Cook also warned the impact of tariffs to Apple’s results could change, given the company is “uncertain of potential future actions” the administration could take. Trump has said he expects tariffs on China “will come down substantially” in trade negotiations but not drop to zero.
Apple reported fiscal second-quarter revenue and earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations, with higher-than-expected iPhone sales.
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TradingView
Shares of Apple were down about 5% in early trading Friday. The stock has lost about 19% of its value since the start of the year.
Bitcoin Levels to Watch as $100,000 Back in Sight2 hr 20 min ago Bitcoin (BTCUSD) has surged to its highest point in more than two months, putting it back within reach of the psychological $100,000 level.
Bitcoin is up about 30% from its early-April low as investors have sought to diversify their portfolios amid uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s trade policies and their potential impact on the economy. Amid recent market turmoil, bitcoin and stocks have occasionally moved in opposite directions, evidence to some investors that the cryptocurrency is finally showing its worth as a safe haven.
After breaking out from a a descending channel last month, bitcoin’s price rallied sharply before consolidating in a narrow pennant pattern. Source: TradingView.com.
In a win for the bulls, the pioneer cryptocurrency staged a breakout above the pennant’s top trendline Thursday, setting the stage for a continuation move higher. Moreover, the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum, with the indicator edging toward overbought territory.
However, it’s worth pointing out that trading volumes have been below average during bitcoin’s recent bullish price action, suggesting larger market participants may remain on the sidelines.
Investors should watch crucial overhead levels on bitcoin’s chart around $100,000 and $107,000, while also eyeing key support near $92,000 and $85,000.
The legacy cryptocurrency was at $97,000 recently, still below its record high of around $109,000 in January but up from last month’s low below $75,000.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
–Timothy Smith
Major Stock Index Futures Point to Gains2 hr 59 min ago Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4%.
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S&P 500 futures also rose 0.4%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.2%.
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