Wall Street Lunch: Copilot Gets Its Own Windows Key

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Your Windows keyboard has a button for Copilot AI. (0:15) Walgreens cut its dividend. (3:56) Big upgrade to iPhone cameras – 2025. (4:25)

Here is a summary:

Top stories so far today

Microsoft (MSFT) is making major changes to Windows PC keyboards for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The company has added a button to activate its AI Copilot service, emphasizing that it expects AI to become central to its business.

Looking ahead to the upcoming CES technology conference, Copilot keys will appear on many new Windows 11 PCs from ecosystem partners, including the upcoming Surface devices, which are expected to ship from late February through the spring.

Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post: “The new key allows you to call Copilot from your Windows environment, allowing you to seamlessly utilize Copilot in your daily life.”

About 30 years ago, companies introduced the Windows key to PC keyboards.

“We see this as another transformational moment in Copilot’s journey with Windows, which will be our entry point into the world of PC AI,” Mehdi added.

In today’s transaction

The stock is seeing more buying support after two selling sessions this week. However, the growth name is still on the hind feet.

Dow (DJI) leads S&P (SP500) and Nasdaq (COMP.IND). 9 out of 11 S&P industries are higher, especially the financial industry (XLF). Energy (XLE) is the weakest.

The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) returned higher to around 4% following a choppy previous session.

The morning’s data includes three jobs reports that signal strength in the labor market.

Weekly initial jobless claims fell to a three-month low of 202,000 and well below expectations of 217,000. Continuing claims fell to 18.55 million from 18.86 million previously and below the consensus of 18.83 million.

Challenger reported that employers announced 34,817 layoffs in December, a 24% decrease from the 45,510 cuts announced in November.

“Given how low claims numbers are at this stage of the cycle, claims numbers are more likely to rise than fall in the coming months, but leading indicators are mixed,” said Kieran Clancy, economist at Pantheon Macro. He said. by Challenger contrasts with the uptick in WARN notices for prior layoffs and plant closures, which have been on the rise in recent months.”

And payrolls rose 164,000 in December, surpassing the consensus of 115,000, according to ADP’s measure of private sector employment.

ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson says: “We are returning to a labor market very similar to pre-pandemic employment. Wages have not driven recent inflation, but there is no risk of wage increases now that wage growth has retreated – the price spiral has all but disappeared.”

However, markets are often reluctant to place too much weight on ADP numbers due to government figures and recent changes in methodology.

The Department of Labor will release official jobs figures for December tomorrow. Economists expect non-farm employment to increase by 170,000 and the unemployment rate to rise to 3.8%.

Among active stocks

Mobileye Global (MBLY) faltered following updated guidance as it pointed to excess inventory from customers. The company said it expects first-quarter revenue to decline about 50% compared to $458 million in the first quarter of 2023. Full-year 2024 sales are expected to range from $1.83 billion to $1.96 billion. This figure is significantly lower than Wall Street’s forecast of $2.57 billion.

Verizon (VZ) has halted its second upgrade in a week, with Wolfe Research saying it is exiting “one of the most strategically challenging positions” over the past two years. Wolfe raised the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform and set a price target of $46. It noted that this will have a positive impact on improving subscriber growth, “steady” postpaid average revenue per user retail sales strategy, and reducing capital expenditures and leverage.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) beat Street forecasts in the first quarter as healthcare sales surged following its recent acquisition of Summit Health. However, the company also cut its dividend by 48% to $0.25.

CEO Tim Wentworth said: “We are taking a balanced approach to our capital allocation priorities, focusing on right-sizing our expenses and taking rapid action to increase cash flow, while exploring all strategic options to create sustainable long-term shareholder value. “We are evaluating it,” he said.

Another noteworthy news is

Apple (AAPL) bulls are trying to avoid a fourth straight session of declines.

Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight, citing concerns about iPhone inventory levels and peaking sales growth. Analyst Harsh Kumar predicts challenges for Apple, citing a weakening macro environment in China, difficult comparisons starting in 2023, and ongoing currency headwinds. He also highlights the impact rising interest rates have on Apple’s overall performance.

However, another analyst predicts that Apple is likely to offer a major camera upgrade to the iPhone 2025 edition.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a blog post that the iPhone 17 line will feature a 24-megapixel front camera and a six-element lens, compared to the 12-megapixel camera on the iPhone 14 15.

Kuo added that the upgrade will “significantly improve image quality.” He added that the 2024 iPhone (expected to be called iPhone 16) will likely feature the same 12-megapixel front camera as the latest model.

And in the Wall Street research corner

In its belief list, Goldman Sachs highlights 10 stocks with accelerating topline growth in 2024.

“Given expectations for a challenging revenue growth environment, few companies can demonstrate the sustainability of high revenue growth and/or accelerated revenue growth and will likely qualify for expanded valuation multiples,” the stock analysts wrote. said.

They added that topline growth will become “increasingly scarce” and accelerating topline growth will become “more difficult.”

The top 10 stocks include Jefferies Financial (JEF), Merck (MRK), Chevron (CVX), and Apple (AAPL).