FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Top Midday Stories: Citi CEO Fraser Gives New ROTCE Targets; Datadog Shares Soar After Strong Earnings, Bullish Guidance

By

-- The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down, while the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite were up in late-morning trading Thursday, as oil prices fell below $100 on hopes that the US and Iran are nearing an agreement to end their war.

In company news, Citigroup (C) Chief Executive Jane Fraser said Thursday at the bank's Investor Day that Citi expects its return on tangible common equity to hit a range of 11% to 13% in 2027 and 2028, up from 10% to 11% currently, before rising further to 14% to 15% from 2029 to 2031, according to a slide deck the company published. Citigroup shares were up 2.1% around midday.

Datadog (DDOG) reported Q1 non-GAAP net income Thursday of $0.60 per diluted share, up from $0.46 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $0.51. First-quarter revenue was $1.01 billion, up from $761.6 million a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $960.1 million. For Q2, the company said it expects non-GAAP EPS of $0.57 to $0.59 on revenue of $1.07 billion to $1.08 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $0.50 and $994 million, respectively. For full-year 2026, Datadog said it expects non-GAAP EPS of $2.36 to $2.44 on revenue of $4.30 billion to $4.34 billion, up from the previous guidance ranges of $2.08 to $2.16, and $4.06 billion to $4.12 billion, respectively. Analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings of $2.16. Datadog shares were up 29.6%.

McDonald's (MCD) reported Q1 adjusted earnings Thursday of $2.83 per diluted share, up from $2.67 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $2.74. First-quarter revenue was $6.52 billion, up from $5.96 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $6.47 billion. McDonald's shares were down 0.4%.

Zoetis (ZTS) reported Q1 adjusted earnings Thursday of $1.53 per diluted share, up from $1.41 a year earlier but below the FactSet consensus of $1.60. First-quarter revenue was $2.26 billion, up from $2.20 billion a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of $2.30 billion. For full-year 2026, the company said it expects adjusted EPS of $6.85 to $7.00, down from its previous guidance of $7.00 to $7.10 and below the FactSet consensus of $7.03. The company also lowered its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $9.68 billion to $9.96 billion from $9.83 billion to $10.03 billion previously. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $9.89 billion. Zoetis shares were down 22%.

Arm (ARM) reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings late Wednesday of $0.60 per diluted share, up from $0.55 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $0.58. Fiscal Q4 revenue was $1.49 billion, up from $1.24 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $1.47 billion. For fiscal Q1, the company said it expects adjusted EPS of $0.40, plus or minus $0.04, on revenue of $1.26 billion, plus or minus $50 million. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $0.37 and $1.25 billion, respectively. Arm shares were down 8.4%.

Whirlpool (WHR) reported a Q1 adjusted loss late Wednesday of $0.56 per diluted share, swinging from adjusted earnings of $1.70 a year earlier and compared with the FactSet consensus of earnings of $0.38. First-quarter revenue was $3.27 billion, down from $3.62 billion a year ago and below the FactSet consensus of $3.44 billion. For fiscal 2026, the company said it expects adjusted EPS of $3 to $3.50, down from its previous guidance of $7 and below the FactSet consensus of $4.83. Full-year revenue is expected to be about $15 billion, down from its prior guidance of $15.30 billion to $15.60 billion and below the FactSet consensus of $15.26 billion. The company said the war in Iran has triggered a "recession-level industry decline in the US." Whirlpool shares were down 12.3%.

Shake Shack (SHAK) reported breakeven fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings Thursday, compared with $0.14 per diluted share a year earlier and below the FactSet consensus of $0.12. Fiscal Q1 revenue was $366.7 million, up from $320.9 million a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of $372.4 million. Shake Shack also said it has appointed Michelle Hook as chief financial officer, effective May 11. Shares of the company were down 28.6%.

Price: $130.33, Change: $+2.72, Percent Change: +2.14%

Related Articles

Australia

Sector Update: Energy

Energy stocks were lower Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index dropping 2% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) falling 1.8%.The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was decreasing 2.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was shedding 1.1%.Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 0.6% to $95.61 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was decreasing 0.5% to $100.78 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.1% to $2.79 per 1 million BTU.In corporate news, Cheniere Energy (LNG) shares fell 5% after the company reported Thursday a Q1 loss of $16.65 per diluted share, swinging from earnings of $1.57 a year earlier.

$LNG
Australia

Williams Continues to Layer on Growth Projects, RBC Capital Markets Says

Williams (WMB) continues to layer on growth projects, including its Neo power innovation project, and estimates a compound annual growth rate of 9% for sanctioned projects through 2030 while still targeting 10%, RBC Capital Markets said in a note Wednesday.The company anticipates a 5x build multiple on the $2.3 billion Neo project cost, implying about $460 million of annual EBITDA generation, while Atlas includes a new 13-year agreement to provide a pipeline capacity of 164 million cubic feet per day to a data center in the Northeast which is expected to be in service by year-end, according to the note.Management expects to be in the top half of its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $8.05 billion to $8.35 billion, supported by a strong Q1 and outlook for the rest of the year, the brokerage said.Analysts now forecast 2026 and 2027 adjusted EBITDA of $8.39 billion and $9.29 billion, respectively, and available funds from operations of $6.36 billion and $7.15 billion, respectively.RBC Capital Markets kept an outperform rating on Williams and raised the price target to $83 from $82.Shares of Williams were down 1.8% in Thursday trading.Price: $72.45, Change: $-1.32, Percent Change: -1.78%

$WMB
Commodities

Vistra Reports Higher Q1 Generation, Advances 4.5 GW Expansion Pipeline

Vistra (VST) reported Q1 earnings Thursday, showing total ongoing operations generation of 50.5 terawatt-hours, up from 48 TWh a year earlier.Generation in the East region increased to 30 TWh for the quarter ended March 31, up from 27.5 TWh a year earlier, while Texas generation rose to 20.1 TWh from 20 TWh.West region generation declined to 0.4 TWh in the quarter from 0.5 TWh a year earlier.Vistra added that total commercial availability fell to 92.7% for Q1, down from 95% a year earlier.Retail electricity volumes declined to 30.1 TWh in the quarter, down from 33.3 TWh a year earlier, amid milder weather conditions in ERCOT.Vistra is advancing about 4.5 gigawatts of generation capacity additions across gas, renewables, coal-to-gas conversions and nuclear uprates, including projects already completed or under construction.The company expects Permian gas peaker units to enter service by Q2 2028 and plans to begin construction on Oak Hill Phase 2 in 2026.Price: $158.55, Change: $+0.25, Percent Change: +0.16%

$VST