TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Thursday, October 19.
Related: Netflix surges as price hikes, subscriber growth add to stream earnings optimism
Full Video Transcript Below:
J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Wall Street is reacting to weekly jobless claims which came in lower than expected at 198,000, compared to the 210,000 that were expected. This is yet another sign that the labor market remains tight despite efforts from the Federal Reserve.
Markets are anxiously awaiting commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this afternoon. Investors will be monitoring these comments closely for any hints on the future of interest rates.
Separately, investors are reacting to disappointing Tesla earnings. The EV giant reported a 44 percent drop in profit after it slashed prices by as much as 25 percent during its third quarter. CEO Elon Musk also noted that the company faces quote ‘enormous challenges’ when it comes to Cybertruck production.
Meanwhile, if you have a Netflix account, your subscription fees are about to go up… again. The streaming giant announced that it would be raising the price of its premium ad free tier to $22.99, its basic plan to $11.99, but will keep the $6.99 ad supported tier at the same price.
While Netflix last hiked its prices in January 2022, some of its largest competitors have raised prices throughout 2023. Disney hiked the prices of Disney Plus and Hulu back in August, and Warner raised the cost of Max in January.
Netflix saw significant subscriber growth in its third quarter…it added 8.8 million new users, bringing the total to 247 million subscribers total. Netflix attributed this strong growth to its password sharing crackdown which it rolled out back in may.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
