We are flat with a downward bias a half-hour before the market opens this Tuesday, with more earnings results reporting favorable conditions in Q4 but potential resistance in Q1. The Dow is -89 points at this hour, the S&P 500 is exactly 0 and the Nasdaq is +28 points. The small-cap Russell 2000 is down -1 point.

After today’s open, we’ll get the first labor market report of the week (which culminates in the big non-farm payroll Employment Situation report Friday morning) with the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). This data will report for December, whereas the rest of the jobs reports, also including private-sector payrolls from ADP ADP tomorrow ahead of the bell, reflect January tallies.

Also, Factory Orders for December come out shortly after regular trading starts today. Expectations are for -0.8% for the month, doubling the previous month’s -0.4% and equaling the lowest print since August of last year. Should goods-producing efforts within our shores manifest in the future, we may see a turnaround here — though we wouldn’t expect this in the near-term.

Q4 Earnings Reports Today: PFE, MRK, PYPL & More

Pfizer PFE put up its most impressive quarterly numbers in recent memory today, beating estimates on the bottom line by more than +30%: 63 cents per share versus 48 cents expected. Revenues of $17.76 billion surpassed the Zacks consensus by +1.52%, on Covid vaccination sales that outperformed expectations. Guidance was in-line with earlier projections. Shares of PFE had been down slightly year to date, and are up +0.6% on its earnings news.

Merck MRK also outpaced estimates in its Q4 report this morning, albeit not quite as impressively: earnings of $1.72 per share beat the Zacks consensus by 3 cents, while $15.62 billion in quarterly sales bettered estimates by +0.45%. Yet guidance was lowered on disappointing sales of its HPV vaccine Gardasil, and Merck shares are down -8.4% in today’s pre-market.

PayPal PYPL — otherwise known as where Elon Musk made his first billion dollars — outperformed expectations this morning on both top and bottom lines in its Q4 report. Earnings of $1.19 per share were a couple steps ahead of the $1.13 estimate, while revenues of $8.37 billion in the quarter were +1.67% ahead of where analysts were anticipating. Yet higher guidance was not enough to overcome the miss on Branded Payment Volume Growth, and shares are -8% ahead of the opening bell.

PepsiCo PEP beat by a penny to $1.96 per share — nicely ahead of the $1.78 per share reported in the year-ago quarter — on $27.78 billion in quarterly sales which barely missed expectations by -0.4%. North American demand slipped in the quarter, and shares are -2.5% in pre-market trading at this hour.

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Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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