5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday

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• So far, this quarter is shaping up to be strong on the earnings front.
• Paramount Global’s board is preparing to remove its CEO as early as Monday morning.
• Advertising spending has boomeranged back.

Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:

1. What’s up?

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are coming off their best weeks since November after rising 2.7% and 4.2%, respectively. The Dow, meanwhile, finished the week up a more modest 0.7%. The gains last week came as several Big Tech names jumped after strong earnings and traders examined fresh U.S. inflation data. Looking ahead, this week will be filled with more major corporate earnings, key labor data and a Federal Reserve meeting. Follow live market updates.

2. From Apple to apple pie

The earnings reports keep coming and they don’t stop coming. So far, it’s looking like it will be a strong quarter. More than 45% of S&P 500-listed firms have posted results so far and about four out of every five of those have surpassed expectations, according to FactSet. This week will be a busy one: Roughly 160 S&P 500 companies are set to post their results, including tech giants Apple and Amazon and McDonald’s. Here are the earnings to watch this week:

• Monday: Domino’s Pizza, ON Semiconductor (before the bell); Paramount Global (after the bell)
• Tuesday: McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Eli Lilly, PayPal, Restaurant Brands International (before the bell); Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Pinterest, Super Micro Computer, Starbucks (after the bell)
• Wednesday: CVS Health, Pfizer, Yum Brands (before the bell); Qualcomm, DoorDash, eBay, Etsy, Carvana (after the bell)
• Thursday: Moderna, Cigna, Peloton Interactive (before the bell); Apple, Block, Coinbase, Cloudflare,
  Draftkings, Amgen (after the bell)
• Saturday: Berkshire Hathaway 

3. Off the top of the mountain?

Paramount Global‘s board is ready to remove CEO Bob Bakish from his role as early as Monday morning, people familiar with the matter told CNBC’s Alex Sherman. They also said he won’t be on the call when Paramount reports its earnings Monday afternoon. Bakish has lost the confidence of Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, according to people familiar with her thinking, and she wanted to remove him before the company has negotiations with cable company Charter Communications. Those talks will be key to putting a valuation on Paramount as it negotiates a possible merger with Skydance Media.

4. Ad-vancements

Advertising is so back. Meta, Snap and Google all reported first-quarter earnings results this week that beat analysts’ expectations, and all three saw improvements in their ad businesses. That comes after a rough 2022, when companies cut down on their marketing spending as inflation grew, and a 2023 that was marked by layoffs and cost cuts. Investors and analysts had been cautious before the earnings, but Citi analysts wrote in a Friday note that the broader advertising environment is “clearly strengthening,” citing success at Google Search and YouTube.

5. Tesla in China

Tesla hit a key milestone to rolling out its whole self-driving package in China as the country removed restrictions on its cars, saying they passed data security requirements. Tesla’s cars are already available in China, but the move raises expectations that its driver-assistance software, Full Self Driving, will be available in the market soon. So far, China has limited the use of that technology. The breakthrough came as Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing over the weekend for an unexpected meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Tesla shares were up 9% in premarket trading Monday.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Fred Imbert, Alex Sherman, Ashley Capoot, Ryan Browne and Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.

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