Prologis, Inc., a leading global logistics real estate company, has released its Form 10-Q report for the third quarter of 2024. The report highlights significant financial growth, strategic initiatives, and the challenges the company faces in the current economic environment. Prologis continues to leverage its extensive portfolio and strategic capital ventures to drive growth and maintain its market leadership.
Financial Highlights
Total Revenues: $2,036.4 million, up from $1,914.7 million in the same period last year, driven by higher rental income and strategic capital revenues.
Operating Income: $1,251.0 million, an increase from $882.1 million in the same period last year, reflecting gains on dispositions of investments in real estate.
Net Earnings: $1,063.5 million, compared to $799.1 million in the same period last year, primarily due to higher operating income and gains on real estate transactions.
Net Earnings Attributable to Common Stockholders: $1,004.3 million, up from $746.2 million in the same period last year.
Net Earnings Per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders – Basic: $1.08, compared to $0.81 in the same period last year.
Net Earnings Per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders – Diluted: $1.08, compared to $0.80 in the same period last year.
Business Highlights
Revenue Segments: The Real Estate segment generated revenues of $1,901 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, and $5,582 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. The Strategic Capital segment generated revenues of $135 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, and $419 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Geographical Performance: The U.S. market remains the largest contributor to the Real Estate segment with revenues of $1,820 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, and $5,359 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. Other Americas, Europe, and Asia also showed strong performance with revenues of $35 million, $29 million, and $18 million respectively for the three months ended September 30, 2024.
Sales Units: The Real Estate segment reported a total of 2,290 operating properties with 522 million square feet as of September 30, 2024. This includes 748 properties in the U.S., 285 in Other Americas, 1,017 in Europe, and 240 in Asia.
New Production Launches: The company acquired 225 acres of land in India through its investment in consolidated joint ventures, marking a new market entry.
Future Outlook: The company plans to continue its focus on key markets in 20 countries on four continents, leveraging its significant level of ownership in co-investment ventures to drive growth. The strategic capital segment is expected to benefit from ongoing management of properties owned by unconsolidated co-investment ventures.
Operational Efficiency: The company recognized lease right-of-use assets and lease liabilities related to leases in which it is the lessee, amounting to $48.9 million in 2024, indicating a focus on operational efficiency and cost management.
Strategic Initiatives
Strategic Acquisitions and Dispositions: Prologis has been actively involved in strategic acquisitions and dispositions to optimize its real estate portfolio. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the company acquired partners' interests in an unconsolidated venture, leading to the consolidation of properties, including 30 operating properties aggregating 6.0 million square feet. Additionally, Prologis entered a new market in India through its investment in consolidated joint ventures, acquiring 225 acres of land. The company also completed a tender offer to acquire 77.1% of Terrafina, a Mexican FIBRA, through a combination of stock and cash, thereby consolidating Terrafina's assets.
Capital Management: Prologis has been proactive in managing its capital structure through various financing activities. The company issued senior notes totaling $4.2 billion across multiple currencies, including U.S. dollars, Chinese renminbi, Canadian dollars, euros, and British pounds, with maturities ranging from 2027 to 2054. Additionally, Prologis extinguished a $500 million U.S. dollar term loan and entered into a Japanese term loan totaling ¥20.0 billion ($129.4 million) maturing in 2034. The company also modified the interest rates on its Canadian term loan and credit facility agreements from CDOR to CORRA. Prologis maintained a strong liquidity position with $6.6 billion in total liquidity, including $781 million in cash and cash equivalents. The company paid $2.7 billion in dividends on common and preferred stock and made noncontrolling interests distributions of $227.8 million.
Future Outlook: Prologis plans to continue its strategic initiatives by focusing on the development and leasing of logistics properties in key markets. The company aims to leverage its significant land bank and development pipeline to meet the growing demand for logistics facilities. Prologis also intends to maintain its strong liquidity position to support future acquisitions and development projects. The company expects to repay maturing debt with cash generated from operations, proceeds from property dispositions, or additional borrowings. Prologis remains committed to its strategic capital segment, managing its unconsolidated co-investment ventures to generate recurring fees and promote revenue. The company anticipates continued growth in its Real Estate and Strategic Capital segments, driven by its disciplined capital management and strategic investments.
Challenges and Risks
Economic and Geopolitical Uncertainty: The company expects some delay in customers' leasing decisions over the next several quarters due to uncertainty in the economic and geopolitical environment. This could impact short-term revenue and occupancy rates.
Softening of Rents and Occupancy: Despite strong operating results, there is a noted softening of rents and occupancy in the market. This could affect the company's ability to maintain high occupancy rates and rental income.
Slower Decision-Making in Build-to-Suits: The company is experiencing slower decision-making with build-to-suits, leading to limited speculative development in the short term. This could impact the company's development pipeline and future growth.
Foreign Currency Fluctuations: The company is exposed to foreign currency exchange risk related to investments in and earnings from foreign investments. Fluctuations in exchange rates could impact the financial results when translated to U.S. dollars.
Interest Rate Changes: Exposure to interest rate changes on future earnings and cash flows is a significant risk. A 10% increase in interest rates on average outstanding variable rate debt balances could result in additional annual interest expense of $4 million.
Environmental Uncertainties: Risks related to global pandemics and natural disasters could impact the company's operations and financial performance.
Supply Chain Resiliency: The long-term trends of e-commerce adoption and supply chain resiliency continue to drive the need for increased warehouse space. However, any disruptions in these trends could impact demand for the company's logistics facilities.
Regulatory Risks: Maintenance of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) status, tax structuring, and changes in income tax laws and rates pose regulatory risks that could impact the company's financial condition.
Availability of Financing and Capital: The availability of financing and capital, the levels of debt maintained, and credit ratings are critical to the company's operations. Adverse changes in these areas could negatively impact growth and development activities.
Competition: Increased or unanticipated competition for properties could impact the company's ability to acquire and develop new properties, affecting long-term growth.
Foreign Currency Risk: The company is exposed to foreign currency exchange variability related to investments in and earnings from foreign investments. A hypothetical 10% adverse change in foreign currency exchange rates could result in a $163 million cash payment on settlement of foreign currency contracts.
Interest Rate Risk: The company is exposed to the impact of interest rate changes on future earnings and cash flows. At September 30, 2024, $31.2 billion of debt bore interest at fixed rates, and $1.7 billion bore interest at variable rates. A 10% increase in interest rates could result in additional annual interest expense of $4 million.
No Material Changes: At September 30, 2024, no material changes had occurred in the company's risk factors as discussed in Item 1A. in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Newell Brands Inc. NWL posted third-quarter 2024 results, wherein sales missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and fell year over year. Nevertheless, earnings met the consensus mark. The company is making progress in its turnaround efforts. Its front-end commercial capabilities, appear encouraging.
The company’s normalized earnings per share (EPS) were 16 cents, down from 37 cents in the year-ago quarter. The bottom-line figure met the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Net sales dipped 4.9% year over year to $1,947 million on lower core sales, as well as the impacts of business exits and adverse foreign exchange. The metric missed the consensus estimate of $1,962 million. Core sales fell 1.7% year over year. However, pricing across the international markets to offset inflation and currency was a significant contributor to core sales.
The normalized gross margin expanded 470 basis points (bps) year over year to 35.4%. The normalized operating margin increased 210 bps year over year to 9.5%.
In the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have risen 6.1% compared with the industry’s 8.2% growth.
Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.
NWL’s Segmental Details
Net sales in the Home & Commercial Solutions segment were $1 billion, down 9.1% from the year-ago period. The metric missed our estimate of $1.1 billion. Core sales slipped 2.3% year over year, due to decreases in the Kitchen and Home Fragrance businesses, somewhat offset by rise in the Commercial business. Also, the impacts of a few business exits acted as deterrents.
The Learning and Development segment recorded net sales of $717 million, up 3.3% from the year-ago quarter. The metric beat our consensus mark of $694.6 million. Core sales grew 4.4%, which was offset by the adverse impacts of foreign exchange. While core sales grew in the Baby business, it fell in Writing.
The Outdoor and Recreation segment’s net sales of $183 million declined 20.8% from the year-ago quarter. Also, the metric lagged our estimate of $202.2 million. Core sales fell 16.8%.
Newell Brands Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Newell Brands Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Newell Brands Inc. Quote
Other Financial Details of Newell
Newell ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $494 million, long-term debt of $4.1 billion, outstanding debt of $5 billion and shareholders’ equity of $2.9 billion. NWL also provided $346 million in cash for operating activities during the nine months through the second quarter.
Updates on NWL’s Organizational Realignment
Newell’s organizational realignment is likely to strengthen its front-end commercial capabilities, including consumer understanding and brand communication. Apart from improving accountability, the Realignment Plan will unlock operational efficiencies and cost savings, lower complexity and free up funds for reinvestment.
As part of this realignment, NWL made several organizational design changes, including setting up a cross-functional brand-management organization, realigning business unit finance to wholly aid the new global brand management model and simplifying the regional go-to-market organizations, as well as unifying the domestic retail sales teams, business-aligned accounting personnel, the manufacturing quality team and the human resources functions into the center-led teams to boost standardization and scale with a One Newell approach.
It looks to optimize its real-estate footprint and take other cost reduction efforts. Such actions are likely to be implemented by this year. After the execution of the organizational design changes , management estimates realizing annualized pretax savings in the range of $65-$90 million, net of reinvestment, with $55-$70 million in 2024. Restructuring and related costs are likely to be in the range of $75-$90 million. NWL incurred restructuring and related charges of $42 million in the first nine months of 2024.
NWL’s Outlook for Q4 & 2024
Management issued guidance for the fourth quarter and raised view for normalized operating margin and normalized EPS in 2024. The company anticipates 2024 sales to decline 6-7% year over year, with a core sales dip of 3-4%. The normalized operating margin is likely to be 8.1-8.3% compared with the prior mentioned 8-8.2%. Normalized EPS is predicted to be 63-66 cents compared with the prior stated 60-65 cents, whereas it reported 79 cents last year.
The company envisions operating cash flow of $500-$600 million. This includes $150 million in cash payments related to restructuring efforts.
For the fourth quarter, net sales are envisioned to dip 4-7%, with core sales anticipated to drop 2-5%. The company expects a normalized operating margin of 7-7.7% and normalized EPS of 11-14 cents.
Key Picks
Freshpet, Inc. FRPT, a pet food company, has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 132.9%. FRPT currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Freshpet’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 26.1% and 202.9%, respectively, from the prior-year reported levels.
Vital Farms VITL, which provides pasture-raised products, presently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vital Farms’ current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 26.4% and 88.1%, respectively, from the prior-year reported levels.
VITL has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 82.5%.
Flower Foods FLO, which offers high-quality baked items, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FLO’s current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 1% and 5%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. FLO has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 1.9%.
Wall Street closed lower on Monday, pulled down by real estate stocks. Treasury yields rose to multi-month highs as market participants took cognizance of comments from Fed officials. Two of the three most widely followed indexes closed the session in the red, while one closed in the green.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) ticked down 344.31 points, or 0.8%, to close at 42,931.60. Twenty-three components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory, while seven ended in positive.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 50.45 points, or 0.3%, to close at 18,540.01.
The S&P 500 declined 10.69 points, or 0.2%, to close at 5,853.98. Ten of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red. The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE), the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) fell 2.1%, 1.2% and 0.8%, respectively, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) rose 0.5%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 1.9% to 18.37. A total of 11.4 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 11.6 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 3.51-to-1 ratio on the NYSE while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 89 new highs and 51 new lows.
Treasury Yields Rise on Comments From Fed Officials
Mentioning that the economy remained resilient and the labor market strong, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Monday long-term direction for interest rates could be higher than it has been in the past, even if they are coming down now. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said she supports the current move to lowering interest rates. “However, any number of shocks could influence what that path to normal will look like, how fast policy should move and where rates should settle.” Logan added, “in my view, the FOMC will need to remain nimble and willing to adjust if appropriate.”
On cue, the yield on the benchmark 10-year treasury rose 12 basis points (bps) to 4.194%, touching its highest level in almost three months. The 2-year treasury yield increased 7 bps to 4.027%.
While talks about higher interest rates lead to high bond yields, tech stocks usually suffer because of their future valuation. Monday was an exception, though, with a 4.1% rise in NVIDIA Corporation NVDA carrying the tech sector on its shoulders. All the other sectors of the S&P 500 took a hit, with real estate and health care being the worst hit.
Consequently, shares of CBRE Group, Inc. CBRE and Prologis, Inc. PLD lost 1.7% and 3.9%, respectively. Both currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
Per the Conference Board, the leading indicators for the U.S. declined 0.5% in September 2024 to 99.7, following a 0.3% fall in August. Over the six-month period between March and September 2024, the index fell 2.6%, more than its 2.2% decline over the previous six-month period (September 2023 to March 2024).
Zacks Investment Research
These Stocks Are Moving the Most Today: Humana, Nike, Tesla, Conagra, Joby Aviation, Caesars, and More — Barrons.com
Stocks made a u-turn and started to rise as investors got back into equities the day after a spike in tensions in the Middle East.
These stocks were making moves Wednesday:
Humana was down 13% after the health insurance and Medicare services company said in a securities filing that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cut the quality rating of its largest Medicare Advantage plan, which accounts for 45% of the company's Medicare Advantage members. The move could have a major impact on the rebates and quality payments that CMS pays Humana in 2026.
Nike fell 6.3% after the athletic apparel and gear maker withdrew its financial guidance for fiscal 2025 and postponed its first investor day in seven years. The aim is to give recently appointed CEO Elliott Hill time to evaluate the company's strategies. Nike reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 70 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates of 52 cents. Revenue of $11.6 billion fell 10% from a year earlier and was roughly in line with expectations. Sales in North America dropped 11% as footwear sales sank 14%.
Tesla was down 3.7%. The electric-vehicle maker reported third-quarter deliveries of 462,890 cars and trucks, up about 6% from a year earlier. Wall Street had expected deliveries of about 462,000 vehicles Coming into Wednesday, the stock had risen about 4% in 2024, staging a remarkable comeback from losses earlier in the year.
Joby Aviation surged 26% after Toyota said it would invest an additional $500 million in the aerospace start-up. The money is intended to support the certification and commercial production of Joby's electric air taxi.
Caesars Entertainment rose 6.3% and was the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 on Wednesday. The casino-entertainment company announced a $1 billion note offering and its board authorized a new repurchase program for up to $500 million of common stock.
Lamb Weston, the frozen-potatoes supplier, posted fiscal first-quarter profit of $127 million, down 46% from a year earlier, and announced a restructuring plan, saying that restaurant traffic and frozen potato demand, relative to supply, "continue to be soft, and we believe it will remain soft through the remainder of fiscal 2025." The restructuring includes, among other actions, reducing the company's global workforce by about 4%, and closing a processing facility. Shares rose 2.1% after trading lower earlier in the session.
LPL Financial fired Chief Executive and President Dan Arnold for making statements to employees that violated the company's code of conduct. The company said its board terminated Arnold for cause on the recommendation of a special committee of directors in the course of an investigation by an outside law firm. The board appointed Rich Steinmeier, chief growth officer, as interim CEO, effective immediately. The stock was falling 1%.
Conagra Brands fell 8.2% after the packaged-food company reported quarterly earnings that missed analysts' estimates.
Harley-Davidson declined 3.8% to $36.58. Baird lowered its rating on the motorcycle maker to Hold from Buy and cut its target for the the stock price to $40 from $44.
Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The
Struggling chipmaker Intel CorpINTC continues to receive takeover proposals from chip companies, the latest being Arm Holdings PlcARM following Qualcomm Inc‘s QCOM proposal earlier.
Arm Holdings recently proposed to acquire Intel’s product unit. However, Bloomberg reports that Intel is not looking to sell the business division.
Intel stock plunged 31% as it failed to capitalize on the artificial intelligence shift, which is something that contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing CoTSM excelled at.
Meanwhile, some reports indicated Intel’s plans to convert its foundry business into an independent unit, including exploring a spinoff into a publicly traded company. The chipmaker also explored divesting stake in the programmable chip unit Altera.
However, Intel’s recent big wins included a U.S. chipmaking deal from Amazon.Com Inc’s AMZN Amazon Web services and the U.S. Chip grant.
The chipmaker also clarified that it would not divest a majority stake in the struggling Israeli autonomous driving company Mobileye Global Inc MBLY, whose stock is down 66% in the last 12 months.
Intel’s exploration of stake sales to companies likeQualcomm and Arm could hinder its U.S. subsidy over antitrust grounds, the Financial Times reports.
Multiple deals including Nvidia’s proposal to snap Arm Holdings from Softbank Group CorpSFTBFSFTBY and Intel’s Tower SemiconductorTSEM deal have succumbed to global regulatory opposition.
The semiconductor sector had a good week, buoyed by the key rate cuts in the U.S. and China, an upbeat quarterly print from Micron Technology, IncMU, and continued AI investments from Big Tech companies.
Semiconductor ETFs, Invesco Semiconductors ETFPSI and SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETFXSD, gained 5%- 7% in the last five days.
Price Action: INTC stock is down 0.04% at $23.91 at the last check on Friday.
Freeport-McMoRanFCX shares, among other metal and mining stocks, are moving higher Tuesday after China Central Bank announced a new stimulus package.
What Happened: The stimulus package includes cutting the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by .5 percentage points and lowering both the loan prime rate and deposit rates by 0.2 to 0.25 percentage points.
In addition, the central bank cut the seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 1.5% and lowered the minimum down-payment ratio to 15%. The announcement of these economic measures comes amid a slowdown in China’s markets and could help support investment and support metals demand.
Larry Hu, head of China economics at Macquarie Group Limited, told Bloomberg, "The purpose of today's briefing is to inject confidence into the market, judging by the fact that the authorities revealed measures in one go. The stimulus push will still need coordination from other policies — particularly follow-up policies from the fiscal side.”
Other copper related stocks that are trading higher following the bank’s announcement include Hudbay Minerals IncHBM and Rio Tinto PlcRIO.
How To Buy Freeport-McMoRan Shares
Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument.
For example, in Freeport-McMoRan FCX's case, it is in the Materials sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.
Major US stock indexes were mixed during midday trading on Friday following the release of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge earlier in the day that matched economists' forecasts and further solidified investors' expectations of looming rate cuts.
The personal consumption expenditures price index increased by 0.2% in July, up from 0.1% in June, while the core PCE price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.2%, unchanged from the month prior. Both figures matched forecasts from a survey conducted by Bloomberg. Year over year, the PCE price index rose by 2.5%, unchanged from the previous month, while the core PCE price index remained at a 2.6% gain for the third straight month.
Following a three-year investigation, Chinese regulators said Friday that Alibaba Group Holding BABA had been cleared of allegations that it engaged in monopolistic practices. China's State Administration for Market Regulation said the company had corrected its practices after it had been ordered to "conduct comprehensive self-inspection and rectification" and submit compliance reports, according to a Google translation of the regulator's statement. Shares of Alibaba were up 2.4% at noon.
Intel INTC is working with investment bankers Morgan Stanley MS and Goldman Sachs Group GS to navigate the best way forward following the tech company's disappointing earnings results that were released earlier this month, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Intel is considering several options, including M&A, a split of its product-design and manufacturing businesses and scrapping some factory projects, Bloomberg reported, citing the people. Intel shares were up 8.2%.
Dell Technologies DELL reported fiscal Q2 non-GAAP earnings late Thursday of $1.89 per diluted share, up from $1.74 a year earlier and above the Capital IQ consensus analyst estimate of $1.71. Second-quarter revenue was $25.03 billion, up from $22.93 billion in the year-ago period and above the Capital IQ consensus estimate of $24.12 billion. Separately, Dell is trying to sell SecureWorks SCWX again following previous failed attempts, Reuters reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company has engaged investment bankers at Morgan Stanley and Piper Sandler to explore takeover interest from potential buyers, including private equity firms, the people reportedly told Reuters. Dell shares were up 3.7%, while those of SecureWorks were down 5.4%.
Amazon.com's AMZN updated Alexa will be powered by Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence models rather than the company's own Titan AI, Reuters reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Amazon plans to charge $5 to $10 per month for the upgraded version of Alexa when it is unveiled in October, and it will offer the ordinary voice assistant for free, according to the report. Amazon shares were up 1.9%.
Lithium Americas LAC and General Motors GM subsidiary General Motors Holdings have agreed to extend the deadline for GM's second tranche investment in the Thacker Pass lithium project until the end of the year, Lithium Americas said Friday. General Motors Holdings has reaffirmed its commitment to invest an additional $330 million in the project and the extension of the outside date allows both parties to explore alternative investment structures and finalize a $2.26 billion loan from the US Department of Energy, Lithium Americas said. Separately, GM must face a class action across 26 states alleging it knowingly sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles with faulty transmissions, a federal appeals court ruled in a decision filed Wednesday. Shares of General Motors were down 0.7%, while those of Lithium Americas were down 6.4%.
Tesla's TSLA Tesla Motors Beijing will recall 870 imported Model X vehicles from Oct. 8 to check the vehicles' roof adhesive for potential safety hazards, Reuters reported Friday, citing China's market regulator. Tesla shares were up 1.7%.
Since retaking the reins as the CEO of The Walt Disney Company (DIS) in late 2022, Bob Iger has faced one challenge after another.
His predecessor wore out top-tier franchises while losing money on streaming every quarter.
Yet, Iger managed to turn things around, settling contracts with cable companies, narrowing the plan for entertainment, and as of the latest quarter, getting streaming to profitability.
Even Nelson Pelz’s activist calls were silenced by Iger’s performance.
However, the latest quarterly report showed signs of weakness in the once invulnerable theme parks, where attendance began to slip as consumers curtailed spending.
Shares have been on a wild ride, running from $80 to over $120 to start 2024, only to slide back down to $90.
We were big fans of the company back in late 2023, right before the stock took off.
Do we think shares of Disney can pull another rabbit out of their hats?
Disney’s Business
Mickey Mouse's empire rakes in billions, but Disney's real magic lies beyond its iconic rodent.
This entertainment juggernaut has its white-gloved hands in everything from bustling theme parks to binge-worthy streaming services, serving up a potent cocktail of nostalgia and cutting-edge content to audiences worldwide.
Disney's entertainment arsenal packs a punch across multiple fronts. Its movie studios churn out blockbusters, while its TV networks and streaming platforms keep eyeballs glued to screens 24/7.
Meanwhile, theme park visitors shell out big bucks to rub elbows with princesses and superheroes while parents scoop up Disney-branded merch for their kids.
The House of Mouse divides its kingdom into three magical realms:
Entertainment (45% of the treasure chest) - Where linear TV networks battle streaming services for your attention, and content licensing keeps the gold flowing.
Sports (20% of the spoils) - ESPN's empire of sweat and glory, plus Star India's cricket bonanza.
Experiences (35% of the loot) - Theme parks that empty wallets, a cruise line for seafaring Mouseketeers, and branded merch galore.
Source: Disney Q3 2024 Investor Presentation
Disney's latest quarterly report reads like a fairy tale: revenue jumped 4% to an eye-popping $23.2 billion, with the Entertainment division playing hero.
The real Cinderella story? Disney's streaming services finally turned a profit.
Despite forecasting lower park attendance, Disney plans to spend $8 billion on its Florida parks in the next ten years, with another $9 billion in the following decade.
Financials
Source: Stock Analysis
Entertainment helped keep Disney moving in 2020 when COVID shut down its experiences.
In the following years, consumer travel exploded, allowing management to charge higher prices for sold-out parks.
Margins improved as well, though you can see the impact of streaming starting in 2019. That’s also when the company added nearly $27 billion in debt to fund the venture.
Total debt maxed at $62.3 billion in 2020 and has since fallen to $47.6 billion, roughly where it was in 2019.
Operating cash flow hit $13.2 billion in the last twelve months, its first time over $10 billion since 2018.
This speaks to the enormous turnaround Iger instituted.
Valuation
Source: Seeking Alpha
On a P/E basis, Disney isn’t particularly cheap. It’s the second most expensive of the group behind Netflix (NFLX).
However, the stock is quite a value on a price-to-cash flow basis. At 12.3x trailing-12-month cash flow, the stock is 67% cheaper than its 5-year average.
But, it’s worth noting analysts expect operating cash flow to decline to $10.9 billion this year.
Growth
Source: Seeking Alpha
On the growth side, Disney expects to improve 4.8% YoY on sales, well below Netflix and even Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) but well ahead of Comcast (CMCSA) and Charter Communications (CHTR).
What’s really impressive is the multi-year growth in EBITDA and EBIT as well as EPS over the last several years, again highlighting the impact of Iger.
Profitability
Source: Seeking Alpha
Margins are hard to compare across these peers as each runs a vastly different business.
However, it’s worth pointing out that Disney’s free cash flow margin sits at 9.2% and has grown an average of 10.2% annually over the past five years.
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Our Opinion 10/10
We see any short-term pains brought about by a recession as opportunities to get a better entry price.
Iger has made enormous strides at the company, including making streaming profitable. The long-term outlook for the company is bright so long as he’s at the helm.
Lamb Weston (LW) Down More Than 40% in 6 Months: Here's Why
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. LW struggles with persistent execution difficulties both commercially and within the supply chain. Global softening in demand for frozen fries and substantial market share losses are hurting volumes. LW is grappling with high costs that are impacting its performance. Unimpressively, Lamb Weston came out with soft results for fourth-quarter fiscal 2024, following which it issued a lackluster outlook for first-quarter fiscal 2025.
The Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) company’s shares have slumped 43.3% in the past six months against the industry’s 0.6% growth. The stock underperformed the Zacks Consumer Staple sector’s growth of 5.5% during this time.
Let’s delve deeper.
Challenging Operating Environment
LW is facing several fundamental challenges that are impacting its performance. Key issues include persistent execution difficulties both commercially and within the supply chain, compounded by a global softening in demand for frozen fries. The company's performance has been hindered by significant market share losses, higher-than-anticipated costs associated with voluntary product withdrawals and unfavorable product mix impacts. Additionally, it is grappling with softer restaurant traffic trends, which is further straining profitability. These factors collectively reflect a challenging operating environment that is impeding the company's ability to meet its financial targets and growth expectations.
These factors hurt LW’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 results, with the top and the bottom line declining year over year and missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Quarterly adjusted earnings dropped 40% on lower adjusted income from operations, higher effective tax rates and increased interest expenses. Net sales amounted to $1,611.9 million, down 5% due to disappointing volumes.
Volume-Related Concerns
Lamb Weston continues to witness lower volumes, as witnessed in fourth-quarter fiscal 2024. Quarterly volume declined 8%, largely attributed to market share losses and the strategic exit from lower-priced, lower-margin businesses in Europe earlier this year. Approximately a quarter of the volume decline stemmed from weak restaurant traffic trends in North America and other key international markets. Traffic trends continue to remain challenging as consumers are still adapting to higher menu prices. The rest of the decline stemmed from a voluntary product withdrawal. In the first half of the fiscal 2025, management projects a potential low-to-mid single-digit decline in volume. This reflects the lingering impact of market share losses and soft restaurant traffic in the United States and key international markets.
High-Cost Environment
Lamb Weston has been grappling with high costs that are impacting its performance. In the fiscal fourth quarter, the company witnessed higher manufacturing costs and increased transportation and warehouse expenses, largely due to inflation in key inputs like raw potatoes and labor. Anticipated cost pressures from a potential below-average potato crop in Europe and ongoing investment in new facilities and IT infrastructure are expected to keep the cost environment difficult despite efforts to mitigate these through pricing actions.
Road Ahead Looks Tough
Looking ahead to the fiscal 2025, management anticipates another challenging year. The operating landscape remains dynamic, marked by softened global restaurant traffic and reduced demand for frozen potatoes due to ongoing menu price inflation. LW expects this supply-demand imbalance to persist throughout the fiscal 2025. Moreover, input cost inflation poses further financial pressure.
In first-quarter fiscal 2025, management anticipates a decline in sales in the mid-to-high single digits, with volume expected to decline mid-single digits. Additionally, the margin pressure will be compounded by higher cost per pound, an unfavorable product mix and increased investments in pricing and trade support in the fiscal first quarter.
Better-Ranked Staple Bets
Vital Farms VITL offers a range of produced pasture-raised foods. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). VITL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 82.5%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate Vital Farms’ current financial-year earnings indicate growth of 72.9% from the year-ago reported numbers.
Freshpet, Inc. FRPT Inc., a pet food company, has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 132.9%, on average. FRPT currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Freshpet’s current financial-year sales and earnings indicates growth of 26.1% and 251.4%, respectively, from the prior-year reported level.
Nomad Foods NOMD, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, manufactures and distributes frozen foods. NOMD has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.1%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Nomad Foods’ current financial-year sales and earnings indicates growth of 4.3% and 11.5%, respectively, from the prior-year reported level.
Zacks Investment Research
Box, Wynn Resorts And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling
The Nasdaq 100 closed higher by around 2.5% during Tuesday's session. Investors, meanwhile, focused on some notable insider trades.
When insiders sell shares, it could be a preplanned sale, or could indicate their concern in the company's prospects or that they view the stock as being overpriced. Insider sales should not be taken as the only indicator for making an investment or trading decision. At best, it can lend conviction to a selling decision.
The Trade: Wynn Resorts, Limited WYNN Director Margaret Jane Myers sold a total of 2,000 shares at an average price of $98.05. The insider received around $196,100 from selling those shares.
What's Happening: On Aug. 6, Wynn Resorts reported quarterly earnings of $1.12 per share on revenue of $1.733 billion with both figures missing the analyst consensus estimates.
What Wynn Resorts Does: Wynn Resorts operates luxury casinos and resorts. The company was founded in 2002 by Steve Wynn, the former CEO.
Box
The Trade: Box, Inc. BOX CFO Dylan C Smith sold a total of 13,000 shares at an average price of $27.05. The insider received around $351,676 from selling those shares.
What's Happening: On July 31, Box and Slack expanded partnership with the launch of Box AI in Slack.
What Box Does: Box is a cloud-based content services platform that provides cloud-based storage and workflow collaboration services for enterprise customers.
M&T Bank
The Trade: M&T Bank Corporation MTB Sr. Executive Vice President Michael J. Todaro sold a total of 4,791 shares at an average price of $162.57. The insider received around $778,897 from selling those shares.
What's Happening: On July 18, M&T Bank reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
What M&T Bank Does: M&T Bank is one of the largest regional banks in the United States, with branches in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
Mosaic
The Trade: The Mosaic Company MOS Director Kelvin R Westbrook sold a total of 12,666 shares at an average price of $27.32. The insider received around $346,042 from selling those shares.
What's Happening: On Aug. 6, Mosaic posted downbeat quarterly earnings.
What Mosaic Does: Formed in 2004 by the combination of IMC Global and Cargill’s fertilizer business, Mosaic is one of the largest phosphate and potash producers in the world.
Check This Out:
Brinker International, Cisco And 3 Stocks To Watch Heading Into Wednesday
U.S. stocks were higher, with the Dow Jones index gaining over 400 points on Wednesday.
Shares of Shopify Inc. SHOP rose sharply during Wednesday's session after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter EPS results.
Shopify clocked fiscal second-quarter 2024 revenue growth of 21% year-over-year to $2.05 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Revenue grew by 25% Y/Y after adjusting for the sale of its logistics businesses. The e-commerce platform company reported adjusted EPS of 26 cents, which beat analyst consensus estimate of 20 cents
Shopify shares jumped 24.6% to $67.59 on Wednesday.
Here are some other big stocks recording gains in today's session.
PetIQ, Inc. PETQ shares surged 48% to $30.44 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter adjusted earnings results.
Upstart Holdings, Inc. UPST gained 35.4% to $32.38 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter revenue guidance above estimates on Tuesday.
Latham Group, Inc. SWIM climbed 34% to $4.19 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 revenue guidance above estimates. Additionally, the company announced an acquisition of Coverstar Central.
Lumen Technologies, Inc. LUMN gained 33% to $6.65 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue results. Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from Sell to Neutral and raised its price target from $1 to $4.
Veracyte, Inc. VCYT rose 32.4% to $28.90 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results. Also, Needham maintained a Buy rating on the stock and raised its price target from $27-$31.
Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. RYAM jumped 27.8% to $7.17 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
Angi Inc.ANGI gained 27.7% to $2.5250 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. INSP rose 25.6% to $184.81 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly sales results and raised its FY24 guidance. Also, the company announced it authorized a $150 million share repurchase program.
Fortinet, Inc.FTNT rose 23.5% to $68.93 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued FY24 guidance above estimates.
Axon Enterprise, Inc. AXON gained 21.3% to $358.06 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 revenue guidance above estimates.
Aspen Technology, Inc. AZPN rose 18.3% to $210.40 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued strong guidance.
Sunrun Inc.RUN gained 16.1% to $19.15 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results and announced a partnership with Tesla to support Texas’s power grid.
Dynatrace, Inc. DT rose 15.3% to $46.69 following a Q1 earnings beat.
Champion Homes, Inc. SKY gained 14.2% to $84.99 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
V.F. CorporationVFC gained 14% to $18.74 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
Rapid7, Inc. RPD gained 13.7% to $37.55 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
Illumina, Inc. ILMN rose 11% to $129.15 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly sales results.
Global Payments Inc. GPN gained 9.4% to $101.74 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
Top Midday Stories: Novo Nordisk Stock Slides After Q2 Miss, Lower Guidance; Disney EPS, Revenue Top Estimates; Apple's Union Workers Ratify Contract; Disney Likely to Pay More for Hulu
All three major US stock indexes were climbing for a second straight day on Wednesday morning, continuing their rebound from Monday's selloff.
In company news, Novo Nordisk NOVO_B reported Q2 earnings Wednesday of 4.49 Danish kroner ($0.66) per diluted American depositary receipt, up from 4.32 kroner a year earlier but below the Capital IQ consensus of 4.97 kroner. Q2 net sales were 68.06 billion kroner, up from 54.3 billion kroner in the year-ago period but below the Capital IQ consensus of 68.56 billion kroner. The company expects 2024 sales to grow between 22% and 28%, up from the previous guidance. It also cut its 2024 operating profit growth outlook to a range of 20% to 28%. Shares were trading down 8% near noon.
Walt Disney DIS reported fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings of $1.39 per diluted share, up from $1.03 a year earlier and above consensus of $1.19. Revenue was $23.16 billion, up from $22.33 billion in the year-ago period and above consensus of $23.09. The company expects per-share adjusted earnings to grow by 30% for fiscal 2024, up from the prior target of 25%. Separately, Disney said it may have to pay an additional $5 billion to Comcast's CMCSA NBC Universal for its 33% stake in Hulu. An arbitration process will determine how much. Once arbitration is complete, the final equity fair value will account for the valuation of a third appraiser. If the appraiser's valuation is equal to Disney's valuation, it wouldn't owe NBC Universal any more money, but if it is consistent with NBC Universal's, Disney would be required to pay an additional $5 billion.
CVS Health CVS reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $1.83 per diluted share, down from $2.21 a year earlier but above consensus of $1.73. Revenue was $91.23 billion, up from $88.92 billion a year earlier, but below estimates of $91.43 billion. The company trimmed its 2024 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $6.40 to $6.65 from at least $7.00. The revised outlook reflects "continued pressure" in the healthcare benefits business. CVS shares were down 0.7%.
JPMorgan Chase JPM, Bank of America BAC and Wells Fargo WFC are among the banks being investigated by regulators over the handling of customer funds on the Zelle, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking into how the banks respond when customers dispute transactions made via Zelle. Shares of JPMorgan were up 1%, while those of Bank of America and Wells Fargo were up 2.4% and 0.7%, respectively.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has cleared Hewlett Packard Enterprises' HPE anticipated acquisition of Juniper Networks JNPR. HP was down 1.8%, Juniper was up 1%.
A version of Samsung Electronics' fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory chips passed Nvidia's NVDA tests for use in its artificial intelligence processors, Reuters reported. Samsung and Nvidia have not yet signed a supply deal but will do so soon. The sources told deliveries are expected to start by Q4. Nvidia shares were down 0.2%.
PetIQ PETQ has agreed to be acquired by Bansk Group for $31 per share in an all-cash deal valued at about $1.5 billion. The deal is expected to close in Q4 at which point PetIQ will delist from the Nasdaq. PetIQ was up nearly 48%.
Micron Technology MU has determined that share repurchases may resume thanks to improved conditions, according to a filing. The company disclosed the suspension of its repurchase program on Dec. 21, 2022, due to an industry downturn. Micron shares were up 1.1%.
Workers at the first unionized Apple AAPL store in the US ratified a three-year contract after over a year of bargaining, according to media reports. The contract, which covers about 85 workers at the Towson, Md. store, includes an increase in starting pay for 80% of positions and average raises of 10% over the contract's lifetime. Apple shares were up 2.6%.
Pressure on Diabete stocks
Some diabetes device makers fall after Abbott, Medtronic glucose monitoring partnership
** Shares of Tandem diabetes care TNDM fall ~9.9% to $39.17
** Medical device makers Abbott Laboratories ABT and Medtronic MDT have entered into a partnership to integrate the former's continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors with MDT's insulin delivery systems
** Insulet's PODD shares down ~1.2% at $194.05, Dexcom DXCM down ~5% at $71.35
** "We expect Medtronic's strategic decision to only work with ABT will weigh on DXCM, and PODD and TNDM as the partnership is better understood" - Brokerage Citi
** Including session's move, DXCM down 41.8%, PODD down 11.1%, TNDM up 31.9% YTD
US Stocks Tumble On Economic, Geopolitical Concerns; Small Caps, Chipmakers Sink; Meta Rallies: What's Driving Markets Thursday?
Markets experienced a sharp downturn, driven by heightened geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties that negatively impacted investor risk sentiment, just a day after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting signaled a potential interest rate cut in September.
U.S. economic data released Thursday revealed a larger-than-expected rise in weekly jobless claims and a more pronounced contraction in manufacturing activity for July.
Initial unemployment claims increased to 249,000, up from 235,000 the previous week, marking the highest level in nearly a year. The ISM manufacturing PMI dropped to 46.8% in July, extending its contraction for the fourth consecutive month and reaching its lowest point since December 2023.
In geopolitical developments, Israel announced the elimination of Hamas’ military leader Mohammed Deif in a Gaza strike last month. This event followed the assassination of another top Hamas official in Tehran and the killing of Hezbollah’s commander in Beirut. Iranian officials are considering retaliatory measures against Israel, which has vowed to respond to any threats with force.
Amid rising risk aversion, Wall Street abruptly reversed prior session gains. The S&P 500 Index declined by about 1% in midday trading in New York, while the Nasdaq 100 fell by 1.5% due to another wave of semiconductor selloffs driven by disappointing corporate earnings reports.
The economically-sensitive Russell 2000 index plummeted over 3%, heading for its worst session since April.
Safe-haven assets gained traction, with both the U.S. dollar and Treasuries seeing increased demand. The U.S. dollar index (DXY), tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETFUUP, rose 0.3%, while long-term Treasuries, as represented by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETFTLT, surged 0.7%.
Oil prices declined by 1.5% after a 4.4% surge the previous day, as investors focused on demand concerns amid weakening economic indicators. Bitcoin fell by 2.6%, trading at $62,900.
Thursday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustSPY was 0.9% lower to $546.13.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA fell 1% to $404.23.
The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust SeriesQQQ fell 1.5% to $464.25.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETFIWM fell 3% to $217.10.
Sector-wise, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR FundXLRE outperformed, rallying 1.3%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR FundXLK lagged, down 2.2%.
Amazon.com Inc.AMZN, AppleInc.AAPL, Beazer Homes USA, Inc. BZH, BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. BBAI, Block, Inc. SQ, Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG, Cloudflare, Inc. NET, Clorox Company CLX, Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN, DraftKings Inc. DKNG, Intel Corporation INTC, Microchip Technology Inc MCHP, MicroStrategy Inc MSTR, Opendoor Technologies Inc.OPEN, RingCentral, Inc. RNG, Roku, Inc. ROKU, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX, Twilio Inc. TWLO and United States Steel CorporationX.
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On CNBC's “Mad Money Lightning Round,” Jim Cramer said Vertiv Holdings CoVRT is “very good,” however: “I do prefer, because it was down today, that you buy the stock of Dover NYSE:DOV.”
When asked about Serve Robotics Inc. SERV, he said, “There's a gigantic secondary coming on, a lot of insider stock going, and I don't like that. I don't like to see that, because the company's losing a lot of money. So, I don't want to be there.”
The “Mad Money” host recommended buying Bank of MontrealBMO right here.
“I got to get to the bottom of Celsius CELH. I mean, this thing has fallen — it looks like a two-for-one split,” he said.
Celsius will release its second quarter financial results before the opening bell on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD is a buy, he said.
When asked about Carnival CCL, Cramer said he likes Royal CaribbeanRCL and Viking Holdings LtdVIK more.
“I think Hanneke's [CEO of Logitech] doing a really job,” Cramer said when asked about Logitech International S.A. LOGI. “It could be a Christmas play, not so much now.”
Vistra Corp. VST is “one of the winners of the year. I think it's going to continue to win,” Cramer said.
Price Action:
Vertiv shares gained 7.8% to settle at $78.70 on Wednesday.
Serve Robotics shares gained 16.8% to close at $17.52.
Vistra shares jumped 14.8% to close at $79.22.
Bank of Montreal shares gained 2.2% to settle at $84.33.
Celsius shares rose 1.1% to close at $46.83 on Wednesday.
AMD shares gained 4.4% to settle at $144.48 on Wednesday.
Carnival shares rose 0.5% to settle at $35.70 during Wednesday's session.
On CNBC's “Mad Money Lightning Round,” Jim Cramer said he likes Blackstone Inc. BX. “They have a lot of great companies in house that are going to do very well,” he added.
On July 18, Blackstone reported second-quarter fiscal year 2024 adjusted revenues of $2.796 billion, beating the consensus of $2.619 billion.
When asked about Borr Drilling LimitedBORR, Cramer said he always goes with the best, which is Schlumberger NVSLB.
On May 23, Borr Drilling reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales results and raised its dividend.
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. LOW is the kind of stock that should be bought right here, right now ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate cut cycle. “I would pick some up tomorrow,” he added.
On May 31, the company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.15 per share, payable Aug. 7 to shareholders of record as of July 24.
“I was mystified and surprised at that conference call, which was absolutely terrible, Cramer said about DexCom, Inc. DXCM. “I think AbbottABT is a better play.”
On July 25, DexCom reported worse-than-expected second-quarter revenue results and issued weak revenue guidance.
When asked about Marvell Technology, Inc. MRVL, he said, “They're two different things. Marvell the stock is probably being hurt, but Marvell the company, Matt Murphy [Chairman and CEO at Marvell] is doing a terrific job. I actually would own the stock.”
On July 30, the company introduced its Structera line of Compute Express Link (CXL) devices, designed to address memory performance and scaling challenges in general-purpose servers for cloud data centers.
The “Mad Money” host recommended selling Joby Aviation, Inc. JOBY.
Joby Aviation will release its second quarter financial results after the closing bell on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
When asked about Edwards Lifesciences CorporationEW, he said, “You want to swap over to Boston Scientific BSX.”
On July 24, Edwards Lifesciences reported worse-than-expected second-quarter sales results and issued third-quarter guidance below estimates. Also, the company acquired JenaValve and Endotronix.
Price Action:
Borr Drilling shares rose 2.3% to settle at $6.60 on Tuesday.
Marvell shares fell 2.6% to close at $62.80 on Tuesday.
Joby Aviation shares fell 1.9% to close at $6.09.
Blackstone shares rose 0.3% to settle at $141.34.
Dexcom rose 3.3% to close at $69.70 during Tuesday's session.
Edwards Lifesciences shares fell 0.2% to settle at $63.64 on Tuesday.
Lowe’s gained 0.7% to close at $241.40 on Tuesday.
U.S. stocks were mixed, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 100 points on Tuesday.
Shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL rose sharply during Tuesday's session after the company reported better-than-expected second quarter financial results.
PayPal reported fiscal second-quarter revenue growth of 8% year over year to $7.89 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $7.81 billion. The company reported a quarterly adjusted EPS of $1.19, beating analyst consensus estimates of 98 cents, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
PayPal shares surged 8.5% to $63.98 on Tuesday.
Here are some other big stocks recording gains in today’s session.
JetBlue Airways CorporationJBLU jumped 20.6% to $7.16 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
Lumen Technologies, Inc. LUMN jumped 19.1% to $2.3050.
Commvault Systems, Inc. CVLT jumped 19.1% to $146.77 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance above estimates. Also, the company raised its FY25 revenue guidance.
Harmonic Inc. HLIT jumped 18.8% to $13.96 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter revenue guidance above estimates.
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. SFM shares rose 15.9% to $98.13 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued its third-quarter earnings guidance above estimates.
NeoGenomics, Inc. NEO rose 16.1% to $17.00 following upbeat earnings.
Tilray Brands, Inc. TLRY rose 16.1% to $2.1250 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. SFM climbed 15.5% to $97.79 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results. Additionally, the company issued third-quarter earnings guidance above estimates.
Howmet Aerospace Inc. HWM gained 14.1% to $94.56 following better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, issued strong guidance, raised its dividend, increased its buyback authorization and issued strong guidance.
Repligen CorporationRGEN rose 13.4% to $156.48 following -quarter earnings.
Varonis Systems, Inc. VRNS jumped 13.3% to $54.92 as the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 guidance on Monday.
Hayward Holdings, Inc. HAYW rose 11% to $14.98 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter EPS results.
F5, Inc. FFIV shares climbed 10.6% to $196.46 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 earnings guidance above estimates.
Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. HSII gained 10.2% to $39.41 following upbeat quarterly results.
Pharming Group N.V.PHAR shares rose 9.8% to $8.28. Pharming Group will report second quarter financial results on Aug. 1.
CNO Financial Group, Inc. CNO jumped 9% to $33.78 following upbeat quarterly results.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. SWK gained 8.1% to $104.28 after the company reported better-than-expected second quarter financial results. Additionally, the company revised its FY24 adjusted EPS forecast upward.
Eagle Materials Inc. EXP jumped 8.1% to $268.95 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter EPS results.
Spirit Airlines, Inc. SAVE gained 7.3% to $3.0802. Spirit Airlines announced low-fare travel with new premium offerings starting Aug. 2024.
Zebra Technologies CorporationZBRA jumped 6.4% to $356.62 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results. Additionally, the company raised its FY24 guidance.
Gartner, Inc. IT rose 6.4% to $500.83 following better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Phillips 66 PSX climbed 4.9% to $147.31 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
The “Mad Money” host recommended buying some Bank of America CorporationBAC stock “right here,” and buy some “in case the stock breaks 40.”
“I think this company is selling very inexpensively, and it's a good one,” he added.
On July 24, the bank's board authorized a $25 billion stock repurchase program starting Aug. 1, replacing the existing program set to expire on that date. It also raised the quarterly cash dividend to 26 cents per share, up 2 cents from the previous quarter.
Cramer said Constellation Energy CorporationCEG is a “solar play that is a very good company. It's up a huge amount versus a lot of other stocks.” He recommends buying some, holding on to it, and not selling it.
On June 24, Morgan Stanley analyst David Arcaro maintained Constellation Energy with an Overweight rating and boosted the price target from $237 to $241.
When asked about Meta Platforms, Inc. META, he said, “I think the problem with Meta right now is it's gone up so much that people are selling Meta to buy a lot of stuff in the small, medium-sized range.”
On July 26, Needham analyst Laura Martin reiterated Meta Platforms with an Underperform rating.
ICICI Bank LimitedIBN is a great way to get exposure to India, Cramer said.
When asked about Organon & Co. OGN, he said, “PfizerPFE, Organon. These are companies that are just kind of quietly going higher. And I have to admit, that one's probably not done.”
Organon will release its second-quarter financial results before the opening bell on Aug. 6.
Price Action:
Illumina shares rose 0.9% to settle at $121.56 on Monday.
Bank of America shares fell 1.4% to settle at $41.09.
Constellation Energy fell 1.4% to close at $172.68 during Monday's session.
Meta shares settled at $465.71 on Monday.
ICICI Bank shares gained 0.1% to settle at $28.78 on Monday.
Organon shares gained 1.3% to close at $22.48 on Monday.
Read Next:
Top 5 Financials Stocks That May Fall Off A Cliff This Month
To gain an edge, this is what you need to know today.
Benzinga
All Eyes On Microsoft
Note the following:
Please click here for an enlarged chart of Microsoft Corp MSFT.
This article is about the big picture, not an individual stock. The chart of MSFT stock is being used to illustrate the point.
The chart shows that MSFT stock has given up all of its gains since the breakout.
The chart shows that MSFT is now back to the top band of the support zone.
RSI on the chart shows that MSFT stock is now technically oversold and can easily bounce if earnings are better than expected.
Microsoft will report earnings after the close today. MSFT stock has run up on AI frenzy. In The Arora Report analysis, investors should focus on the following in Microsoft's earnings and conference call:
Azure growth in the last quarter
Projected Azure growth in the current quarter
Projected Azure growth for the year
Monetization of Copilot
AI related capital expenditures and what will be the return on those expenditures
As full disclosure, MSFT stock is in the ZYX Buy Model Portfolio from The Arora Report.
In The Arora Report analysis, Microsoft earnings will be the major determinant of the AI trade. Technicals are set up for AI stocks to stage a rally from here. However, it will take better than expected earnings from Microsoft to trigger the rally. If Microsoft earnings are disappointing, it does not automatically mean another leg down in AI stocks as investors will wait for earnings from Meta Platforms IncMETA, Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN, and Apple Inc AAPL.
The FOMC meeting is starting today. FOMC will announce it's decision at 2pm ET tomorrow followed by Powell's press conference at 2:30pm ET.
The Bank of Japan is also meeting. More important than the Fed decision is the Bank of Japan's decision as the Bank of Japan's decision has major implications for U.S. stocks.
JOLTS job openings and consumer confidence will both be released at 10am ET and may be market moving.
Magnificent Seven Money Flows
In the early trade, money flows are positive in AAPL, AMZN, and Alphabet Inc Class CGOOG.
In the early trade, money flows are neutral in META, NVDA, and MSFT.
In the early trade, money flows are negative in Tesla IncTSLA.
In the early trade, money flows are mixed in SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustSPY and Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1QQQ.
Momo Crowd And Smart Money In Stocks
Investors can gain an edge by knowing money flows in SPY and QQQ. Investors can get a bigger edge by knowing when smart money is buying stocks, gold, and oil. The most popular ETF for gold is SPDR Gold TrustGLD. The most popular ETF for silver is iShares Silver Trust SLV. The most popular ETF for oil is United States Oil ETFUSO.
Bitcoin
There is some disappointment among Bitcoin bulls as they were expecting bitcoin to breakout after Trump's plan to drive bitcoin to the moon. Instead of breaking out, bitcoin appears to be seeing money outflows. So far, there is not clear evidence that bitcoin whales have been selling and taking advantage of excitement by retail investors. However, whales are very good at hiding their selling activity.
Protection Band And What To Do Now
It is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror.
Consider continuing to hold good, very long term, existing positions. Based on individual risk preference, consider a protection band consisting of cash or Treasury bills or short-term tactical trades as well as short to medium term hedges and short term hedges. This is a good way to protect yourself and participate in the upside at the same time.
You can determine your protection bands by adding cash to hedges. The high band of the protection is appropriate for those who are older or conservative. The low band of the protection is appropriate for those who are younger or aggressive. If you do not hedge, the total cash level should be more than stated above but significantly less than cash plus hedges.
A protection band of 0% would be very bullish and would indicate full investment with 0% in cash. A protection band of 100% would be very bearish and would indicate a need for aggressive protection with cash and hedges or aggressive short selling.
It is worth reminding that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash. When adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non ETF); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high beta stocks. High beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market.
Traditional 60/40 Portfolio
Probability based risk reward adjusted for inflation does not favor long duration strategic bond allocation at this time.
Those who want to stick to traditional 60% allocation to stocks and 40% to bonds may consider focusing on only high quality bonds and bonds of five year duration or less. Those willing to bring sophistication to their investing may consider using bond ETFs as tactical positions and not strategic positions at this time.The Arora Report is known for its accurate calls. The Arora Report correctly called the big artificial intelligence rally before anyone else, the new bull market of 2023, the bear market of 2022, new stock market highs right after the virus low in 2020, the virus drop in 2020, the DJIA rally to 30,000 when it was trading at 16,000, the start of a mega bull market in 2009, and the financial crash of 2008. Please click here to sign up for a free forever Generate Wealth Newsletter.
On CNBC's “Halftime Report Final Trades,” Bryn Talkington of Requisite Capital Management named Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX as her final trade.
On July 23, Freeport-McMoRan said second-quarter revenue came in at $6.62 billion, beating the consensus of $5.99 billion. Adjusted EPS was 46 cents, beating the consensus of 38 cents. The company also announced a $7.5 billion expansion of its El Abra copper mine in northern Chile. Freshly-appointed CEO Kathleen Quirk made this announcement during an earnings call.
Joshua Brown of Ritholtz Wealth Management picked Pfizer Inc.PFE.
Pfizer announced Thursday that the European Commission approved a conditional marketing authorization for DURVEQTIX, a gene therapy for severe and moderately severe hemophilia B in adults whom meet certain criteria.
Brenda Vingiello of Sand Hill Global Advisors named Danaher CorporationDHR.
On July 23, Danaher reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The company's second-quarter sales decreased 3% year-over-year to $5.743 billion, beating the consensus of $5.59 billion.
Bill Baruch of Blue Line Capital picked United Rentals, Inc. URI as his final trade.
On July 24, United Rentals posted better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter. The company also updated its 2024 revenue outlook from $14.95 billion-$15.45 billion to $15.05 billion-$15.35 billion.
Price Action:
Freeport-McMoRan shares gained 0.8% to close at $44.53 on Thursday.
Pfizer gained 0.7% to settle at $30.18 during Thursday's session.
Danaher shares gained 1.6% to settle at $270.09 on Thursday.
United Rentals shares climbed 5.4% to close at $754.26 on Thursday.
Check This Out:
Top 3 Defensive Stocks That Are Ticking Portfolio Bombs
The latest Fed’s favorite inflation report, unveiled Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, showed mixed results for market participants.
What Happened: The headline Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index fell to 2.5% year-on-year in June, as expected.
The core component remained steady at 2.6%, countering expectations of a drop to 2.5%.
The headline index’s decline to 2.5% marks the lowest point since February 2021, a level also seen in January and February 2024.
This data kept market-based probabilities for a September rate cut largely unaffected, with fed futures continuing to indicate a 100% chance of rate reductions, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis also reported lower-than-expected monthly increases in both personal spending and personal income last month.
Personal income rose 0.2% in June, down from 0.4% in May and below the expected 0.4%.
Personal spending increased 0.3%, also down from 0.4% in May and missing the forecasted 0.3%.
Market reactions and pre-market ETF performances
U.S. equity futures maintained strong gains during premarket trading, despite a slight dip in large-cap index futures following the PCE report.
The U.S. dollar index remained broadly unchanged, while Treasury yields inched slightly lower, boosting bond-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in pre-market trading.
Interest-rate sensitive sectors, such as real estate, miners, and small caps, rose. Technology stocks also sharply rallied following declines in the previous two sessions.
Investors and traders are closely monitoring these exchange-traded funds, which showed notable pre-market gains:
US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday as traders analyzed the latest corporate earnings and official data showing that the economy grew at a stronger-than-projected pace in the second quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.9% at 40,220.3 after midday Thursday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% each to 5,460.5 and 17,447.4, respectively. Among sectors, industrials and energy led the gainers, while utilities and communication services saw the steepest declines.
In company news, ServiceNow NOW and Molina Healthcare MOH shares jumped 15% each, the best performers on the S&P 500. The companies late Wednesday posted better-than-expected second-quarter results.
IBM IBM was the top gainer on the Dow, up 5.8%. The company late Wednesday reported second-quarter earnings that unexpectedly increased year over year as momentum in its software division propelled consolidated revenue above Wall Street's estimates.
Ford Motor F was the second-worst performer on the S&P 500, down 17%. The automaker's second-quarter earnings late Wednesday came in below market estimates amid higher warranty costs and expenses, as the company continues to project a full-year loss for its electric vehicle business.
Honeywell International's HON second-quarter results came in ahead of the Street's estimates, while the industrial conglomerate updated its full-year outlook amid recently announced acquisitions. The company's shares were down 4.3% intraday, the steepest decline on the Dow.
L3Harris Technologies LHX and DexCom DXCM, among others, are scheduled to report results after Thursday's closing bell.
The US two-year yield was up 2.7 basis points at 4.44% intraday, while the 10-year rate fell 2.4 basis points to 4.26%.
In economic news, US real gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2.8% in the June quarter, according to an advance estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The consensus was for a 2% gain in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The report also showed consumer spending accelerated while inflation cooled in the second quarter.
"At the very least, this morning's robust GDP report is likely to result in a more tempered tone of rhetoric from (Federal Reserve) officials regarding the potential for a September (monetary policy) move," Stifel said in a note to clients.
US durable goods orders unexpectedly fell in June following four straight monthly gains, weighed down by transportation equipment, government data showed.
Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US dropped more than the market predicted, while continuing claims also fell, according to government data.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.9% to $78.30 a barrel intraday.
Gold was down 2.5% at $2,355.20 per troy ounce, while silver sank 4.6% to
Eikon search string for individual stock moves:STXBZ
U.S. stocks were flat to higher on Tuesday as investors awaited Alphabet and Tesla earnings later in the day to gauge if the recent market rally has momentum to spare, while United Parcel Service and NXP Semiconductors plummeted after poor results.
At 11:37 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI was up 0.13% at 40,469.52. The S&P 500 SPX was up 0.31% at 5,581.42 and the Nasdaq Composite IXIC was up 0.56% at 18,108.121.
The top three S&P 500 (.PG.INX) percentage gainers:
** MSCI , up 8.9%
** Pentair plc , up 8.3%
** GE Aerospace , up 7.1%
The top three S&P 500 (.PL.INX) percentage losers:
It’s deep red on Wall Street on Wednesday, with tech stocks sharply falling amid a semiconductor broad-based selloff following news that the Biden administration is hastening export restrictions to China.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the U.S. administration has advised its allies to impose the strictest trade restrictions possible if companies such as Tokyo Electron Ltd.TOELY and ASML Holding NVASML persist in supplying advanced chips to China. Shares of the Dutch chipmaker ASML Holding fell nearly 12%, notching the worst decline since March 2020.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 tumbled by 2.7% at 12:45 p.m. ET, marking the worst session since late August 2023. The semiconductor industry was the hardest hit. The iShares Semiconductor ETFSOXX and the VanEck Semiconductor ETFSMH both plummeted over 6%, marking their worst day since October 2022.
The elite group of the ‘Magnificent Seven,’ tracked by the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF MAGS, saw a collective market cap loss of $500 billion in a single trading session. Nvidia Corp.NVDA alone plummeted 7%, accounting for a $180 billion loss.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.2%, while blue-chip stocks of the Dow Jones rose 0.6% to 41,200 points, extending their all-time highs and marking a sixth consecutive session of gains. Meanwhile, small caps took a breather, with the Russell 2000 index falling 1%, ending a five-day winning streak.
U.S. natural gas futures fell over 6%, hitting two-month lows, due to lower-than-expected cooling demand amid milder weather forecasts for the next two weeks.
Oil prices rallied 1.9% after U.S. inventories declined again last week. Gold edged down 0.5% from the all-time highs reached on Tuesday. The dollar fell 0.4%, with the dollar-yen pair dropping 1.3%.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustSPY was 1.4% lower to $557.02.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose by 0.4% to $411.20.
The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ TrustQQQ eased 2.7% to $482.82.
Sector-wise, the Consumer Staples Sector SPDR FundXLP outperformed, up by 1.3%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR FundXLK lagged, down 3.6%.
Wednesday’s Stock Movers
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.AMD tumbled 8.3%, dropping below the 50-day moving average support.
U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor ManufacturingTSM plummeted 7% following reports that U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested Taiwan should compensate the U.S. for its defense.
British chipmaker Arm Holdings plcARM tumbled 8.7%.
Other chip giants, including Marvell Technology, Inc.MRVL, Lam Research CorporationLRCX and Applied Materials, Inc.AMAT, also saw declined by about 8%.
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ rallied 3.7% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
Charles Schwab Corp.SCHW plunged 9.4%, following a 10.2% drop on Tuesday, as several analysts lowered their price targets in response to disappointing Q2 earnings.
Other stocks reacting to company earnings were Elevance Health Inc.ELV, down 6.5%, U.S. BancorpUSB, up 4.6%, Ally Financial Inc. ALLY, down 3%, Northern Trust Corp.NTRS, down 7%, CitizensFinancial GroupCFG, up 3.4% and Synchrony FinancialSYF, up 0.6%.
Companies reporting after the close include Alcoa Corporation AA, Discover Financial ServicesDFS, Kinder Morgan, Inc.KMI, SL Green Realty Corp.SLG, Steel Dynamics, Inc. STLD and United Airlines Holdings, Inc.UAL.
** Shares of industrial REITs gain on Weds in wake of Prologis Inc's PLD improving outlook
** PLD shares jumped >6% to over 3-mth high on the session after warehouse-focused REIT raised annual FFO forecast on better demand, data center strength
** "While customer demand remains subdued, it is improving, and we expect that trend to continue as the construction pipeline shrinks" - PLD CEO Hamid Moghadam
** Shares of cold storage REIT Americold Realty COLD up 1% on Weds
** Americold rival Lineage (LINE.O) on Tues launched marketing for IPO targeting up to $3.85 bln raise, in what could be 2024's biggest new listing
Top Midday Stories: Chip Stocks Fall; MBA US Mortgage Applications Rebound; Johnson & Johnson, Elevance Health Q2 Earnings Rise; Prologis Posts Q2 Beat; VF to Sell Supreme Brand to EssilorLuxottica
Wall Street's major market averages were mixed on Wednesday as semiconductor stocks were falling midday amid reports of tighter US export restrictions to China.
Shares of ASML ASML retreated 11%, Nvidia NVDA slipped 5.9%, AMD AMD slid 8.3%, Qualcomm QCOM lost 7% and Arm ARM were down 7.8%.
In economic news, Mortgage Bankers Association data showed that mortgage applications rose by 3.9% in the week ended July 12 after a 0.2% decline in the previous week as 30-year fixed mortgage rates declined to their lowest level since March.
June housing starts rose by 3% from the previous month to a 1.353 million annual rate after a decrease to a 1.314 million pace in May.
In earnings news, Johnson & Johnson JNJ said its Q2 adjusted earnings rose to $2.82 per diluted share from $2.56 and its net sales climbed to $22.45 billion from $21.52 billion a year earlier. Shares of Johnson & Johnson were up 3.1% in recent Wednesday trading.
Elevance Health ELV said its Q2 adjusted earnings increased to $10.12 per diluted share from $9.04 and its revenue rose to $43.89 billion from $43.67 billion a year earlier. The company said it expects full-year 2024 adjusted earnings to be at least $37.20 per share. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expect $37.28. Shares of Elevance Health dropped 6.8% in recent Wednesday trading.
Prologis PLD shares rose 4.7% in recent Wednesday trading after the company's Q2 results topped estimates while the real estate investment trust updated its guidance for 2024 core funds from operations to $5.39 to $5.47 per diluted share from the previous outlook of $5.37 to $5.47.
In other news, VF VFC said Wednesday it agreed to sell its Supreme brand to EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion in cash. Shares of VF were up 7.6%
Eikon search string for individual stock moves:STXBZ
Wall Street jumped in upbeat trading on Monday, on a greater chance of presidential candidate Donald Trump winning a second term after surviving an assassination attempt, while interest-rate cut hopes also aided market sentiment.
At 13:31 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI was up 0.44% at 40,176.54. The S&P 500 SPX was up 0.33% at 5,633.71 and the Nasdaq Composite IXIC was up 0.42% at 18,475.542.
The top three S&P 500 (.PG.INX) percentage gainers:
** Tesla Inc , up 5%
** APA Corp , up 4.5%
** United Rental , up 4.5%
The top three S&P 500 (.PL.INX) percentage losers:
Earnings season is officially underway, with big banks reporting on Friday.
Reactions and results were mixed.
Yet, when we looked at the top banks that were searched by financial pros, we found that Wells Fargo (WFC) barely topped JP Morgan Chase (JPM), which is unusual.
Typically, JP Morgan is considered the gold standard of big banks, whether you’re talking about growth or profitability.
Wells, on the other hand, is the fallen angel, a once favorite of Warren Buffet that let scandals ruin its reputation.
But the TrackStar data doesn’t lie. Something was up.
So, we took a deep dive into Wells Fargo and its recent earnings to see if there was a stock worth buying.
Wells Fargo’s Business
Wells Fargo is one of America's largest banks, tracing its roots back to the California Gold Rush of 1852.
With a rich history spanning over 170 years, the company has evolved from a stagecoach express service (hence the logo) to a diversified financial services giant, serving one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the country.
Globally, it operates in 35 countries with a whopping 64 million customers.
The bank's offerings include traditional banking services, mortgage lending, credit cards, wealth management, and investment banking.
Despite facing regulatory challenges in recent years, Wells Fargo remains a dominant player in the U.S. banking landscape, with approximately $1.9 trillion in assets and over 4,200 retail bank branches across the nation.
Wells Fargo segments its business into the following areas:
Consumer Banking and Lending (43% of total revenues) - Offers diverse financial products for consumers and small businesses, including checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and home, auto, and personal lending.
Commercial Banking (15% of total revenues) - Provides financial solutions to private, family-owned, and certain public companies across multiple industry sectors and municipalities.
Corporate and Investment Banking (23% of total revenues) - Delivers capital markets, banking, and financial products to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients globally.
Wealth and Investment Management (19% of total revenues) - Offers personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, and trust services to affluent clients.
In its second quarter 2024 earnings report, Wells Fargo posted a net income of $4.9 billion, or $1.33 per diluted share.
The bank's performance showed resilience with a 1% increase in total revenue year-over-year, despite a 9% decline in net interest income.
However, it showed net interest income declining as the spread between the rates it pays depositors and loans narrowed.
Forecasted Fed rate cuts would put more pressure on net interest margins. However, higher loan demand could offset some of the impact.
At the moment, higher interest rates are reducing loan demand, while bank deposits are flat.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that credit quality, as measured by net loan charge-offs, is deteriorating, led primarily by the commercial real estate sector.
Banks like Wells Fargo used to be growth stocks. But their business has remained stagnant for the last decade.
Profits and margins haven’t really changed, other than some ups and downs with the economy.
It’s effectively become a perpetual dividend stock for most investors, generating a predictable amount of cash annually.
Management returns the cash to shareholders with a 2.3% dividend yield and a share buyback program that yields around 6.6% annually.
But that’s about it.
Valuation
Source: Seeking Alpha
With its lifeless growth, investors have priced Wells a bit cheaper than JP Morgan, Citigroup (C), or Bank of America (BAC). Only the regional bank Fifth Third (FITB) is a touch cheaper, and it carries more risk from the whole regional banking crisis.
It’s interesting to see the disparity between Wells's and JP Morgan's price-to-book ratios. Clearly, investors believe JP Morgan will generate more wealth off its assets than Wells might.
Growth
Source: Seeking Alpha
The growth numbers sum up exactly why Wells has been dead money.
Its revenue growth is good but not great. And while the 3-year net income growth looks fantastic, it’s only because Wells was coming off such ridiculously low levels post-pandemic.
Profitability
Source: Seeking Alpha
The return on assets is almost the same across the board because banks don’t tend to generate more per dollar they loan from one place to the next.
What sets them apart is how they grow the business and non-loan income compared to their peers.
Store-brand products have long been uninspiring — cheaper knockoffs of well-known brands with names like "Toaster Treats" in place of Pop-Tarts or "Honey Nut O's" cereal in place of Honey Nut Cheerios. That is quickly changing, though.
For example, Walmart, America's largest retailer, launched a premium food brand in late April called Bettergoods. The lineup includes adventurous flavors such as cardamom rose raspberry jam, plant-based products such as oatmilk ice cream and single-origin coffee. Grocery conglomerate Ahold Delhaize, owner of Food Lion, Stop & Shop and other chains, announced in May a target to increase the companywide share of private-label sales to 45% by 2028, from about 38% today. Ahold's push is also about more than value alternatives: Its own-brand portfolio includes an organic line called Nature's Promise and a premium line called Taste of Inspirations.
Store brands yield better margins for retailers and can deepen loyalty: Consumers love Trader Joe's, Aldi's and Costco's Kirkland products so much that they have devoted fan accounts on social media. Grocers that almost exclusively sell their own store brands, such as Aldi and Trader Joe's, have been grabbing market share that legacy supermarkets like Kroger are losing, according to data from Numerator.
"It's not lost on retailers that the fastest-growing retailers have the fastest-growing private-label programs," said Steve Oakland, chief executive officer of TreeHouse Foods, which manufactures store-brand snacks and beverages for major retailers including Walmart. Shoppers can now browse online to see how much a national brand item costs at different retailers and, in most cities, have them delivered the same day. Retailers need to offer something unique to drive traffic and loyalty, he said.
Private label's overall share of sales hasn't moved all that much over the past decade: It made up 21.8% of sales for categories that TreeHouse Foods sells, according to the company — not a huge step up from 20.5% 10 years ago. By contrast, store brands make up about 40% of grocery sales in Western Europe, according to NielsenIQ.
One barrier is that grocery sellers in the U.S. have less market power than European retailers over major consumer packaged goods, or CPG, companies such as Procter & Gamble and General Mills. The top four grocery sellers in the U.K. account for about two-thirds of sales, while in the U.S. they account for a little more than a third, according to a 2023 paper from Prof. Jan-Benedict Steenkamp at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Grocery sellers in the U.S. have less leverage in sourcing their private-label goods: Many are actually produced by national consumer packaged-goods companies that compete for the same shelf space. There are dedicated store-brand manufacturers, but the quality of their products still lags behind those of Europe, Steenkamp said.
Brand-name players in the U.S. also have a lot of money to splurge on promotions to drive up market share: Steenkamp's paper noted that U.S. store brands are priced on average 20% lower than national brands — a less enticing discount than the roughly 30% seen in Western Europe.
The retailer-manufacturer dynamic is a delicate one. CPG companies don't typically like it when retailers ask them to start manufacturing competing private-label products, but refusing also comes with the risk of damaging the relationship and losing their own shelf space.
The pandemic had a complex impact on this dynamic. In its initial phases, consumers were so hard pressed to find what they needed that they were forced to try out many private-label products. But as supply disruptions wore on over years, CPG companies gained the upper hand since many had more robust supply chains than their private-label competitors.
Amid elevated demand for food at home and consumer wallets flush with stimulus cash, CPG companies were able to raise prices without much resistance. But that is now quickly changing as retailers deal with price-sensitive consumers increasingly exhausted with the cumulative impact of inflation: Grocery prices are about 26% higher than they were in 2019. In a recent survey of U.S. consumers by Jefferies, some 51% of respondents said they are buying more private-label products to save money on grocery bills.
In an interview, a food industry executive said national brands' price gap over store brands has widened compared with historical norms in mainstream snacking categories and that CPG companies are likely to run more frequent promotions in that space this summer. But he added that higher-end snacks are better insulated.
Differentiating on quality is one defense against store brands. But during the recent bumper years for CPG companies, brands also didn't need to innovate as much to spur sales. JJ Fleeman, chief executive of Ahold Delhaize USA, said in an interview that the company sees an opportunity to gain private-label market share because innovation has been lacking in national brands on packaging, sustainability and taste profiles. Target launched its Figmint kitchenware brand last year partly because there hasn't been much innovation in the category over the past decade, according to a company video featuring its senior vice president of brand and portfolio management, Carlos Saavedra.
What is more, the biggest retailers — namely Walmart and Costco — gained market share through the pandemic. Now that supply disruptions have passed, this has given them more bargaining power over CPG companies.
Being a retailer means owning the distribution, which can lend itself to nimbler product innovation. Aldi, for example, introduces approximately 100 rotating seasonal products a week in a dedicated aisle called "Aldi Finds," according to Scott Patton, vice president of national buying at the company. Recent introductions have included hot honey kettle chips and birthday cake yogurt-covered pretzels. If the product sells out and the company sees a lot of mentions on social media, it then decides to carry it for a full season.
"You can always do focus groups, but for us, customers are the best source of feedback and inspiration," Patton said.
Higher share for store brands can ultimately be good for consumers. If national brands can't improve the quality of their goods, then they need to lower prices to compete. Historically, national brands have tended to be more aggressive on trade spending, such as promotions, when a strong private brand is introduced in a category, according to Jim Griffin, president of private-brand agency Daymon. "The biggest CPG [companies] are not going to lose share to Walmart or any other retailer without a fight," he said.
The relationship between consumer goods companies and retailers is heating up. Consumers could end up the real winners.
Aaron Back contributed to this article.
Write to Jinjoo Lee at jinjoo.lee@wsj.com
BUZZ - Nasdaq top and bottom performing stocks at about 12:01 p.m. EDT
The Nasdaq 100 NDX lost 415.31 points, or 2.01%, to 20,260.07 and recorded 9 new highs and no new lows. 56 stocks rose and 45 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a about a 1.2-to-1 ratio.
Honeywell's Hard Times Are Coming to an End. It's Time to Buy the Stock. — Barrons.com
After years of underperformance, Honeywell International stock may be ready to resume its winning ways.
Honeywell was once known for its consistent business — and a consistently outperforming stock. With leading franchises, a strong balance sheet, and solid prospects, it was seen as a high-quality industrial company, worth a premium valuation. The pandemic, however, hit Honeywell hard. From 2018 to 2023, the company's earnings per share grew at an average annual rate of about 3%, below the S&P 500's 8%. Over the past five years, its stock gained just 24%, underperforming the benchmark index by some 60 percentage points.
Honeywell now looks set to get back on track. Under CEO Vimal Kapur, who took over in June 2023, the company is targeting 10% annual earnings growth, using acquisitions and operational improvement — with an assist from postpandemic normalization — to get there. The stock also looks reasonably priced in a way it hasn't in years. Combine that with the possibility that the pieces could be worth more than the whole, and Honeywell shares, at a recent $213, look like a bet whose time has come.
"[Honeywell] stock has underperformed quite a bit the last couple of years, and the valuation is attractive. So if we can get some work done on the portfolio, all while end-markets are recovering, that should bring interest back to the name," says Melius Research analyst Scott Davis.
Honeywell operates four business segments. The Aerospace division, which sells everything from engines and flight controls to auxiliary power units that keep aircraft systems on when the main engines aren't running, is doing great after a miserable run during Covid; it reported first-quarter sales of $3.7 billion in April, up 18% year over year. Energy and Sustainability Solutions, which serves the refining, chemicals, and power-generation industries, has returned to growth, too, with first-quarter sales of $1.5 billion, up 5% year over year.
Honeywell's Industrial Automation business, which sells masks, conveyor belts, and hand-held computers for automated warehouses, continues to struggle. First-quarter sales came in at $2.5 billion, down 13% year over year, after growing by 6% in 2020. Selling masks isn't the big business it once was, and a slowing industrial economy has hurt automation sales. The Building Automation business, which manages the systems in office buildings, still hasn't returned to normal after the Covid lockdowns. First-quarter sales, at $1.4 billion, were down 3% year over year.
Operational improvements will help boost those businesses — and the company as a whole. Kapur is targeting 25% operating profit margins, up from 22.2% in the first quarter of this year. Wall Street isn't optimistic, which gives Honeywell a chance to surprise the Street. Another part of the improvement comes from things returning to normal. Sales in 2023 amounted to $36.7 billion, virtually the same as 2019. Analysts project annual sales growth of about 5% a year from 2023 to 2026.
"The end markets should be lining up pretty good by [year] end," says Melius' Davis. "Aerospace is likely to remain strong while we get a recovery in automation."
Honeywell is also hoping that mergers and acquisitions can provide a boost. On June 3, it closed its $5 billion acquisition of Carrier's building security business, which fits inside the Building Automation segment, boosting product offerings where the company is already a strong competitor. On June 20, Honeywell announced plans to buy defense communications company CAES for about $2 billion, adding to its aerospace business. Both deals were well received on Wall Street.
More billion-dollar M&A should be coming as Kapur positions the company for better growth — and Honeywell has the balance sheet to make them happen. The company had just $12 billion in debt less cash at the end of the first quarter, or about 1.2 times projected 2024 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda. Industrial companies in the S&P 500 typically operate with about two times debt to Ebitda.
"For a company the size of Honeywell, [both deals aren't] a particularly heavy lift, but it does point to an M&A program that has finally begun to put points on the scoreboard," wrote Gordon Haskett special situations analyst Don Bilson in a recent report.
With improvements happening in real time, Honeywell stock is starting to look attractive. Davis rates the shares Buy and has a $278 price target for the stock, up 30% from recent levels. That values Honeywell stock for about 22 times Davis' estimated 2026 earnings. Those estimates don't include benefits from the CAES deal.
Assuming some benefit from M&A and margins, which can help restore Honeywell's premium valuation, investors could be looking at a $300 stock in a year, up 40% from recent levels.
And if it can't get there? Don't expect investors to accept continued underperformance. Mizuho Securities analyst Brett Linzey says he is getting "increased call volume" on Honeywell, a sign that his clients are taking a new look at the stock. One reason is all the activism and breakup activity in the industrial and manufacturing space. General Electric is now three companies; DuPont de Nemours is breaking up again; and activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a position in Johnson Controls International.
Honeywell could make an attractive target, too, based on a "sum of the parts" valuation. Valuing Honeywell's aerospace business at 20 times Ebitda — a similar multiple to GE Aerospace — would give it a value of some $85 billion, while its building, automation, and energy units could be worth $34 billion, $47 billion, and $25 billion, respectively. Combined, that would give Honeywell a value of $278 a share, according to Mizuho's Linzey — the same target as Melius' Davis.
Kapur is a relatively new CEO, and likely won't want to consider breaking up Honeywell. Chances are he won't need to.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Palantir Technologies Inc.PLTR shares are moving higher after the company announced a strategic partnership with Voyager Space. This collaboration aims to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to advance the space and defense technology sectors by integrating Palantir's AI tools across the Voyager enterprise.
What’s Going On: Building on a previous Memorandum of Understanding announced earlier this year, this partnership enhances Voyager’s defense segment by utilizing AI to process and optimize flight and testing data for solid fuel thrusters.
Additionally, Palantir's software will support real-time signal data processing and improve targeting for Voyager's optical communications systems used by the Department of Defense.
Voyager will leverage Palantir Foundry and the Artificial Intelligence Platform to add value to its in-house payload management system for International Space Station customers and onboard the Starlab commercial space station in the future.
PLTR Price Action: Palantir shares were up 4.23%, trading at $25.12 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.
Mining bankers are all dressed up with nowhere to go. Now that BHP’s BHP attempt to take over the non-South African parts of rival Anglo American AAL has hit the skids, the question is where the M&A spotlight is next going to fall in a sector newly buzzing with intrigue. The smart money right now seems to be on something involving Canada’s $25 billion Teck Resources TECK, or $72 billion New York-listed Freeport-McMoran FCX.
BHP’s Anglo interest, which petered out on May 29, has focused everyone’s minds on copper. Demand for the red metal is robust given its key role in the energy transition and an artificial intelligence-related data centre boom, but supplies are constrained. BHP boss Mike Henry’s three rebuffed takeover proposals for Anglo, the last of which valued the target at $47 billion, suggest big miners reckon it’s cheaper to buy new supplies than invest in new ones.
That said, it’s not immediately obvious who’s next on the block. Henry could wait the mandatory six months and have another pop at Anglo, but he’d still have to work out how to separate the UK-listed miner’s juicy copper mines from the other bits he doesn’t want. Anglo boss Duncan Wanblad, meanwhile, is unlikely to be an M&A aggressor — his successful defence against BHP requires him to spend the next year or so hiving off problem areas like diamonds. Rio Tinto RIO, RIO, the other big global mining beast, was assumed to be waiting to pounce on other targets while BHP was distracted swallowing Anglo — which it now isn’t.
The picture doesn’t necessarily get any clearer in the next echelon down. Major copper-focused players include $26 billion Antofagasta ANTO, whose shares have doubled in the last two years, and $85 billion Southern Copper SCCO. These boast annual production of over 600,000 tonnes and 900,000 tonnes respectively. But Antofagasta is 65% owned by Chile’s Luksic family, which isn’t showing signs of selling, and Southern Copper is 90% held by Grupo México – led by Mexican tycoon Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco. Canada’s $11 billion First Quantum Minerals FM had over 700,000 tonnes of annual copper output last year, but its Cobre Panamá mine in the Central American state has been embroiled in a spat with the domestic government.
Thomson ReutersWorld's top 10 copper producers World's top 10 copper producers
Freeport, which is in contrast largely held by institutional investors, looks a more promising M&A candidate. CEO Kathleen Quirk, who took the reins this month, needs to find ways to make her equity story more exciting: analysts expect Freeport’s copper production to barely increase in the next five years at 1.3 million tonnes annually, according to estimates polled by Visible Alpha. She also recently conceded in a Financial Times interview that acquisition, while not her priority, was an effective way to boost copper output.
Teck is alluring for a starker reason. Boss Jonathan Price’s copper production could roughly double to nearly 600,000 tonnes by 2028, according to analysts estimates using Visible Alpha data, and Teck's 60% copper EBITDA margin forecast for 2025 exceeds Freeport’s 45%. While the Keevil family exerts an Antofagasta-style grip on the shareholder register, its special voting shares will flip to common stock in five years. After he completes the sale of Teck’s steelmaking coal business to Swiss rival Glencore GLEN, Price’s group will become a hugely attractive target.
The catch for interested parties is that this allure is substantially already in the prices of the more focused base metal players. Freeport’s shares have gained 360% in the past five years, compared to 17% for less copper-exposed Rio, BHP and Anglo. After deducting the earnings generated by coal, Teck is trading at 12.4 times the remaining EBITDA analysts estimate it to generate in 2024, using Visible Alpha data, with Southern Copper at 14.6 times and Freeport and Antofagasta at 7 times. Add a premium on top of that and Henry and his more diversified miner peers will be at severe risk of overpaying: BHP, Rio and Anglo trade on average at just 5 times, so the danger is they hand all the synergy benefits to their targets’ shareholders.
Thomson ReutersGlobal mining companies' market value
This doesn’t mean Teck and Freeport have no hope of being involved in big M&A. That’s because they could use their expensive shares to become acquirers. There are plenty of options. Teck’s $25 billion value gives it nearly the same market capitalisation as Antofagasta, while Vale’s base metal business was valued at a similar price when it sold a one-tenth stake to shareholders including Saudi Arabia last year. Price, or his counterparts at Freeport or Southern Copper, could use their equity to broker an all-share merger with one of this cohort.
Anglo and Glencore could be in play too. After spinning off its coal, diamond and platinum businesses, Anglo would be smaller, but more exposed to base metals. Value its $3.8 billion of estimated copper EBITDA in 2024 at the same level as pure metal players like Freeport, and it would be worth $27 billion. Wanblad may also feel the need to spin out his base metals business pre-emptively if he fails to deliver Anglo’s restructuring plan by 2025. Meanwhile, Glencore is trading at only 4.6 times 2024 EBITDA. If it decided to spin off its massive coal businesses, the likes of Freeport might fancy what’s left behind — analysts estimate Glencore's own copper business will generate $4.8 billion of EBITDA in 2024, implying a potential valuation nearing $35 billion on Freeport’s 7 times multiple.
It’s not impossible antitrust hurdles lie in the path of any Teck or Freeport M&A splurge. The Canadian government, after all, wasn’t overly welcoming towards Glencore’s bid for the entirety of Teck in 2023. Rather than engage in risky M&A, Teck or Freeport may yet prefer to spend resources on new technologies to squeeze more copper out of their own existing projects. Still, it wasn’t at all clear BHP would swoop for Anglo due to the complexity of the political backdrop, and it did so anyway. Copper watchers should stay tuned for further fireworks.
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CONTEXT NEWS
Freeport-McMoRan Chief Executive Kathleen Quirk said in a Financial Times interview published on June 17 that reducing the sector from scores of groups into a small number of giants could be an effective way to buoy supplies needed to cut emissions in the decades ahead.
Quirk took charge as chief executive of Freeport on June 11. Glencore's deal to buy Teck's coal mines is expected to close in the third quarter.
June 26 2024
Growth Stocks Leave Value Stocks In The Dust: 4 Reasons For Biggest Monthly Lead In Over A Year
Growth stocks are experiencing a remarkable resurgence, posting their best month in over a year when compared to value stocks, as the rally in tech and mega caps continues to dominate market dynamics.
The iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF IWF has surged by 6.5% so far in June 2024. This gain puts it on track for its seventh month of increases in the last eight.
Investors have shown elevated confidence in growth-oriented sectors, particularly technology, which continues to benefit from strong earnings reports, heightened expectations for future cash flows and positive market sentiment, especially towards AI-related industries.
In stark contrast, the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETFIWD, representing the other major equity style, has declined by 1.4% in June.
This divergence highlights the challenges facing value stocks, which typically encompass sectors like financials, energy, utilities, and consumer staples. These sectors have struggled to attract investor interest due to their less impressive performance and subdued earnings expectations.
The performance gap between growth and value in June 2024 stands at a striking 7.9 percentage points, marking the most substantial monthly performance difference since May 2023.
With one trading week remaining in the month, if the gap exceeds 9.6 percentage points, previously reached in March 2020, it will mark the largest one-month outperformance of growth over value ever recorded.
Benzinga
4 Key Factors Driving Growth’s Outperformance Over Value
Technology Sector’s Dominance in Growth ETFs: The technology sector’s heavy weighting in growth-related ETFs has been the main driver of their outperformance. In the Russell 1000 Growth ETF, tech stocks comprise a substantial 47% of the portfolio. In stark contrast, the Russell 1000 Value ETF allocates only 9.5% to tech stocks.
Impact of Chipmakers on Growth Performance: Within the tech sector, the substantial weighting of chipmakers in growth funds has been another critical factor, as they have been the main beneficiaries of the current AI-driven rally. The semiconductor sector represents 17% of the growth ETF, compared to a mere 4.2% in the value ETF.
Absence of Nvidia, Magnificent 6 In Value ETFs: Notably, “The Magnificent 6” – as named by Bank of America – Nvidia Corp.NVDA, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Apple Inc.AAPL, Alphabet Inc. GOOGGOOGL, Amazon Inc.AMZN, and Meta Platforms Inc.META – are absent from the value-linked ETF but collectively hold a 50% weight in the growth ETF.
Stock Concentration and Market Breadth Differences: The higher stock concentration in growth-related ETFs compared to value socks is another crucial factor, especially in the current context of poor market breadth. The top 10 stocks in the Russell 1000 Growth ETF comprise 57% of the overall portfolio, whereas the top 10 in the value-related ETF account for only 17% of the total weight.
(Updates with stock price movement in the headline and the first paragraph.)
RXO RXO shares soared more than 23% in recent Monday trading after it struck a deal to acquire United Parcel Service's UPS freight brokerage business unit, Coyote Logistics, for about $1.03 billion in cash.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
RXO plans to fund the transaction through a combination of equity and debt, including a $300 million equity investment from MFN Partners and a $250 million equity investment from Orbis Investments.
RXO anticipates the acquisition to be immediately and "significantly" accretive to its adjusted EPS and adjusted free cash flow, and expects annualized cost synergies of at least $25 million. The company will continue to serve UPS' brokered transportation needs until January 2030.
UPS said it will update its financial outlook once the transaction is completed. RXO maintained its Q2 adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $24 million to $30 million.
June 21 2024
This Nike Analyst Turns Bullish; Here Are Top 5 Upgrades For Friday
Top Wall Street analysts changed their outlook on these top names. For a complete view of all analyst rating changes, including upgrades, downgrades and initiations, please see our analyst ratings page.
Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel upgraded the rating for NIKE, Inc.NKE from Perform to Outperform, while raising the price target from $110 to $120. Nike shares gained 0.8% to close at $95.57 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
Morgan Stanley analyst Carlos De Alba upgraded Alcoa CorporationAA from Equal-Weight to Overweight and boosted the price target from $36.5 to $50. Alcoa shares gained 4% to close at $38.98 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
RBC Capital analyst Shagun Singh upgraded the rating for Outset Medical, Inc.OM from Sector Perform to Outperform, while increasing the price target from $5 to $6. Outset Medical shares fell 1.5% to settle at $3.5850 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
Morgan Stanley analyst Carlos De Alba upgraded Freeport-McMoRan Inc.FCX from Equal-Weight to Overweight and boosted the price target from $49.5 to $62. Freeport-McMoRan shares gained 3.5% to close at $49.36 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
DA Davidson analyst Linda Bolton Weiser upgraded the rating for Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc.PBH from Neutral to Buy, while raising the price target from $65 to $93. Prestige Consumer shares settled at $65.28 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
Check This Out: Nvidia, Applied Materials And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling
Jabil reported third-quarter fiscal 2024 revenue of $6.77 billion, down by 20.2% year-on-year, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $6.53 billion. The print manufacturing company's adjusted EPS of $1.89 beat the analyst consensus of $1.85, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Jabil said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $6.3 billion – $6.9 billion (consensus: $6.8 billion) and adjusted EPS to $2.03 – $2.43 (consensus: $2.22).
Jabil shares dipped 7.8% to $116.37 on Thursday.
Here are some other stocks moving in today’s mid-day session.
Gainers
MGO Global, Inc. MGOL shares jumped 222.8% to $1.48 after the company said it expects the pending acquisition of Spetner Associates to close in the second half of 2024, projecting it to increase annualized revenue to approximately $28 million.
Griid Infrastructure Inc. GRDI climbed 89.3% to $1.48 after falling more than 10% on Tuesday.
Zapp Electric Vehicles Group LimitedZZAPP gained 89% to $2.58 after the company said it expects first customer deliveries of the i300 in the fourth quarter and anticipates selling over 5,000 units in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025.
Reliance Global Group, Inc. RELI shares climbed 60.5% to $0.6279. Reliance Global Group announced major enhancement of capital structure following cashless exercise of warrants.
Allurion Technologies Inc. ALUR gained 50% to $1.598. Allurion announced publication of new data demonstrating lean mass gains in patients experiencing 14% weight loss.
SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited CompanySMX rose 43% to $0.1702 after jumping 19% on Tuesday.
Femasys Inc.FEMY rose 22% to $1.1650 after receiving CE Mark approval from the EU MDR for its FemaSeed, FemVue, FemCerv, and FemCath products.
Molecular Partners AGMOLN shares rose 21.1% to $9.63 after gaining 9% on Tuesday.
Surf Air Mobility Inc. SRFM jumped 20.6% to $0.3850.
ToughBuilt Industries, Inc. TBLT gained 20.2% to $3.75.
MicroCloud Hologram Inc. HOLO surged 19.7% to $1.1303. MicroCloud Hologram entered into convertible note purchase agreements with investors for $28 million on June 18.
Presto Automation Inc. PRST shares climbed 19.2% to $0.0877after falling around 5% on Tuesday.
NanoViricides, Inc. NNVC gained 16.5% to $1.91. Nanoviricides reported that the ultra-broad-spectrum antiviral NV-387, a Phase 2 Stage drug candidate, was found to be effective in protecting lungs from damage in a lethally infected influenza H3N2 mouse model.
Lobo EV Technologies Ltd. LLOBO rose 16.4% to $2.47.
Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. OCUL gained 16% to $6.36 after TD Cowen upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and raised its price target from $7 to $11.
Applied Digital CorporationAPLD jumped 15.3% to $5.95.
Ranpak Holdings Corp. PACK climbed 13.7% to $6.49.
ImmunityBio, Inc. IBRX rose 13.6% to $7.08 after the company announced insurance coverage of ANKTIVA across multiple states with first commercial doses administered.
Harrow, Inc. HROW gained 12.2% to $19.81 after the company announced the manufacture of the first of three commercial-scale process performance qualification batches of TRIESENCE 40 mg/mL. Also the company announced that the second and third required PPQ batches are now scheduled.
Nexalin Technology, Inc.NXL gained 10% to $1.1450. Nexalin Technology shares jumped around 38% on Tuesday after the company was awarded a US patent on ‘Transcranial alternating current dynamic frequency stimulation (TACS) method for Alzheimers and Dementia.’
Bilibili Inc.BILI shares climbed 7.8% to $17.45. On Tuesday, JP Morgan analyst Daniel Chen upgraded Bilibili from Neutral to Overweight and announced a $21 price target.
Super Micro Computer, Inc. SMCI gained 7% to $982.60 after Elon Musk indicated the company will provide server racks for the supercomputer that xAI is building.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD rose 5% to $162.36.
Losers
Trevena, Inc.TRVN fell 43.7% to $0.1993. Trevena announced preclinical TRV045 data for long-term analgestic effect in prelinical model of neuropathic pain. Also, the company announced TRV045 results provided director for additional NIH-initiated studies in epilepsy prevention and treatment.
Kaival Brands Innovations Group, IncKAVL shares declined 33.5% to $2.99 after gaining 8% on Tuesday.
Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings, Inc. SONN fell 29% to $1.10. Sonnet BioTherapeutics announced exercise of warrants for gross proceeds of $3.4 million.
Tempest Therapeutics, Inc. TPST declined 25% to $2.1208. The company announced new data from the ongoing Phase 1b/2 clinical study on amezalpat2 (TPST-1120).
Nikola CorporationNKLA declined 23.6% to $0.3672. Nikola announced 1-for-30 reverse stock split approved by board.
La Rosa Holdings Corp. LRHC shares fell 23.5% to $1.37. La Rosa Holdings shares jumped 72% on Tuesday after the company entered a non-binding letter of intent to acquire a controlling interest in Red Door Title.
SYLA Technologies Co., Ltd. SYT dipped 21.7% to $1.70.
Mustang Bio, Inc.MBIO shares dipped 21% to $0.6721 after the company announced a $2.5 million registered direct offering of 6.130 million shares at $0.41 per share.
Dunxin Financial Holdings LimitedDXF shares fell 19.4% to $0.1728 after dipping 17% on Tuesday.
Tempus AI, IncTTEM fell 15.1% to $25.76 amid post-IPO volatility.
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. ESPR declined 15% to $2.2991 after B of A Securities downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform.
SRIVARU Holding LimitedSVMH shares fell 13.7% to $0.2150. SRIVARU, last week, announced it will begin accepting paid reservations and bookings for its flagship product, the PRANA 2.0, on June 16th.
Actelis Networks, Inc. ASNS fell 12.2% to $1.8602. Actelis Networks shares jumped 84% on Tuesday after the company announced an agreement to serve as Carahsoft’s public sector distributor.
Jasper Therapeutics, Inc. JSPR declined 10.1% to $20.84. Jasper Therapeutics announced appointment of Svetlana Lucas Ph.D., to its Board of Directors.
GMS Inc.GMS declined 6.5% to $84.02 after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results.
Eikon search string for individual stock moves:STXBZ
Wall Street was set to open flat on Tuesday following softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data, with focus on commentary from a slew of Federal Reserve officials later in the day.
At 11:57 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI was up 0.01% at 38,780.54. The S&P 500 SPX was up 0.14% at 5,481.1 and the Nasdaq Composite IXIC was down 0.06% at 17,846.433.
The top three S&P 500 (.PG.INX) percentage gainers:
** Hewlett Packard Entp , up 4.6%
** Teradyne Inc , up 4.2%
** Micron Tech , up 4.2%
The top three S&P 500 (.PL.INX) percentage losers:
Amazon.com Inc’sAMZN Prime RxPass subscription service has now expanded to over 50 million Medicare beneficiaries, enhancing affordable access to medications for a broader audience.
This rollout promises significant savings and convenience, emphasizing the program’s alignment with customer-centric healthcare solutions.
Launched on Tuesday, RxPass now offers its services to a vast demographic of Medicare recipients, aiming to streamline the purchasing of medicines and support better health management.
Medicare beneficiaries utilizing RxPass for their medication needs could save an average of $70 annually for those on a single medication, with greater savings for those requiring multiple prescriptions.
Overall, this could lead to a nearly $2 billion reduction in Medicare spending if all eligible beneficiaries switch to RxPass.
“Programs like RxPass help reduce cost, while increasing convenience for caregivers, and customers of all ages, which is shown to improve medication adherence and support better health outcomes,” stated John Love, Vice President of Amazon Pharmacy.
Amazon Pharmacy, acting as a digital pharmacy, offers transparent pricing and round-the-clock access to pharmacists. The Prime-associated savings plan, RxPass, provides an alternative to traditional insurance coverage, offering significant discounts on medications.
With a substantial portion of Americans facing challenges like “pharmacy deserts,” mobility issues, or high medication costs, RxPass aims to alleviate these barriers, potentially improving long-term health outcomes for millions.
Since its inception in 2020, Amazon Pharmacy has been actively working to divert customers from established competitors like CVS Health CorpCVS and Walgreens Boots Alliance IncWBA, reported Reuters.
The RxPass program, priced at $5 per month, includes 60 generic medications, round-the-clock pharmacist access, and free delivery, making it an attractive alternative to traditional pharmacy offerings.
Amazon stock has gained more than 46% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR FundXLY and Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETFVCR.
Price Action: AMZN shares are trading lower by 0.38% at $183.36 at last check Tuesday.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Sunday, Nurix Therapeutics IncNRIX announced the presentation of updated clinical data for NX-5948, an orally bioavailable degrader of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK).
BTK inhibitors have become a major commercial class, with drugs such as BeiGene Inc’sBGNE Brukinsa (Zanubrutinib), Eli Lilly And Co’sLLY Jaypirca (Pirtobrutinib), Johnson & Johnson’sJNJ Imbruvica (Ibrutinib), and AstraZeneca Plc’sAZN Calquence (Acalabrutinib).
NX-5948 is being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 1a/b trial in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies, including CLL and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
The data presented at EHA include safety findings for all patients in the Phase 1a dose escalation study regardless of diagnosis (n=79) and efficacy findings for those patients with relapsed or refractory CLL (n=31).
Patients were treated with NX-5948 at doses ranging from 50 to 600 mg once daily by oral administration.
NX-5948 was well tolerated across all doses evaluated, with the most common treatment-emergent adverse events of purpura/contusion, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia.
Among the efficacy-evaluable patients with CLL (n=26), NX-5948 treatment resulted in an objective response rate (ORR) of 69.2% across all doses tested.
Responses were observed as early as the first scan (8 weeks), and many patients experienced a deepening of their response with longer treatment time.
All responses remained ongoing as of the April 17 data cutoff.
Dr. Linton also presented an updated case report detailing the response of one patient who entered the study with CLL with CNS involvement after undergoing three prior therapies.
After daily treatment with 100 mg, and later 300 mg, of NX-5948, the patient exhibited a deepening response approaching complete response criteria by 36 weeks, with malignant cells eliminated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by 24 weeks.
Another case report presented by the company involved a patient who had received eleven prior lines of therapy. After daily treatment with 200 mg of NX-5948, the patient achieved a response by week 8, which deepened over time and was ongoing with over six months of follow-up.
“We intend to move rapidly forward with the goal of initiating pivotal trial(s) with NX-5948 in 2025,” said Arthur Sands, president and CEO of Nurix.
Analyst Reaction:
JP Morgan maintains Nurix with an Overweight rating, raising the price target from $30 to $31.
Needham reiterates Nurix Therapeutics with a Buy and maintains $31 price target.
Price Action: NRIX shares are down 3.26% at $14.69 at last check Monday.
AstraZeneca AZN announced that the FDA has approved its blockbuster cancer drug Imfinzi (durvalumab) plus chemotherapy, followed by Imfinzi monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.
The approval for expanded use of Imfinzi was based on data from a prespecified exploratory subgroup analysis by MMR status in the phase III DUO-E study.
Data from the study showed that treatment with Imfinzi in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel (chemotherapy), followed by Imfinzi monotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 58% in patients with dMMR endometrial cancer compared with chemotherapy alone.
Treatment with Imfinzi and chemotherapy was generally well tolerated and manageable with no new safety concerns being observed.
The three-arm DUO-E study is also evaluating Imfinzi plus chemotherapy followed by Imfinzi plus Lynparza as maintenance therapy in advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. The Lynparza plus Imfinzi arm of the study has also met the primary endpoint of progression-free survival PFS. The study continues to assess overall survival as a key secondary endpoint for both arms.
Regulatory application seeking approval for both Imfinzi as well as Imfinzi plus Lynparza regimens are currently under review in the Europe, Japan and other countries to include data from the DUO-E study on Imfinzi’s label.
Shares of AstraZeneca have gained 18.2% so far this year compared with the industry’s rally of 20.2%.
Zacks
Imfinzi is the global standard of care in the curative-intent setting of unresectable, stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose disease has not progressed after chemoradiotherapy. It is also approved for extensive-stage- small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancer and in combination with Imjudo in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma in some countries.
Imfinzi is being studied for multiple cancer indications, either alone or in combination with other regimens, including phase III studies in earlier settings in NSCLC and SCLC, early-stage gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer and liver cancer, among others.
Imfinzi is a key revenue driver for AZN’s oncology portfolio. The drug generated sales worth $1.11 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up 33% year over year at constant exchange rates, driven by increased use in recent launches like biliary tract and hepatocellular carcinoma cancers and rising patient demand across SCLC and Stage IV NSCLC indications.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
AstraZeneca currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector are Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. ACRV, Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. ALGS and RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. RAPT, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past 60 days, estimates for Acrivon Therapeutics’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from $3.42 to $2.47. Loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from $3.36 to $2.55. Year to date, shares of ACRV have surged 47.4%.
ACRV’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same on the remaining one occasion, the average surprise being 3.56%.
In the past 60 days, estimates for Aligos Therapeutics’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from 84 cents to 73 cents, while loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from 82 cents to 71 cents. Year to date, shares of ALGS have declined 24.7%.
ALGS’ earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same on the remaining occasion, the average surprise being 7.83%.
In the past 60 days, estimates for RAPT Therapeutics’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from $3.19 to $2.93. Loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from $2.40 to $2.05. Year to date, shares of RAPT have plunged 86.6%.
RAPT’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters while missing the same on the remaining two occasions, the average surprise being 3.19%.
Zacks Investment Research
June 12 2024
Equity Markets Rally as Consumer Inflation Cools Ahead of Fed Decision
US benchmark equity indexes were higher midday Wednesday after May consumer inflation cooled more than expected annually while markets awaited the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision at 2 pm ET.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.8% at 17,658.9, while the S&P 500 rose 1.1% to 5,436. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.2% to 38,805.7. Among sectors, technology led the gainers, while energy posted the steepest decline.
In economic news, the US consumer price index was flat last month, easing from a 0.3% increase in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts were expecting the pace to decelerate to 0.1%, according to a Bloomberg-compiled survey. Annually, inflation slowed to 3.3% in May from the prior month's 3.4%, which was the Wall Street consensus.
"The CPI report for May came in a bit better than we dared hope for given the string of disappointing readings to start the year," BMO Economics said in a note. "If sustained, it will keep Fed rate-cut expectations that we have penciled in for September and December alive and well."
The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to maintain interest rates Wednesday — which would mark a seventh consecutive pause — and again at its July meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Bets for a September cut jumped to almost 61% Wednesday from about 47% the day before, the data showed.
Mortgage applications in the US rebounded robustly last week as rates across most loan types declined, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
The US 10-year yield sank 14.4 basis points to 4.26% intraday, while the two-year rate slid 14.9 basis points to 4.69%.
In company news, Oracle ORCL shares surged 12%, the top performer on the S&P 500. The software maker late Tuesday gave an outlook for annual growth in its fiscal first-quarter revenue and earnings, and announced cloud partnerships with OpenAI and Alphabet's GOOG Google.
Valero Energy VLO saw the second-steepest decline on the S&P 500 Wednesday, down 3.4%, as Goldman Sachs adjusted its price target on the stock to $162 from $168.
Broadcom AVGO and Dave & Buster's Entertainment PLAY are among the companies scheduled to report their latest financial results after the closing bell.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.1% to $78.76 per barrel intraday.
Gold was up 1.2% at $2,353.82 per ounce, while silver jumped 3.4% to $30.22 per ounce.
BUZZ - S&P 500 top and bottom performing stocks at about 12:00 p.m. EDT
** Shares of silver miners rise tracking prices of the metal
** Spot silver XAGUSD1! up 3.5% at $31.08/ounce, following gains in prices of gold, after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data fanned hopes of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this year
** Shares of Hecla Mining HL and Coeur Mining CDE rise 3.2% and ~6%, respectively
** Canadian miners Wheaton Precious Metals WPM, Pan American Silver PAAS, Endeavour Silver EDR and MAG Silver MAG gain between 1.8% and 3.8%
** ETFs abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF SIVR and iShares Silver Trust SLV rise 3.7% and 3.6%, respectively
Here's Why Hold Strategy is Apt for Valero (VLO) Stock Now
Valero Energy Corporation VLO stands out as a premier oil refining company. Year to date, the company has gained 20.2%, outpacing the 4.1% improvement of the composite stocks belonging to the industry.
What’s Favoring the Stock?
Valero, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is a best-in-class oil refiner involved in the production of fuels and products that can meet the demands of modern life. Its refineries are located across the United States, Canada and the U.K. A total of 15 petroleum refineries, wherein Valero has ownership interests, have a combined throughput capacity of 3.2 million barrels per day.
The Renewable Diesel business segment of the firm comprises Diamond Green Diesel (“DGD”) — a joint venture between Darling Ingredients Inc. and Valero. DGD is a leading renewable fuel producer in North America. Low-carbon fuel policies across the globe are primarily aiding the demand for renewable diesel, therefore driving Valero’s Renewable Diesel business unit.
Valero boasts that its premium refining operations are resilient, even when the business operating environment is carbon-constrained. Its refining business has the capabilities to generate handsome cashflows that will allow it to return capital to shareholders and back growth projects.
Risks
However, being a premium refiner, the firm’s input costs are highly fluctuating, given the volatile pricing scenario of crude oil.
Stocks to Consider
Better-ranked energy companies include Sunoco LP SUN, ProPetro Holding Corp. PUMP and Vista Energy SAB de CV VIST. All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Sunoco, the leading independent fuel distributor in the United States, has a stable business model and relatively lower exposure to commodity price volatility. This is because the partnership distributes fuel to branded distributors under long-term contracts.
The business scenario for ProPetro Holding is bright, given the current favorable oilfield service demand. Thus, it secures handsome cashflows as it is a leading provider of pressure pumping and other complementary services. For 2024 and 2025, ProPetro Holding has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions over the past 30 days.
Vista Energy, a leading exploration and production company, has a significant presence in Vaca Muerta, a highly productive shale oil and gas play outside of North America. The company has set an ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2026.
Zacks Investment Research
Viva Las Vegas: Tourists Enjoy Sin City, But Gambling? Depends Where
While fortunes were won in the hospitality sector, they were lost at several casinos.
“Record occupancy” was offset by lower-than-expected table hold — the amount of money made at a game during an eight-hour shift.
That’s what Caesars EntertainmentCZR CEO Tom Reeg said in the company’s first-quarter earnings report.
Yet, other companies — MGM ResortsMGM and Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS — generated more revenue compared to a year ago. The removal of COVID-19-related entry restrictions in Macau certainly helped.
So far, there are winners and losers in 2024:
Winners
Las Vegas Sands reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 75 cents per share; net revenue of $2.96 billion; and net income of $583 million, compared to $145 million in Q1 of 2023.
MGM Resorts boasts quarterly earnings of 74 cents per share, compared to earnings of 44 cents per share a year ago. It posted revenues of $4.38 billion for the quarter ended March 2024, compared to year-ago revenues of $3.87 billion.
Wynn Resorts, Ltd WYNN revenues from Wynn’s Las Vegas operations were $636.5 million for Q1 of 2024. That’s an increase of $49.8 million from $586.8 million for the prior year’s quarter.
Losers
Caesars reported a loss of $158 million, or a loss of 73 cents per share, for the first three months of 2024.
Boyd GamingCorporationBYD had “a challenging start to the year,” CEO Keith Smith said. It posted adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share, missing market estimates of $1.57 per share. Total adjusted EBITDAR was $330.5 million in Q1 — down from $367.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
The uptick in tourism stems from Super Bowl LVIII, which took place at the Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11. It was the smallest crowd — 61,629 attendees — in the event’s history outside of Super Bowl LV (played during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Now Read: Only In Vegas — Get A Tattoo And Weed At The Same Place, Planet 13 Offers Both
Every great stock began its journey when it was undervalued and overlooked. Nonetheless, a few savvy investors recognized their growth potential and invested in them when they were cheap. As a result, when these businesses reached their full potential, those early investors earned enormous profits.
Here are two examples of stocks under $100 that do not appear to be particularly valuable at the moment, but could generate significant returns in the future.
Etsy Stock
The first on my list is Etsy ETSY, a unique two-sided online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. With its platform, the company promotes creativity and small business growth by providing unique, handcrafted goods. Etsy operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, France, Australia, India, Italy, Spain, and a few other countries. In fact, Statista reports that between 2015 and 2023, Etsy's buyer app was downloaded 53 million times in the U.S. alone.
Valued at $7.18 billion, ETSY stock has dipped 23.6% year-to-date, compared to the S&P 500 Index's SPXgain of 8.9% - presenting an opportunity to buy it on the dip.
Barchart
Etsy's financial performance has been volatile, influenced by market trends, consumer behavior, and general macroeconomic conditions. The pandemic market boosted Etsy, as online sales peaked during the lockdown. Although the post-pandemic market has slowed Etsy's sales, the company overall continues to grow steadily.
In 2023, Etsy reported revenue of $2.7 billion, reflecting a 7.1% increase from the previous year. An increase in active buyers and sellers, as well as higher gross merchandise sales (GMS), drove this growth.
The company's net income has also improved, reaching $307.5 million in 2023, up from a loss of $694 million in 2022.
In the most recent first quarter, Etsy demonstrated resilience by adding 5.7 million new buyers to its platform. The company also reactivated 6.3 million buyers, a 5.9% increase over the previous year period. While revenue rose slightly by 0.8% to $645.9 million, GMS fell 3.7% to $3 billion due to macroeconomic conditions affecting consumer spending. Net income fell by $11.5 million to $63 million in the quarter.
Etsy operates in a fiercely competitive e-commerce market against giants like Amazon AMZN, eBay EBAY, and Shopify SHOP. Despite this, Etsy's one-of-a-kind business model of selling handcrafted, vintage, and custom-made goods has enabled it to maintain a loyal customer base of habitual buyers. The platform's emphasis on individuality and creativity distinguishes it from competitors, who typically sell mass-produced items, often with no regard for quality.
Analysts covering Etsy stock expect earnings to fall 6.8% in 2024 before recovering and increasing by 7.8% in 2025. Etsy, trading at 12 times forward 2025 earnings, is a reasonable long-term buy and hold.
Overall, Wall Street rates ETSY stock as a "moderate buy." Of the 26 analysts covering ETSY stock, 8 rate it a "strong buy," two rate it a "moderate buy," 12 recommend a "hold," two rate it a "moderate sell," and two rate it as a "strong sell."
The mean price target for ETSY stock is $71.6, implying a 15.7% upside potential. However, the stock's high target price of $105 suggests that it could rise by nearly 70% over the next year.
Barchart
Shopify Stock
Shopify SHOP, valued at $75 billion, is a much bigger player in the e-commerce space than Etsy. It offers a platform for businesses of all sizes to build and manage online stores.
Despite reporting a strong first quarter, Shopify's stock is down 25.7% year to date, underperforming the overall market.
Barchart
Shopify's financial performance in recent years has been strong, led by its rapid growth and expanding market presence. Between 2019 and 2023, the company's revenue grew from $1.5 billion to $7.1 billion.
The company reported revenues of $7.1 billion in 2023, a 26% increase over the previous year. This impressive growth was fueled by new merchants' continued adoption of its platform and increased sales from existing customers.
The company's net income per share stood at $0.10, compared to a loss of $2.73 per share in 2022, showcasing improved profitability. Shopify's strong performance is further highlighted by its gross merchandise volume (GMV), which reached $235.9 billion in 2023, an increase of 20%. GMV reflects the extensive use of Shopify's platform by merchants worldwide.
In the most recent first quarter, revenue increased 23% to $1.9 billion, driven by a 23% increase in GMV. Shopify's monthly recurring revenue increased by 32% as its subscription plans continued to grow.
Management stated that the company generated $232 million in free cash flow (FCF), representing a FCF margin of 12%. Management anticipates a high-teens percentage increase in revenue in the second quarter compared to the second quarter of 2023. The free cash flow margin target remains the same as in Q1 2024.
Shopify's strategic initiatives are geared towards sustaining growth and increasing shareholder value. Furthermore, the company is also using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve the platform's capabilities.
Analysts covering Shopify stock expect revenue and earnings to increase by 21.0% and 35.4% in 2024. Revenue and earnings could further increase by 20% and 28% in 2025.
Following the recent stock decline, Shopify is now valued at eight times forward 2024 estimated sales. Shopify is currently a reasonable buy, compared to its five-year historical average of 27 times sales.
Recently, Wells Fargo analyst Andrew Bauch reiterated his "buy" rating on the stock, citing the company's focus on long-term growth over immediate profitability. The analyst's price target for the stock is $70. In addition, Goldman Sachs upgraded SHOP to "buy" from "hold" with a target price of $74.
Overall, Wall Street rates SHOP stock a “moderate buy.” Of the 39 analysts covering SHOP, 19 have rated it a “strong buy,” one has a “moderate buy” recommendation, and 19 suggest a "hold.”
Based on its mean price target of $76.87, the stock has an upside potential of 32.2% from current levels. Plus, its high target price of $100 suggests the stock could rise as high as 72% over the next 12 months.
Barchart
On the date of publication, Sushree Mohanty did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
Market Performance
The major indices closed with solid losses despite an underlying positive bias today. The market-cap weighted S&P 500 fell 0.6% while the equal-weighted S&P 500 closed 0.5% higher. Selling in some of the weightiest stocks picked up in the last half hour of trading, driving the afternoon deterioration that left the major indices near their lows of the day.
Key Stock Movements
NVIDIA (NVDA, Financial) dropped 3.8% following a Bloomberg report that the US is slowing the issuing of Middle East licenses for AI chip makers.
Microsoft (MSFT) fell 3.4%.
Alphabet (GOOG) declined 2.2%.
Meta Platforms (META) decreased 1.5%.
Salesforce (CRM, Financial) slid 20% on disappointing guidance.
S&P 500 Sector Performance
Losses in the aforementioned names led their respective S&P 500 sectors to close with solid declines:
The information technology sector fell 2.5%.
The communication services sector logged a 1.1% loss.
The remaining nine sectors closed with gains ranging from 0.1% to 1.5%. The only sectors to close more than 1.0% higher were the rate-sensitive real estate (+1.5%) and utilities (+1.4%) sectors, benefitting from a drop in market rates.
Market Rates and Economic Data
The movement in market rates contributed to the underlying upside bias in equities, along with some hopeful anticipation in front of the PCE Price Indexes tomorrow, which is the Fed's preferred gauge on inflation.
The 2-yr note yield fell five basis points to 4.93%.
The 10-yr note yield declined seven basis points to 4.55%.
The price action in Treasuries follows a slate of economic data this morning, including:
A downward revision to Q1 GDP.
A widening in the goods deficit in April.
An ugly 7.7% decline in pending home sales in April.
Some otherwise decent initial jobless claims figures.
Mixed Earnings News from Retailers
Best Buy (BBY) rose 13.4%.
Foot Locker (FL) gained 15.0%.
Kohl's (KSS) slid 22.9%.
Dollar General (DG) declined 8.1%.
Technical Issues
Separately, the CME Group index pricing for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 briefly froze around 10:41 ET, but began updating as usual around 12:00 ET.
Year-to-Date Performance
Nasdaq Composite: +11.5% YTD
S&P 500: +9.8% YTD
S&P Midcap 400: +6.0% YTD
Russell 2000: +1.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +1.1% YTD
Reviewing Today's Economic Data
April Adv. Intl. Trade in Goods: -$99.4 bln (Prior was revised to -$92.3 bln from -$91.8 bln)
April Adv. Retail Inventories: 0.7% (Prior was revised to 0.1% from 0.3%)
April Adv. Wholesale Inventories: 0.2% (Prior -0.4%)
Weekly Initial Claims: 219K (consensus 219K); Prior was revised to 216K from 215K
Weekly Continuing Claims: 1.791 mln; Prior was revised to 1.787 mln from 1.794 mln
The key takeaway from the report is that there wasn't any notable change in initial jobless claims. They continue to comply with a generally solid labor market, the idea of which will comply with the market's soft landing outlook.
Q1 GDP - Second Estimate: 1.3% (consensus 1.3%); Prior 1.6%
Q1 GDP Deflator - Second Estimate: 3.0% (consensus 3.1%); Prior 3.1%
The key takeaway from the report is the weakening in consumer spending activity, yet it should be noted that the 2.0% growth was in-line with average for the prior eight quarters. In other words, spending was weaker than the fourth quarter, but not weak enough to alter the market's soft landing outlook.
Salesforce (CRM, Financial) saw its stock plummet, marking its worst intraday performance in nearly two decades, following quarterly results and guidance that missed expectations. This significant drop weighed heavily on Wall Street's blue-chip gauge, contributing to a lower close for U.S. stocks on Thursday.
Dell Technologies (DELL, Financial) experienced a sharp 13% decline in extended-hours trading despite fiscal first-quarter results that were largely in line with expectations. The IT giant reported adjusted earnings of $1.27 per share on $22.24 billion in revenue. However, investor sentiment was negatively impacted, leading to the substantial drop.
Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) and AMD (AMD, Financial) faced pressure after U.S. officials slowed licenses for sending large-scale AI accelerators to the Middle East. Nvidia's shares fell 2.8%, while AMD saw a 1% rise, reflecting concerns over national security reviews and the potential impact on their business operations.
Marvell Technology (MRVL, Financial) shares fell nearly 3.5% in extended trading after reporting fiscal first-quarter results and guidance that were generally in line with expectations. The company projected second-quarter revenue of $1.25 billion, slightly above analysts' expectations, but investor response was lukewarm.
Costco (COST, Financial) reported a Q3 GAAP EPS of $3.78, beating estimates by $0.10, and revenue of $58.52 billion, which surpassed expectations by $520 million. Despite positive sales growth and a strong performance in e-commerce, shares dipped slightly by 1.09% in post-market trading.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA, Financial) reported Q1 GAAP EPS of $6.47, beating estimates by $0.19, on revenue of $2.7 billion. However, the company updated its outlook for fiscal 2024, lowering its revenue and comparable sales expectations, which led to a cautious investor response.
MongoDB (MDB, Financial) shares plummeted by 24.08% despite beating Q1 Non-GAAP EPS estimates by $0.14 and reporting revenue of $450.56 million. The company's Q2 and 2025 outlooks fell short of consensus expectations, leading to a significant drop in stock price.
Zscaler (ZS, Financial) posted a Q3 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.88, surpassing estimates by $0.23, and revenue of $553.2 million, beating expectations by $17.11 million. The company provided an optimistic Q4 and 2024 outlook, which was well-received by investors.
Medical Properties Trust (MPW, Financial) declared a $0.15/share quarterly dividend, maintaining its forward yield of 12.01%. The dividend is payable on July 9 to shareholders of record as of June 10. The announcement comes amid ongoing discussions about the company's value and strategic moves.
SentinelOne (S) reported Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.00, beating estimates by $0.05, with revenue of $186.36 million, up 39.7% year-over-year. The company showed significant growth in annualized recurring revenue and improved operating margins, reflecting strong operational performance.
Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) saw its stock surge after its lead asset, ivonescimab, outperformed Merck’s (MRK) Keytruda in a late-stage trial for non-small cell lung cancer. This significant milestone led to a threefold increase in Summit's stock value.
NetApp (NTAP) reported Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $1.80, narrowly beating expectations, with revenue of $1.67 billion. The company provided a positive outlook for fiscal year 2025, focusing on growth in all-flash and cloud storage services, which resonated well with investors.
Asana (ASAN) reported Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of -$0.06, beating estimates by $0.02, with revenue of $172.4 million. The company expects to be free cash flow positive for the full year and provided a solid financial outlook for fiscal 2025.
Microsoft (MSFT) faced scrutiny from lawmakers over cybersecurity concerns, with senators expressing serious concern about the Pentagon's potential upgrade to Microsoft's E5 license. This issue contributed to a 2.4% drop in Microsoft shares during midday trading.
CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2024 /Cosmos Health Inc.("Cosmos Health" or the "Company'')COSM, a diversified, vertically integrated global healthcare group engaged in innovative R&D, owner of proprietary pharmaceutical and nutraceutical brands, manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, and operator of a telehealth platform, announced today that on May 21, 2024, it received an additional delinquency letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") notifying the Company that it continues to be out of compliance with Nasdaq's continued listing requirements set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) due to the Company's failure to timely file its Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2024, as well as remaining delinquent in filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2023 (the "Initial Delinquent Filing").
In the initial delinquency letter dated April 17, 2024, Nasdaq provided the Company with 60 days, or until June 17, 2024, to submit a definitive plan (the "Plan") addressing how it intends to regain compliance with Nasdaq's Listing Rules. If accepted, Nasdaq can grant an extension of up to 180 calendar days from the due date of the Initial Delinquent Filing, or until October 14, 2024, to regain compliance. If Nasdaq does not accept the Company's Plan, the Company will have the opportunity to appeal that decision to a Hearings Panel.
The additional delinquency letter has no immediate effect on the listing of the Company's shares on Nasdaq.
Greg Siokas, Chief Executive Officer of Cosmos Health, stated: "We will submit a definitive plan to Nasdaq on a timely basis and proceed to regain compliance."
About Cosmos Health Inc.
Cosmos Health Inc. COSM, incorporated in 2009 in Nevada, is a diversified, vertically integrated global healthcare group. The Company owns a portfolio of proprietary pharmaceutical and nutraceutical brands, including Sky Premium Life®, Mediterranation®, bio-bebe® and C-Sept®. Through its subsidiary Cana Laboratories S.A., licensed under European Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and certified by the European Medicines Agency, it manufactures pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics, biocides, and medical devices within the European Union. Cosmos Health also distributes a broad line of pharmaceuticals and parapharmaceuticals, including branded generics and OTC medications, to retail pharmacies and wholesale distributors through its subsidiaries in Greece and the UK. Furthermore, the Company has established R&D partnerships targeting major health disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer, enhanced by artificial intelligence drug repurposing technologies, and focuses on the R&D of novel patented nutraceuticals, specialized root extracts, proprietary complex generics, and innovative OTC products. Cosmos Health has also entered the telehealth space through the acquisition of ZipDoctor, Inc., based in Texas, USA. With a global distribution platform, the Company is currently expanding throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and has offices and distribution centers in Thessaloniki and Athens, Greece, and in Harlow, UK. More information is available at www.cosmoshealthinc.com, www.skypremiumlife.com, www.cana.gr, www.zipdoctor.co, as well as LinkedIn and X.
Forward-Looking Statements
With the exception of the historical information contained in this news release, the matters described herein, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements preceded by, followed by, or that otherwise, include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "projects," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may" and "could", are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. These statements, involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may individually or materially impact the matters discussed, herein for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the Company's ability to raise sufficient financing to implement its business plan, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, on the Company's business, operations and the economy in general, and the Company's ability to successfully develop and commercialize its proprietary products and technologies. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements, as actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update, or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Relations Contact:
BDG Communications
cosm@bdgcommunications.com
+44 207 0971 653
SOURCE: Cosmos Health Inc.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Sector Update: Health Care Stocks Decline Late Friday Afternoon
Health care stocks were easing late Friday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) both down 0.4%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was little changed.
In corporate news, Scilex SCLX will be added to the MSCI Global Small Cap Index as of the market close May 31. Separately, Scilex said it sent a letter to the US House of Representatives requesting an investigation into alleged illegal market manipulation of its shares via naked short selling. Scilex shares rose 1.6%.
Merus MRUS shares surged 35% after the company presented positive data for two of its multispecific antibodies in cancer patients ahead of an industry conference next weekend.
Summit Therapeutics SMMT shares fell 22% after the company reported topline data associated with a phase 3 trial comparing ivonescimab plus chemotherapy with placebo plus chemotherapy in people with lung cancer.
Eli Lilly LLY is investing an additional $5.3 billion into its manufacturing site in Lebanon, Indiana, bringing the total investment to $9 billion. The company's shares eased 0.1%.
What's Going On With Mid-Cap Cancer-Focused Verastem Oncology Stock On Friday?
Thursday, Verastem OncologyVSTM announced the initial interim safety and efficacy results from the ongoing RAMP 205 Phase 1/2 trial evaluating avutometinib plus defactinib in combination with gemcitabine and Nab-paclitaxel in the first-line in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The initial interim results will be presented at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
As of May 14, patients receiving the combination of avutometinib and defactinib with gemcitabine and Nab-paclitaxel in dose level 1 cohort achieved a confirmed overall response rate (ORR) of 83% (5/6).
Of the 26 patients in all cohorts who have had the opportunity to have their first scan while on treatment, 21 have experienced a reduction of the change in target lesion sum of diameters.
One dose-limiting toxicity, febrile neutropenia (low white blood cell count), was observed in the dose level 1 cohort. The cohort was cleared after additional patients were evaluated.
In the additional dose cohorts enrolled more recently (-1, 1a, and 2a), follow-up is ongoing, and most patients remained on treatment at the data cutoff.
Verastem Oncology has established clinical collaborations with AmgenIncAMGN and Bristol-Myers Squibb CoBMYMirati to evaluate Lumakras (sotorasib) in combination with avutometinib and defactinib and Krazati (adagrasib) in combination with avutometinib in KRAS G12C mutant NSCLC as part of the Phase 1b/2 RAMP 203 and RAMP 204 trials, respectively.
Friday, Verastem Oncology initiated the rolling submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA seeking accelerated approval of the combination of avutometinib and defactinib for adult patients with recurrent KRAS mutant (KRAS mt) low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC), who received at least one prior systemic therapy.
FDA has accepted Verastem’s plan to submit the clinical module in the second half of 2024 to complete the NDA application.
The company plans to request a priority review of the NDA. Currently, there are no FDA-approved treatments specifically for recurrent LGSOC.
The company is currently enrolling patients and activating sites for RAMP 301, an international confirmatory Phase 3 trial, evaluating the avutometinib and defactinib combination versus standard of care chemotherapy or hormonal therapy for KRAS mt and KRAS wt recurrent LGSOC.
Price Action: VSTM shares are down 59% at $4.99 during the premarket session at last check Friday after it surged as high as $19.74.
President Joe Biden faces another test of his commitment to revitalizing U.S. manufacturing and boosting organized labor, as unions turn their attention to the semiconductor industry.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA), representing around 700,000 tech and media professionals, is preparing for negotiations on a labor peace agreement with Micron Technology Inc.MU, Bloomberg reports.
The project could eventually expand to $100 billion over two decades and create up to 9,000 jobs. This agreement, if successful, would prevent picketing or strikes by the CWA while ensuring Micron refrains from anti-union activities.
Labor unions are leveraging Biden’s economic policies, which allocate substantial subsidies for technologies like semiconductors and clean energy, to push for new factory organization.
However, the semiconductor industry presents unique challenges. Prominent figures like Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing CoLtd TSM have criticized organized labor.
Also Read: Micron Ordered To Pay $445M Penalty For Patent Violation: Report
Intel Corp.INTC, which received the largest Chips Act subsidy, has been hesitant to engage in union talks, according to CWA President Claude Cummings.
Despite initial setbacks with Intel, Cummings remains hopeful that an agreement with Micron could encourage other semiconductor companies to consider union negotiations. Many new chip factories are located in right-to-work states such as Arizona and Texas, where union membership cannot be mandated.
The CWA and UAW have both endorsed Biden for the 2024 presidential race, urging him to leverage Chips Act grants for stronger union commitments from companies like Intel, Micron, TSMC, and Samsung Electronics CoLtd SSNLF.
The Chips Act funding is distributed in phases, contingent on companies meeting various benchmarks, providing the Biden administration with negotiating power.
While the specifics of these agreements remain undisclosed, the White House and Commerce Department have expressed support for partnerships between the semiconductor industry and labor unions.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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CVS HealthCVS is one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com visitors lately. So, it might be a good idea to review some of the factors that might affect the near-term performance of the stock.
Over the past month, shares of this drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager have returned -17.3%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +5.8% change. During this period, the Zacks Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry, which CVS Health falls in, has lost 12.7%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?
While media releases or rumors about a substantial change in a company's business prospects usually make its stock 'trending' and lead to an immediate price change, there are always some fundamental facts that eventually dominate the buy-and-hold decision-making.
Revisions to Earnings Estimates
Rather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.
We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For the current quarter, CVS Health is expected to post earnings of $1.82 per share, indicating a change of -17.7% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed -17.9% over the last 30 days.
The consensus earnings estimate of $7.24 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of -17.2%. This estimate has changed -15.6% over the last 30 days.
For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $7.81 indicates a change of +7.9% from what CVS Health is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed -14.2%.
With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) for CVS Health.
The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:
12 Month EPS
Zacks
Revenue Growth Forecast
Even though a company's earnings growth is arguably the best indicator of its financial health, nothing much happens if it cannot raise its revenues. It's almost impossible for a company to grow its earnings without growing its revenue for long periods. Therefore, knowing a company's potential revenue growth is crucial.
For CVS Health, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $91.83 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +3.3%. For the current and next fiscal years, $369.06 billion and $387.78 billion estimates indicate +3.2% and +5.1% changes, respectively.
Last Reported Results and Surprise History
CVS Health reported revenues of $88.44 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +3.7%. EPS of $1.31 for the same period compares with $2.20 a year ago.
Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $89.2 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of -0.86%. The EPS surprise was -22.49%.
Over the last four quarters, CVS Health surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. The company topped consensus revenue estimates three times over this period.
Valuation
Without considering a stock's valuation, no investment decision can be efficient. In predicting a stock's future price performance, it's crucial to determine whether its current price correctly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects.
Comparing the current value of a company's valuation multiples, such as its price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), to its own historical values helps ascertain whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, whereas comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of how reasonable its stock price is.
As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.
CVS Health is graded A on this front, indicating that it is trading at a discount to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.
Conclusion
The facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about CVS Health. However, its Zacks Rank #5 does suggest that it may underperform the broader market in the near term.
Zacks Investment Research
The Medicare Bubble Has Burst — Heard on the Street — WSJ
For years, the privately run Medicare Advantage business generated outsize profit growth for health-insurance giants.
With hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars flowing to insurers in a fast-growing market buoyed by aging baby boomers, there was little not to like as far as Wall Street was concerned. Companies like UnitedHealth Group and Humana bet big on the program, and investors generally rewarded them for it. Medicare Advantage, in which the government pays insurers a set amount to manage the care of seniors, recently surpassed traditional Medicare's share of beneficiaries. It was 30% a decade ago.
But the gold rush is over for investors, at least for now. After years of reports, lawsuits and whistleblower accounts accusing big insurers of gaming the system and overcharging the government, the Biden administration has made a series of policy changes that have negatively affected what the plans get paid. Meanwhile, a post-Covid surge in seniors' medical costs caught insurers by surprise.
The stark drop in profitability is rattling corporate boards and investors. One of the biggest losers is CVS Health, whose Aetna unit bet big on Medicare right before costs soared. To gain market share, CVS-Aetna offered generous plans this year, surprising some executives at rival insurers. While the move paid off in terms of membership count — CVS added more than 700,000 Medicare Advantage members this year — the company underestimated what it would cost to insure them. In its first-quarter earnings report earlier this month, CVS said the segment helped drive medical costs $900 million higher than the company had expected. Its shares had their largest one-day drop in almost 15 years in response and are down 26% for the year, giving it a market capitalization of just over $70 billion. That is roughly what it paid for Aetna back in 2018.
CVS isn't the only one in trouble: Medicare-focused insurers, some of which had vastly outperformed the stock market in the past several years, are underperforming this year. Humana shares are down more than 20% this year and even industry leader UnitedHealth, which was more conservative in how it priced its plans, was down as much as 16% for the year in April before recouping much of the losses.
That by no means signals insurers are about to flee Medicare Advantage (though Cigna did agree to sell its business earlier this year). Annual spending on the program, which is now hardwired into America's healthcare system, is projected to approach $1 trillion by the start of the next decade. And while declining profit expectations have negatively affected share performances, there are still plenty of profits to be made.
Take hard-hit Humana, which is mostly focused on Medicare Advantage. The firm is expected to earn significantly less in 2024, but analysts polled by FactSet still see it making just over $16 per share this year. By 2026, analysts expect earnings to rise back to $26 per share — some $3 billion in net income.
The high cost of covering seniors is likely a temporary problem for insurers, who get to submit their bids to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services every year. While they are limited in the changes they can make, CVS and others said they are planning to exit some counties and cut back on things such as vision benefits to boost margins.
"The goal for next year is margin over membership," CVS Chief Financial Officer Thomas Cowhey said at a recent conference. "Could we lose up to 10% of our existing Medicare members next year? That's entirely possible." By all indications, other large players such as Humana will also be shifting from growth to profits. That could create an opportunity for leader UnitedHealth, which has relatively better profit margins, to grab more market share, argues Scott Fidel, an analyst at Stephens.
The tougher challenge is on the regulatory side. The Biden administration's changes, from releasing stingier payment rates to changes in how programs can code patient risk, signal an era of tighter purse strings. With such a big part of their business at stake, the industry's effort to sway public and policymakers' opinions is expected to go into overdrive.
"I can assure you that the companies will be investing pretty heavily through campaign donations and lobbying to try to figure out what they can do from a public policy point of view," said Wendell Potter, a former top communications employee at Cigna Group who is now a critic of the industry.
For decades, policymakers have sought to bring private insurers along as a way to manage soaring Medicare costs. In 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act, which created Medicare Advantage as we know it. The idea, in a nutshell, is to bring down costs and improve care by allowing insurers to manage care, much like they do for the nation's employers.
But critics point to studies showing that Medicare Advantage plans cost the government and taxpayers billions of dollars more than traditional Medicare.
"For well over a decade, Medicare Advantage plans have been making extremely high profits. What's going on now are long overdue policy changes to bring their pricing and coding practices back into line," said Dr. Don Berwick, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In the near term, the best hope for a quick shift to insurers' fortunes could be a Donald Trump win in the coming presidential elections, Fidel said. Republican administrations, which tend to favor privatization of government services, have been more favorable toward Medicare Advantage.
In either case, it isn't going away — the business remains highly profitable. But the bonanza investors and health conglomerates got accustomed to in recent years has diminished for the foreseeable future.
Write to David Wainer at david.wainer@wsj.com
Why Teledyne Technologies Shares Are Trading Lower By 9%? Here Are Other Stocks Moving In Wednesday's Mid-Day Session
Shares of Teledyne Technologies IncorporatedTDY fell sharply during Wednesday's session after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and cut FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.
Teledyne Technologies posted adjusted earnings of $4.55 per share, missing market estimates of $4.63 per share. The company's quarterly sales came in at $1.35 billion versus expectations of $1.40 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Teledyne Technologies shares dipped 9.3% to $369.16 on Wednesday.
Here are some other stocks moving in today’s mid-day session.
Gainers
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc.CSSE gained 136% to $0.3570.
BranchOut Food Inc. BOF shares climbed 73% to $1.98 after the company announced it has expanded its existing relationship with the nation’s largest retailer, which brings the total annualized value of commitments from the retailer to over $8 million.
Amesite Inc.AMST jumped 55.7% to $3.10 after the company announced the Beta release of its NurseMagic app.
Prenetics Global LimitedPRE gained 36.6% to $6.25.
B. Riley Financial, Inc. RILY shares surged 29.9% to $28.20 after the company announced the results of an independent investigation showed the company and its executives had no involvement with, or knowledge of, any of the alleged misconduct concerning Mr. Kahn or any of his affiliates.
Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. BW gained 19.9% to $1.10
Hasbro, Inc.HAS surged 12.1% to $65.13 following better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
Tesla, Inc. TSLA gained 11.9% to $161.93 following first-quarter results.
Vertiv Holdings Co VRT climbed 11.2% to $88.07 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its 2024 guidance.
Intchains Group LimitedICG gained 10.3% to $10.30.
Navitas Semiconductor CorporationNVTS surged 9.2% to $4.1402. Navitas Semiconductor is expected to report first-quarter financial results on Thursday, May 9.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies CorporationWAB surged 9% to $161.84 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its 2024 guidance.
Stride, Inc.LRN surged 8.4% to $63.07 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued FY24 revenue guidance above estimates.
Texas Instruments IncorporatedTXN gained 6.4% to $176.10 following a first-quarter earnings beat.
Boston Scientific CorporationBSX surged 6.2% to $73.24 after the company reported better than expected first-quarter earnings and issued guidance.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. HLT rose gained 4.4% to $205.69 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.
Losers
Neo-Concept International Group Holdings LimitedNNCI fell 67.4% to $3.06 after jumping over 137% on Tuesday. The company priced its IPO at $4 per share.
iSun, Inc. ISUN fell 40% to $0.0901 after the company announced a reverse stock split.
Manhattan Associates, Inc. MANH shares declined 8.4% to $211.18 following quarterly results.
Equinox Gold Corp. EQX fell 8.2% to $5.25. Equinox Gold entered into a binding share purchase agreement with certain funds managed by Orion Mine Finance Management LP to acquire Orion’s 40% interest in Greenstone Gold Mine GP Inc., giving Equinox Gold 100% ownership of the Greenstone Mine in Ontario, Canada.
Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH fell 4.5% to $108.43 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance below estimates.
Lithia Motors, Inc.LAD shares fell 4.3% to $253.02 following downbeat quarterly earnings.
Advanced Micro Devices, IncAMD stock is trading higher Friday amid reports that Microsoft CorpMSFT is eying the former’s artificial intelligence chips for its cloud computing customers.
Azure’s cloud service could integrate AMD’s MI300X AI chips to beat Nvidia Corp’sNVDA H100 GPU supply crisis.
Recent reports indicated that AMD is winning market share in the x86 processor market for client and server categories despite rivalry from Intel CorpINTC.
AMD grabbed Wall Street’s attention for its considerable gains in the server CPU market and the merchant accelerator sector with the Mi300 series, positioning it as a formidable competitor toNvidia in the merchant accelerators market. Wall Street analysts highlighted a long-term upside of over $10 billion in revenue synergies from the Xilinx acquisition.
Meanwhile, AMD is gearing up to meet the increasing demand for AI computing by leveraging its broad product lineup. CTO Mark Papermaster recently pointed to AMD’s robust suite of compute engines, deep customer relationships across various markets, and open software capabilities.
Benzinga
Papermaster revealed that AMD would make significant announcements at Computex. He also shared that AMD’s R&D investment has almost quadrupled, from $1.5 billion in 2019 to $5.9 billion in 2023, to meet escalating performance and efficiency demands.
AMD stock gained 57% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via the AOT Growth And Innovation ETFAOTG and the Spear Alpha ETFSPRX.
Price Actions: AMD shares traded higher by 2.57% at $166.79 at the last check on Friday.
US benchmark equity indexes were mixed ahead of Thursday's close following record closings in the previous session, as markets analyze remarks by a Federal Reserve official and the latest macro data.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1% at 16,725.9, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 39,946. The S&P 500 was little changed at 5,306.9. Among sectors, materials was the steepest decliner, while consumer staples led the gainers.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said it's likely "prudent at this point" for policymakers to hold the restrictive monetary policy stance for longer as they seek clarity about the inflation path.
The US two-year yield rose 5.9 basis points to 4.8%, while the 10-year rate added 2.5 basis points to 4.38%.
US housing starts rebounded last month as multi-family building projects grew by double-digits, government data showed.
US industrial production was unchanged in April, below expectations for a 0.1% increase in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following a downwardly revised 0.1% gain the previous month.
Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US decreased less than Wall Street's expectations, while the four-week moving average rose, government data showed.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.9% to $79.34 per barrel.
Applied Materials AMAT, Copart CPRT and Take-Two Interactive Software TTWO are among the companies scheduled to report their latest financial results after the closing bell.
Figma valued at $12.5 billion in tender offer backed by Fidelity, others
Cloud-based designer platform Figma is closing a deal to allow its employees and early investors to sell their stake to new and existing investors at a valuation of $12.5 billion, the company said on Thursday.
Figma, whose free online tool is used to create, share and test designs for websites, mobile apps and other digital products, has been seeking ways for employees to cash out on their stock options and restricted stock units after its $20 billion cash-and-stock deal to be acquired by Adobe ADBE collapsed.
Figma is widely considered as a candidate to go public after antitrust regulators in Europe and Britain in December blocked what would have been among the biggest acquisitions of a software startup.
New investors including Fidelity, Franklin Venture Partners and existing ones such as Sequoia and a16z are expected to acquire stakes totaling about $600 million to $900 million in the secondary sale. Figma was last valued at $10 billion in a private funding round in 2021.
The company co-founded by tech executive Dylan Field in 2012 is cash flow positive and has expanded its offerings to include a broader platform for team collaborations with artificial intelligence features.
In January, Figma offered more equity for employees at a $10 billion valuation. Those who decided to leave the company by Jan. 31 were entitled to three months pay in cash, with all their equity vested no matter how long they had been with the company.
Why Teledyne Technologies Shares Are Trading Lower By 9%? Here Are Other Stocks Moving In Wednesday's Mid-Day Session
Shares of Teledyne Technologies IncorporatedTDY fell sharply during Wednesday's session after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and cut FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.
Teledyne Technologies posted adjusted earnings of $4.55 per share, missing market estimates of $4.63 per share. The company's quarterly sales came in at $1.35 billion versus expectations of $1.40 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Teledyne Technologies shares dipped 9.3% to $369.16 on Wednesday.
Here are some other stocks moving in today’s mid-day session.
Gainers
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc.CSSE gained 136% to $0.3570.
BranchOut Food Inc. BOF shares climbed 73% to $1.98 after the company announced it has expanded its existing relationship with the nation’s largest retailer, which brings the total annualized value of commitments from the retailer to over $8 million.
Amesite Inc.AMST jumped 55.7% to $3.10 after the company announced the Beta release of its NurseMagic app.
Prenetics Global LimitedPRE gained 36.6% to $6.25.
B. Riley Financial, Inc. RILY shares surged 29.9% to $28.20 after the company announced the results of an independent investigation showed the company and its executives had no involvement with, or knowledge of, any of the alleged misconduct concerning Mr. Kahn or any of his affiliates.
Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. BW gained 19.9% to $1.10
Hasbro, Inc.HAS surged 12.1% to $65.13 following better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
Tesla, Inc. TSLA gained 11.9% to $161.93 following first-quarter results.
Vertiv Holdings Co VRT climbed 11.2% to $88.07 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its 2024 guidance.
Intchains Group LimitedICG gained 10.3% to $10.30.
Navitas Semiconductor CorporationNVTS surged 9.2% to $4.1402. Navitas Semiconductor is expected to report first-quarter financial results on Thursday, May 9.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies CorporationWAB surged 9% to $161.84 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its 2024 guidance.
Stride, Inc.LRN surged 8.4% to $63.07 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued FY24 revenue guidance above estimates.
Texas Instruments IncorporatedTXN gained 6.4% to $176.10 following a first-quarter earnings beat.
Boston Scientific CorporationBSX surged 6.2% to $73.24 after the company reported better than expected first-quarter earnings and issued guidance.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. HLT rose gained 4.4% to $205.69 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.
Losers
Neo-Concept International Group Holdings LimitedNNCI fell 67.4% to $3.06 after jumping over 137% on Tuesday. The company priced its IPO at $4 per share.
iSun, Inc. ISUN fell 40% to $0.0901 after the company announced a reverse stock split.
Manhattan Associates, Inc. MANH shares declined 8.4% to $211.18 following quarterly results.
Equinox Gold Corp. EQX fell 8.2% to $5.25. Equinox Gold entered into a binding share purchase agreement with certain funds managed by Orion Mine Finance Management LP to acquire Orion’s 40% interest in Greenstone Gold Mine GP Inc., giving Equinox Gold 100% ownership of the Greenstone Mine in Ontario, Canada.
Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH fell 4.5% to $108.43 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance below estimates.
Lithia Motors, Inc.LAD shares fell 4.3% to $253.02 following downbeat quarterly earnings.
We’re now past the onslaught of Q1 earnings season. Earlier this week, SoFi SOFI released its Q1 earnings, and the stock got butchered despite beating on both the top line as well as the bottom line. The stock, which was already underperforming the markets by a wide margin in 2024, further extended its losses.
SoFi has recovered somewhat from the lows, and is higher today as well, despite the Fed maintaining its status quo on interest rates, and Chair Jerome Powell virtually ruling out a cut at the next meeting as well.
Is SoFi stock a buy after the recent underperformance? We’ll discuss in this article, beginning with a snapshot of its Q1 earnings.
Barchart
Why Did SoFi Stock Fall After the Q1 Earnings Report?
SoFi reported revenues of $580.6 million in Q1. The metric rose 26% YoY, and easily surpassed the $555 million that analysts expected. Its earnings per share (EPS) came in at 2 cents, which was double what the markets expected.
The company also raised its full-year revenue guidance to $2.39 billion-$2.43 billion, and upped its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) guidance to $590 million-$600 million.
However, its Q2 guidance fell short of Street estimates. The fintech company expects to post revenues between $555 million and $565 million in the current quarter, which fell well short of the nearly $581 million that analysts expected. Also, its net income guidance of $5 million to $10 million was lower than consensus estimates of $13.9 million.
What’s Making Investors Apprehensive About SoFi Stock?
While the light Q2 guidance played a part in SoFi’s post-earnings crash, other factors are also at play in driving its YTD underperformance. First, there are concerns over credit quality, as the finances of lower-income households are under stress - leading to higher delinquencies across lenders.
On a related note, there are concerns over SoFi’s loan book and its fair value. SoFi might need to mark down these loans or sell them at a discount if credit losses rise.
We also have the continued hanging sword of student loan forgiveness, as President Joe Biden has been gradually canceling some loans after his total loan forgiveness program was struck down by the Supreme Court last year.
Should You Buy SoFi Stock?
While there are some valid concerns around SoFi’s short-term outlook, I believe the risk-return dynamics look quite attractive after the recent fall. Here’s why:
Anticipating challenging macros, SoFi has slowed lending and expects its 2024 lending revenues to be between 92%-95% of 2023 levels. The company has the bandwidth to increase lending if conditions become conducive, as its capital ratios are well above the minimum regulatory requirements.
SoFi has a reasonably good borrower profile, as the weighted average income of its personal loan borrowers is $169,000 while their weighted average FICO score is 746. Similarly, the weighted average income and weighted average FICO score of student loan borrowers is $146,000 and 768, respectively.
The concerns over the fair value of its personal loan book might be overblown, as the company marked them at 104.2% at the end of Q1 – below the 105.7% blended rate that it achieved on the $1.2 billion in personal loan sales during the quarter.
The company has scope to grow its business through cross-selling, given its member count swelled to 8.1 million at the end of Q1. SoFi could potentially offer these customers multiple other products – including credit cards.
The stock's tangible book value per share is rising gradually, and increased 16% sequentially to $3.92 in Q1, which gives us a price-to-tangible book value multiple of 1.76x. The company expects its tangible book value to rise by between $500 million and $1 billion in 2024 – with the top end of the updated guidance being double the previous forecast.
SoFi’s valuations also look quite attractive. It trades at a next 12-month (NTM) price-to-sales multiple of 3.01x and an NTM price-to-earnings (PE) multiple of 72.8x. While the NTM PE might look high, the multiple should normalize over the next couple of years as the company’s earnings rise. SoFi issued a 2026 EPS guidance of $0.55-$0.80, so the 2026 price-to-earnings (PE) multiple is only 8.65x, at the top end of its guidance.
Wall Street is not as bullish on SoFi stock, though, and it has a consensus rating of “Hold” from the 18 analysts in coverage. However, its mean target price of $9.16 is over 32% higher than yesterday’s closing price.
Barchart
SoFi expects its GAAP EPS to rise between 20%-25% post-2026, and the company has a strong management team to execute the plan. Not many companies bring the prospects of such profitable long-term growth to the table – especially with reasonable valuations.
Overall, SoFi is one growth stock that looks like a tempting buy after getting butchered on its Q1 report. While the stock might whipsaw in the short term, it looks like one growth name worth holding for the long term.
On the date of publication, Mohit Oberoi had a position in: SOFI . All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
Cosmos Health Receives Nasdaq Notice on Late Filing of Its Form 10-K
CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / April 19, 2024 /Cosmos Health Inc.("Cosmos Health" or the "Company'')COSM, a diversified, vertically integrated global healthcare group engaged in innovative R&D, owner of proprietary pharmaceutical and nutraceutical brands, manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, and operator of a telehealth platform, announced today that, on April 17, 2024, it received a notification letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") stating that, because the Company has not yet filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2023 (the "Form 10-K"), the Company is no longer in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1). Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) requires listed companies to timely file all required periodic financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Nasdaq letter has no immediate effect on the listing of the Company's shares. As a non-compliant company, an indicator reflecting the Company's non-compliance will be broadcast over Nasdaq's market data dissemination network and will also be made available to third party market data providers.
Nasdaq's notification letter states that the Company has 60 calendar days to submit to Nasdaq a plan to regain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules. If Nasdaq accepts the Company's plan, then Nasdaq may grant the Company up to 180 days from the prescribed due date for filing the Form 10-K to regain compliance. If Nasdaq does not accept the Company's plan, then the Company will have the opportunity to appeal that decision to a Nasdaq hearings panel.
The Company intends to resolve the deficiency and regain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules.
Greg Siokas, Chief Executive Officer of Cosmos Health, stated: "Our team is diligently working towards regaining compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules. We expect to achieve compliance in short order."
About Cosmos Health Inc.
Cosmos Health Inc. COSM, incorporated in 2009 in Nevada, is a diversified, vertically integrated global healthcare group. The Company owns a portfolio of proprietary pharmaceutical and nutraceutical brands, including Sky Premium Life®, Mediterranation®, bio-bebe® and C-Sept®. Through its subsidiary Cana Laboratories S.A., licensed under European Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and certified by the European Medicines Agency, it manufactures pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics, biocides, and medical devices within the European Union. Cosmos Health also distributes a broad line of pharmaceuticals and parapharmaceuticals, including branded generics and OTC medications, to retail pharmacies and wholesale distributors through its subsidiaries in Greece and the UK. Furthermore, the Company has established R&D partnerships targeting major health disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer, enhanced by artificial intelligence drug repurposing technologies, and focuses on the R&D of novel patented nutraceuticals, specialized root extracts, proprietary complex generics, and innovative OTC products. Cosmos Health has also entered the telehealth space through the acquisition of ZipDoctor, Inc., based in Texas, USA. With a global distribution platform, the Company is currently expanding throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and has offices and distribution centers in Thessaloniki and Athens, Greece, and in Harlow, UK. More information is available at www.cosmoshealthinc.com, www.skypremiumlife.com, www.cana.gr, www.zipdoctor.co, www.cloudscreen.gr, as well as LinkedIn and X.
Forward-Looking Statements
With the exception of the historical information contained in this news release, the matters described herein, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements preceded by, followed by, or that otherwise, include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "projects," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may" and "could", are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. These statements, involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may individually or materially impact the matters discussed, herein for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the Company's ability to raise sufficient financing to implement its business plan, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, on the Company's business, operations and the economy in general, and the Company's ability to successfully develop and commercialize its proprietary products and technologies. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements, as actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update, or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Relations Contact:
BDG Communications
cosm@bdgcommunications.com
+44 207 0971 653
SOURCE: Cosmos Health Inc.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Why Las Vegas Sands Shares Are Trading Lower By Around 7%? Here Are Other Stocks Moving In Thursday's Mid-Day Session
The company reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 75 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 62 cents and represented a 167.86% increase from the same period last year. Quarterly sales clocked in at $2.96 billion which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.94 billion and is a 39.58% increase over sales of $2.12 billion from the same quarter last year, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Las Vegas Sands shares dipped 6.8% to $46.81 on Thursday.
Here are some other stocks moving in today’s mid-day session.
Gainers
AGBA Group Holding LimitedAGBA shares jumped 148% to $0.9898 after the company announced it entered into a definitive merger agreement with Triller.
Tian Ruixiang Holdings LtdTIRX jumped 106% to $1.0012 after gaining around 8% on Wednesday.
Bio-Path Holdings, Inc.BPTH gained 77.7% to $5.74 after the company announced the completion of its second dose cohort in Phase 1/1b clinical trial of BP1002 evaluating the ability of BP1002 to treat refractory/relapsed acute myeloid leukemia patients.
23andMe Holding Co.ME gained 44% to $0.5035 after CEO Anne Wojcicki said she is considering a proposal to take the company private.
Expion360 Inc. XPON gained 42.5% to $2.75. Expion360 announced ‘substantial’ preorders of its Group 27 and GC2 now featuring Vertical Heat Conduction™ Heating Technology.
Aileron Therapeutics, Inc.ALRN jumped 29.4% to $5.50. Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Aydin Huseynov maintained Aileron Therapeutics with a Buy and raised the price target from $9 to $19.
MicroCloud Hologram Inc. HOLO gained 26.5% to $2.8350.
TH International LimitedTHCH shares surged 26.4% to $1.3190 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter financial results.
Tiziana Life Sciences LtdTLSA gained 20.1% to $0.6160. Tiziana Life Sciences announced new quantitative PET imaging data on Foralumab at Meeting of American Academy of Neurology.
Smith Micro Software, Inc. SMSI climbed 18.7% to $2.3150.
Badger Meter, Inc. BMI gained 11.8% to $171.06 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.
Genuine Parts CompanyGPC rose 11.1% to $160.05 after the company reported a first-quarter EPS beat and raised its FY24 guidance.
Barnes Group Inc.B gained 8.8% to $36.31. DA Davidson analyst Matt Summerville upgraded Barnes from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $35 to $45.
Apogee Enterprises, Inc. APOG climbed 8.1% to $60.42 following upbeat quarterly earnings.
Losers
iLearningEngines Holdings, Inc.AAILE shares dipped 29.8% to $7.02.
SuperCom Ltd. SPCB fell 28.4% to $0.2574. SuperCom announced pricing of $2.9 million registered direct offering.
Edible Garden AG IncorporatedEEDBL shares fell 28.6% to $4.75. Edible Garden recently reported a year-over-year increase in preliminary first-quarter revenues.
Lithium Americas Corp. LAC fell 28% to $4.7750 after the company priced a $275 million public offering.
NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NRXP fell 27.1% to $3.04. NRx Pharmaceuticals announced pricing of $2 million underwritten public offering of common stock at a public offering price of $3.30 per share.
Kartoon Studios IncTOON fell 25.3% to $1.1050 as the company announced pricing of up to $7 million registered direct offering of common stock.
INVO Bioscience, Inc. INVO declined 24.4% to $1.3750. INVO BioScience recently reported a year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter revenue results.
Windtree Therapeutics, Inc. WINT fell 24.4% to $0.2994. Windtree Therapeutics announced a 1-for-18 reverse stock split effective April 22.
NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NRXP fell 24.1% to $3.17. NRx Pharmaceuticals announced pricing of $2 million underwritten public offering of common stock at a public offering price of $3.30 per share.
WiSA Technologies, Inc. WWISA fell 24.2% to $7.01.
SolarMax Technology, Inc. SMXT dipped 11.2% to $8.53. SolarMax Technology recently reported fiscal year 2023 results.
Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. OCUL fell 10.5% to $6.79. Ocular Therapeutix reported topline Phase 1 data for AXPAXLI in diabetic retinopathy.
Primerica, Inc. PRI fell 8.6% to $193.38 following a report from The Bear Cave.
Synovus Financial Corp. SNV shares declined 6.7% to $34.17 as the company posted weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter.
Equifax Inc. EFX fell 6.2% to $223.07 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter sales results and issued adjusted guidance below estimates.
Snap-on IncorporatedSNA shares fell 5.5% to $267.96 following weak quarterly sales.
Health care stocks edged higher Tuesday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index up 0.1% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) adding 0.3%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) shed 0.3%.
In corporate news, UnitedHealth UNH shares rose 5.3% after Q1 profit and revenue topped estimates by analysts, and the company affirmed its 2024 adjusted earnings outlook despite disruptions from a cyberattack.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ tightened its full-year outlook on Tuesday after it reported Q1 sales slightly below market expectations. Its shares dropped 2.1%.
Palisade Bio PALI soared 37% after it said Tuesday that an analysis of ex-vivo bioactivation of PALI-2108 showed that the prodrug showed "efficient" conversion into its active phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor form in stool samples from both normal healthy volunteers and people with ulcerative colitis. The company said the results "underscore our confidence in PALI-2108 as a targeted treatment" for UC.
Although U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, there were a few notable insider trades.
When insiders purchase shares, it indicates their confidence in the company's prospects or that they view the stock as a bargain. Either way, this signals an opportunity to go long on the stock. Insider purchases should not be taken as the only indicator for making an investment or trading decision. At best, it can lend conviction to a buying decision.
The Trade:Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.WBA Director Inderpal S Bhandari acquired a total of 3,000 shares an average price of $18.05. To acquire these shares, it cost around $54,150..
What’s Happening: On March 28, Walgreens reported better than expected second-quarter earnings and tightened FY24 guidance.
What Walgreens Does: Walgreens Boots Alliance is one of the largest retail pharmacy chains in the U.S., with over 8,500 locations.
authID
The Trade:authID Inc. AUID 10% owner Stephen Jeffrey Garchik acquired a total of 10,500 shares at an average price of $7.69. To acquire these shares, it cost around $80,745.
What’s Happening: On March 20, authID posted a narrower FY23 loss.
What authID Does: AuthID Inc is a company engaged in ensuring cyber-savvy enterprises "Know Who's Behind the Device" for every customer or employee login and transaction.
The Trade:America's Car-Mart, Inc. CRMT 10% owner Magnolia Group, LLC bought a total of 13,550 shares at an average price of $57.87. To acquire these shares, it cost around $784,139.
What’s Happening: On April 10, B of A Securities analyst John Murphy maintained America's Car-Mart with an Underperform and lowered the price target from $55 to $50.
What America's Car-Mart Does: America's Car-Mart Inc is an automotive retailer in us focused exclusively on the Integrated Auto Sales and Finance segment of the used car market.
Check This Out: Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Fear' Zone; S&P 500 Down Over 1%
Johnson & Johnson is scheduled to report earnings for the first quarter before the market opens on Tuesday. Here's what you need to know:
PROFIT: Johnson & Johnson is expected to post earnings per share of $2.32 for the first quarter, according to FactSet. This compares with reported losses per share of 3 cents for the same period a year earlier.
ADJUSTED PROFIT: Stripping out one-time items, the healthcare giant's earnings per share are anticipated to be $2.64, according to FactSet.
REVENUE: Johnson & Johnson's revenue is set to reach $21.39 billion, according to FactSet. This compares with reported revenue of $24.75 billion for the year-ago period.
The stock has dropped 8.4% over the past three months.
WHAT TO WATCH:
Look for comments around its regional performance. In the fourth-quarter, the company's sales in the U.S. grew 11% to $12.01 billion, leading the company's growth. The outlook will also be key to get a picture of its business following the spinoff of its consumer-health business arm.
The company's merger and acquisitions plans will also be of interest as the company sets its focus on innovative medicine and medtech, according to Chief Executive Joaquin Duato.
Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix
Dollar Tree, Walgreens Chief Financial Officers Snap Up the Stocks — Barron's
Dollar Tree and Walgreens Boots Alliance just saw large stock purchases by the officers who have oversight of the retailers' finances.
Shares of both companies have been trailing behind the market. In 2023, when the S&P 500 surged 24%, Dollar Tree stock ended the year flat while Walgreens stock dropped 30%. So far this year, the index has risen 9.1%, while shares of Dollar Tree and Walgreens have slipped 8.0% and 27%, respectively.
Dollar Tree's latest earnings and guidance disappointed investors and the company said it would close 600 of its Family Dollar stores, sending shares down another leg in March.
Walgreens' latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, but pharmacy chains are facing a tough macroeconomic environment. Walgreens was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in late February, lowering its public profile and eliminating the need for funds that track the index to own the shares. Walgreens was succeeded as a Dow component by Amazon.com.
Dollar Tree Chief Financial Officer Jeff Davis paid $245,000 on April 1 for 1,800 shares, an average price of $136 each. According to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Davis now owns 19,047 shares.
Dollar Tree didn't respond to a request to make him available for comment on the stock purchases. Davis joined Dollar Tree in October 2022. He last bought Dollar Tree stock on the open market in March 2023, when he paid $250,000 for 1,790 shares, an average price of $139.06 each.
Walgreens CFO Manmohan Mahajan had been named to the post on a permanent basis for a little more than a month before making his first open-market stock purchase. Mahajan paid $116,300 on April 2 for 6,000 shares, an average price of $19.38 each. He now owns 166,969 shares in a personal account, including restricted stock units.
"This underscores my confidence in WBA's future," Mahajan said in an emailed statement. "I'm highly encouraged by the progress being made, and how we are well-positioned to deliver care for communities while delivering long-term growth and value for our stakeholders."
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron's feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members — so-called insiders — as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.
To subscribe to Barron's, visit http://www.barrons.com/subscribe
VIX Rockets 25% On Most Volatile Session In 2 Years; Oil Rises As Israel Braces For Iranian Attack: What's Driving Markets Friday?
In a week already ablaze with market fervor sparked by inflation data surpassing expectations and prompting a jolting reassessment of Federal Reserve rate cut projections, Friday witnesses heightened volatility, fueled by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Israel is bracing for an attack from Iran, which could occur within the next 48 hours or even earlier, according to various media sources.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated that an Iranian attack on Israel poses a "real" and "viable" threat.
According to the Times of Israel, Hezbollah has launched a rocket barrage into Northern Israel. Meanwhile, the USS Dwight Eisenhower aircraft carrier has sailed north through the Red Sea toward Israel in a show of deterrence from the Biden administration, as an attempt to intercept missiles and drones fired by Iran.
Market volatility, as indicated by the CBOE VIX Index, experienced a sharp spike, with the fear gauge surging by 23%, marking the most significant daily increase since late April 2022 and surpassing the uptick observed during the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in March 2023.
Stock indices plunged deeply into the red, with the S&P 500 declining by 1.4% and the Nasdaq 100 by 1.7%. Notably, no sectors managed to evade losses on Friday.
Amid escalating threats in the Middle East, oil prices surged, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude climbing by 1.2% to reach $87 per barrel.
Investors flocked to safe-haven Treasuries in search of a liquidity shelter, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETFTLT up 1%.
Gold faced a wild session, with the yellow metal spiking to a new-record high to $2,400 per ounce, before falling to $2,370. Bitcoin was down 1.7%, amid a worsening risk sentiment.
Chart Of The Day: VIX Spikes Over 20%, In The Most Volatile Day For Markets Since Late April 2022
Benzinga
Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
Major Indices & ETFs
Price
1-day %chg
Dow Jones
37,950.16
-1.3%
Russell 2000
199.18
-1.5%
S&P 500
5,118.62
-1.5%
Nasdaq 100
17,982.40
-1.8%
СВОЕ VIX
18.72
25.6%
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustSPY tumbled 1.5% to $510.49, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial AverageDIA fell 1.3% to $379.75 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ TrustQQQ plummeted 1.6% to $438.00, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the Technology Select Sector SPDR FundXLK felt the heaviest losses, down 1.8%, followed by the Materials Select Sector SPDR FundXLB, down 1.7%.
Friday’s Stock Movers
JPMorgan Chase & Co.JPM tumbled nearly 6%, despite reporting better-than-expected results last quarter, as the net interest income fell below expectations.
Other financial companies reacting to earnings were Citigroup Inc. C, down 2%, Wells Fargo Co.WFC, down 0.5%, BlackRock Inc. BLK, down 2.3%, and State Street Corp.STT, flat for the day.
Intel Corp.INTC dropped 4.5% following reports that China is urging national telecom companies to curb reliance on foreign chips. Peer Advanced Micro Devices Inc.AMD fell 4%.
Arista Network Inc.ANET plummeted 9% on a double downgrade by Rosenblatt Securities.
Globe Life shares fell more than 50% Thursday following the release of a short report from Fuzzy Panda Research which alleged multiple instances of insurance fraud. The company later issued a response refuting the claims in the report.
Globe Life shares are rebounding on heavy trading volume Friday. According to data from Benzinga Pro, more than 5.2 million shares have already been traded in the session, exceeding the stock’s 100-day average of 1.378 million shares.
Related News: What’s Going On With Ginkgo Bioworks Stock?
Will GL Stock Go Up?
When trying to assess whether or not Globe Life will trade higher from current levels, it's a good idea to take a look at analyst forecasts.
Wall Street analysts have an average 12-month price target of $121.86 on Globe Life. The Street high target is currently at $136.0 and the Street low target is $75. Of all the analysts covering Globe Life, 3 have positive ratings, 4 have neutral ratings and no one has negative ratings.
In the last month, 5 analysts have adjusted price targets. Here's a look at recent price target changes [Analyst Ratings]. Benzinga also tracks Wall Street's most accurate analysts. Check out how analysts covering Globe Life have performed in recent history.
Stocks don't move in a straight line. The average stock market return is approximately 10% per year. Globe Life is 44.64% down year-to-date. The average analyst price target suggests the stock could have further upside ahead.
For a broad overview of everything you need to know about Globe Life, visit here. If you want to go above and beyond, there's no better tool to help you do just that than Benzinga Pro. Start your free trial today.
GL Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Globe Life shares are up 18.6% at $58.34 at the time of publication Friday.
Image: Tumisu from Pixabay
Why Agenus Shares Are Trading Lower By Around 17%? Here Are Other Stocks Moving In Monday's Mid-Day Session
Shares of Agenus Inc. fell sharply during Monday’s session.
Agenus disclosed a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of common stock.
Agenus Inc. declined 17% to $0.4181 on Monday.
Here are some other stocks moving in today's mid-day session.
Gainers
Auddia Inc. shares jumped 231.7% to $4.72 after the company announced the USPTO awarded it with U.S. Patent 11,935,520 for the core AI technology the company uses in its flagship faidr app to deliver ad-free AM/FM radio stations to paid subscribers.
Longeveron Inc. shares climbed 93.2% to $4.2499 after the company submitted paperwork for a share offering.
UTime Limited gained 56.8% to $0.29 after the company completed a private placement.
U Power Limited climbed 48% to $6.96 after the company announced announced that its battery-swapping and sharing model for two-wheeled and light four-wheeled electric vehicles is poised for a formal commercial rollout in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China.
Arrowroot Acquisition Corp. rose 38.2% to $19.53.
Destiny Tech100 Inc. jumped 33.8% to $79.30 after jumping around 77% on Friday.
TechPrecision Corporation rose 29.8% to $4.2837 after the company announced the termination of the agreement to acquire Votaw Precision Technologies.
Adlai Nortye Ltd. gained 27.9% to $10.68.
Connexa Sports Technologies Inc. surged 26.8% to $0.3801.
AXT, Inc. rose 25.7% to $3.9089. AXT said it sees preliminary revenue of $22.4 million to $22.7 million for the first quarter.
Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. climbed 24.4% to $8.70.
Apartment Income REIT Corp. gained 22.6% to $38.47. Blackstone Real Estate will take AIR Communities private for approximately $10 billion.
GD Culture Group Limited rose 22% to $1.1195.
Outset Medical, Inc. gained 19.4% to $2.4492. BTIG analyst Maria Thibault initiated coverage on Outset Medical with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $6.
Dogness (International) Corporation gained 18.2% to $9.53.
Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. rose 17.6% to $0.3999. Last week, Galmed Pharmaceuticals filed annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2023.
Ducommun Incorporated surged 17.5% to $57.11 after the company confirmed that its Board of Directors received an unsolicited non-binding indication of interest from Albion River LLC.
Mesoblast Limited rose 13.8% to $6.60.
Perpetua Resources Corp. climbed 13.5% to $5.40 after the company announced it received indication for up to $1.8 billion in financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for the Stibnite Gold Project.
AltC Acquisition Corp. gained 13.1% to $14.82. Oklo signed a LOI to supply 50 megawatts of power to Diamondback Energy.
WW International, Inc. rose 12.7% to $1.8697.
MicroStrategy Incorporated gained 10.9% to $1,595.72 amid a rise in Bitcoin.
Model N, Inc. rose 10.7% to $30.00 after the company announced it will be acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $1.25 billion.
A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. gained 10.3% to $36.10.
Coinbase Global, Inc. surged 8.1% to $260.41 amid a rise in the price of Bitcoin.
BYND Cannasoft Enterprises Inc. gained 8% to $1.1119.
Antelope Enterprise Holdings Limited shares rose 7.4% to $1.60 after declining 5% on Friday. On April 1, Antelope Enterprise announced preliminary full year 2023 revenue of $70.4 million.
Fastly, Inc. gained 5.9% to $13.27. Piper Sandler analyst James Fish upgraded Fastly from Neutral to Overweight and lowered the price target from $19 to $16.
Losers
22nd Century Group, Inc. fell 45.4% to $1.95. 22nd Century Group shares jumped over 140% on Friday after the company signed a new contract manufacturing agreement for the production of branded conventional cigarette products.
Perion Network Ltd. dipped 36% to $13.51 after the company slashed FY24 revenue guidance.
MediaCo Holding Inc. fell 29.1% to $2.75. Shares of MediaCo Holding jumped 177% on Friday after a 13D amended filing showed Standard General L.P. reported a 95.2% stake in the company as of April 1, 2024.
SuperCom Ltd. fell 24.3% to $0.2175.
Selina Hospitality PLC fell 23.7% to $0.0420.
DatChat, Inc. fell 20.5% to $1.16.
HUB Cyber Security Ltd. dipped 18% to $1.26. HUB Cyber Security recently announced $8 million in financing via a straight debt arrangement.
Agenus Inc. declined 17% to $0.4181. Agenus disclosed a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of common stock.
TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc. fell 16.2% to $0.2139.
Conifer Holdings, Inc. dipped 15.9% to $0.8995. Cullen/Frost Bankers is scheduled to host a conference call on Thursday, April 25, 2024 to discuss first quarter 2024 earnings.
HWH International Inc. fell 15.6% to $1.3408.
Murano Global Investments Plc fell 11.8% to $9.79.
Globavend Holdings Limited shares fell 11.2% to $1.4567 after jumping 57% on Friday.
CCSC Technology International Holdings Limited shares fell 11.2% to $3.00 after surging around 28% on Friday.
Reliance Global Group, Inc. fell 10.8% to $0.4327. Reliance Global, last week, reported FY23 earnings.
ZOOZ Power Ltd. fell 9.5% to $3.6675.
Douglas Dynamics, Inc. fell 8.2% to $22.03. Baird analyst Timothy Wojs downgraded Douglas Dynamics from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $36 to $25.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. fell 7.4% to $37.60.
On CNBC’s "Mad Money Lightning Round," Jim Cramer recommended buying Uber Technologies, Inc. . "I think Uber is really well run," he noted.
Uber recently entered into a new nationwide partnership with The Vitamin Shoppe, bringing the New Jersey-based health and wellness retailer’s selection to the Uber Eats app.
When asked about Citigroup Inc. , he said, "I feel better about Citi than I have in a long time, but that doesn’t mean I’m not in favor of Wells Fargo ."
Illumina is "no good," Cramer said, “You want Danaher DHR , same business, better company."
Cramer likes Amazon.com, Inc. , to
Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. is just "not compelling to me," Cramer said.
The "Mad Money" host said he is ok with ResMed Inc. . "I think the stock’s been knocked down because of the GLP-1s, and they’ve got very good management," he added.
Cramer said he is ok with Brookfield Corporation .
Super Micro Computer, Inc. is "complicated because you know I am an Nvidia guy, hold it, don’t trade it. I am not going to go with SMCI because that’s the not as good Nvidia," Cramer said.
Cramer said "no" to BlackBerry Limited .
Price Action:
Amazon shares gained 2.8% to settle at $185.07 on Friday.
Illumina shares rose 1.4% to close at $127.75 during Friday’s session.
Shares of Uber gained 3% to close at $77.16 on Friday.
Academy Sports and Outdoors shares gained 1.1% to settle at $63.45.
Brookfield shares gained 0.6% to settle at $40.32 during Friday’s session.
Citigroup shares gained 1.1% to close at $61.60.
ResMed shares gained 2% to settle at $188.76 on Friday.
Super Micro Computer shares fell 1% to close at $948.02 during Friday’s session.
The answer is almost always yesFrench fries are the most-consumed item in fast-food eateries. Pound for pound, the tubers are a low-cost way to get calories down eaters gullets, and addictive to boot. But few people order fries on their own, so watching demand for them can be a good indicator of consumer health.
A warning from Lamb Weston on Thursday paints a darkening picture for quick-serve restaurants, or QSRs, and their core customers. The leading frozen potato distributor cut its fiscal-year outlook, and reported adjusted earnings below Wall Streets expectations.
Several QSRs have attributed this to less visits by lower-income consumers, as their disposable income has been more affected by the overall inflationary environment, said Chief Executive Thomas Werner on the companys earnings call.
Back in February, McDonalds CEO Chris Kempczinski said much the same thing: The battleground is with the low-income consumer. What youre going to see is more attention to affordability.
The economic story of 2022 and 2023 was that betting against Americas low-income consumers was a mistake. Unemployment has been remarkably low and pandemic cash piles large, making the most economically sensitive slice of the populationthe people most dependent on interest rates, government transfers, tax refunds and unskilled labor demandresilient.
If there was any consumer weakness, then it was from the higher income, more educated slice of the population that is less affected by economic anxiety typicallya phenomenon dubbed the Richcession by the Journal.
Fast food might be a canary in the coal mine that all isnt well. It also could be a sign that the strong unskilled labor marketa significant part of which is at eateries themselves, or delivering their foodhas fed through to menu prices to the point that customers are balking.
The consumer-price index for food away from home has risen by nearly 30% in the past five years. It gained only 14% in the comparable period immediately prior to the pandemic. This months adoption of a $20-an-hour minimum wage in California specifically for fast-food workers wont help.
This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).
The bulls still have what it takes to pull stocks back up
Volatility is higher and the market is down, but support levels are holding
The stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 index SPX, has pulled back after reaching new highs, turning some pundits inexplicably bearish. But the S&P 500 chart remains strong and positive. The S&P 500's pullback is now within the major support area that extends from 5,050 up to 5,180. A close below 5,050 would perhaps be reason to change that opinion, but for now we are maintaining our "core" bullish outlook.
There has been some deterioration in the market's internals, and that bears watching. First, the equity-only put-call ratios have moved higher and are now at their highest levels in a month. While they are not necessarily "racing" higher, they have moved high enough to confirm sell signals. Of course, this same sort of procedure was taking place back in January and did not amount to much of anything. So, we're taking this as more of a stern warning than a "sell everything and get out of the market" signal.
Also, market breadth has been poor and the breadth oscillators are flirting with another sell signal. We require two-day confirmation of any oscillator signals because of the tendency of whipsaws to occur with the oscillators. That two-day sell signal was confirmed with the trading of April 3.
New highs on the NYSE have continued to occur at a tremendous rate, and they have far exceeded new lows. So, this indicator remains strongly bullish. This bullish signal will only be stopped out if NYSE new lows exceed new highs for two consecutive days.
VIX VIX is higher but still relatively subdued, and that is generally bullish for stocks. There is no trend of VIX signals in place, although we have not had a trend of VIX buy signals in place for some time. Of more concern would be a "spiking" VIX, for stocks can fall sharply while VIX is spiking (although eventually a "spike peak" buy signal would occur). Any trouble would be in the form of a sharply rising VIX from these low levels, not from VIX merely being at low levels.
The construct of volatility derivatives remains bullish for stocks as well. The term structures slope upwards, and VIX futures are still trading with a healthy premium. That premium led us to a buy signal for ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF SVXY recently, and that is still in effect since the premium on the VIX futures remains at a fairly large level.
In summary, we are retaining our "core" bullish position, and we will be trading any other confirmed signals around that "core" position.
New recommendations: Recap
For the past few weeks, we have made some conditional recommendations that have not all been filled. The only remaining one at this time is a longer-term potential buy signal from Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) We are keeping this recommendation open but will not continue to reprint the reasoning behind the trade.
IF WBA closes above $22.50, then buy 4 WBA June (21st) 22.5 calls in line with the market.
New recommendation: McDonald's (MCD) puts
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) has broken down to a new low, triggering weighted equity-only put-call ratio sell signals as well as traditional technical-analysis sell signals. This deterioration has been going on for some time, but McDonald's was trying to establish a base for the last couple of weeks. Now, that basing attempt has failed.
Buy 2 MCD May (17th) 275 puts in line with the market.
We will hold this position as long as the weighted put-call ratio remains on a sell signal.
Follow-up action:
All stops are mental closing stops unless otherwise noted.
We are using a "standard" rolling procedure for our SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY spreads. In any vertical bull or bear spread, if the underlying hits the short strike, then roll the entire spread. That would be roll up in the case of a call bull spread or roll down in the case of a bear put spread. Stay in the same expiration and keep the distance between the strikes the same unless otherwise instructed.
Long 0 XLP April 5 76 calls: These calls were stopped out when XLP XLP closed below $74.70 on April 3.
Long 2 SPY April 12 520 calls: This position was initially a long straddle. It was rolled up, and the puts were sold. This is, in essence, our "core" bullish position. Roll the calls up every time they become at least eight points in-the-money.
Long 1 SPY April 12 520 call: This was also originally a long straddle. The put was sold, and the call was rolled up several times. Roll up every time the call is eight points in-the-money.
Long 3 TLT TLT May 19 95 puts: We will hold as long as the put-call ratio sell signal is in place for U.S. Treasury bonds.
Long 1 SPY April 12 520 call: This call was bought in line with the new highs vs. new lows buy signal. It was rolled up several times. Stop out if NYSE new lows exceed new highs for two consecutive days. Roll up every time the call is eight points in-the-money.
Long 4 BKR April 19 30 calls: Bought when Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) closed above $30, on March 6. Continue to hold as long as the weighted put-call ratio remains on a buy signal.
Long 6 QBTS (QBTS) April 19 1.0 calls: The stop remains at $1.75.
Long 3 APA May 17 32.5 calls: We will continue to hold these calls as long as the weighted put-call ratio for APA Corp. (APA) remains on a buy signal.
Long 4 CSX May 17 37.50 puts: Bought when CSX Corp. (CSX) closed below $37.50 on March 14. We will hold these puts as long as the weighted put-call ratio for CSX remains on a sell signal.
Long 2 DKNG (DKNG) May 17 46 calls: Raise the stop to $43.40.
Long 2 SVXY April 19 113 calls: The stop for this position is based on our indicator, and it closed at 0.94. If it falls below 0.50, that would stop out the position. Alternatively, sell the calls if the front-month April VIX futures settle at a discount to $VIX.
Long 4 RSI( RSI) May 17 5 calls: We will hold without a stop initially, in order to let the takeover rumors play out.
All stops are mental closing stops unless otherwise noted.
Send questions to: lmcmillan@optionstrategist.com.
Lawrence G. McMillan is president of McMillan Analysis, a registered investment and commodity trading advisor. McMillan may hold positions in securities recommended in this report, both personally and in client accounts. He is an experienced trader and money manager and is the author of the best-selling book, "Options As A Strategic Investment." www.optionstrategist.com
(c)McMillan Analysis Corporation is registered with the SEC as an investment advisor and with the CFTC as a commodity trading advisor. The information in this newsletter has been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. The officers or directors of McMillan Analysis Corporation, or accounts managed by such persons may have positions in the securities recommended in the advisory.
-Lawrence G. McMillan
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
What is the Silver-Gold Ratio Saying About the Metal Prices?
Gold has a long history as a means of exchange or currency. Central banks, governments, and monetary authorities validate gold’s role in the global financial system by holding gold bullion as an integral part of their foreign exchange holdings. Gold’s economic role has increased as central banks have added to reserves over the past years, providing a stable foundation for its value. If gold is analogous to the banknotes in our wallets, silver is the change in our pockets. For many years, many coins jingling in pockets contained silver.
While silver’s role in the financial system has declined, it remains a precious metal and gold’s sibling. Moreover, the industrial demand for silver has steadily increased, indicating a positive outlook for its future value.
The silver-gold ratio measures the ounces of silver value in each ounce of gold. In early April 2024, silver continues to lag behind gold’s performance. Still, it may only be a matter of time until gold’s sibling catches up with the yellow metal, presenting a potential opportunity for increased value.
The silver-gold ratio remains historically high
Gold’s rally to new record highs and silver’s price at half the 1980 peak have elevated the silver-gold ratio.
Barchart
The silver-gold ratio chart ({GCM24}/{SIK24}) dating back to the late 1970s shows a 15.47:1 low in 1979 when silver was on its way to the over $50 high and gold was on a path towards over $800 per ounce. In March 2020, the ratio reached a 113:1 high when the pandemic gripped markets across all asset classes. In March 2020, silver price spiked lower to $11.735 while gold’s low was at the $1,452.10 level.
The silver-gold ratio has made higher lows for over a decade as silver has lagged behind its precious sibling. In early April, it was near the 90:1 level.
Silver has been consolidating on a potential launchpad
Gold has an established and integral role in the global financial system as central banks own the metal as a reserve asset and classify gold as a foreign exchange reserve. While silver played a similar role in history, silver’s volatility has precluded its use as a reserve asset.
Silver is an industrial and financial asset, and many investors continue to own silver as a safe asset.
In a March 3 Barchart article, I highlighted silver’s narrowing range over the past years. On March 3, silver’s range in 2024 was a mere $2.145. A March rally that took the nearby COMEX futures price to nearly $25.75 caused the range to widen to $3.81, a level that was significantly lower than the 2023 trading bank, which was narrower than the high-to-low ranges in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
A narrowing trading range in a futures market is a consolidation pattern. Like stretching a rubber band beyond its elastic capacity, the longer a price consolidation continues, the greater the odds of a significant move and reaction when the price breaks above technical resistance or below technical support. Given the record highs in gold, the potential for silver’s eventual breakout favors the upside.
Levels to watch in the silver futures market
The three-year COMEX silver futures chart highlights the sideways trading pattern.
Barchart
While the chart since mid-2021 illustrates silver’s lack of bullish or bearish conviction, it outlines the significant technical levels that could lead to a long-overdue move. The critical technical support level is the late August $17.32 low, with the May 2021 $28.68 high crucial technical resistance. At $25.075 per ounce on the nearby May contract in early April, silver is above the $23 midpoint of the three-year trading range.
The case for silver is compelling
The bullish case for silver remains compelling. In the March 3 Barchart article, I highlighted the following bullish factors:
Gold’s continuing bull market has been in place since the 1999 $252.50 low. At $2,095.70 on March 1, April gold futures were 8.3 times higher. May silver at $23.364 was times 5.8 higher than the 2001 $4.026 low. Therefore, silver could catch up if gold continues to make new record highs.
The potential of a BRICS currency with gold backing and continuing central bank gold purchases is bullish for silver, reflecting a decline in the U.S. dollar’s value and role as the world’s reserve currency. A weakening dollar in the global financial system supports higher silver prices.
Aside from its financial role, industrial demand for silver is rising. The Silver Institute projects industrial demand to increase by 8% to a record 632 million ounces.
Silver’s tight trading range in the current environment suggests a significant move when the price moves above or below technical resistance or support levels.
In early April 2024, gold made even higher highs, and the market consensus favors Fed interest rate cuts before the end of 2024. Moreover, a highly contentious November election is on the horizon, which could translate into market volatility across all asset classes.
Gold has become expensive for individual investors seeking value and safety. Market participants can purchase almost 90 ounces of silver for each ounce of gold value, which could lead to an upside technical break. Silver prices could fly above the $30 level as a herd of trend-following buyers may descend on the market that has spent years consolidating.
SLV is the most liquid silver bullion ETF
The most direct route for a risk position in silver is via the physical market for bars and coins. However, silver is a bulk commodity, with each 1,000-ounce bar worth $25,000 weighing around 70 pounds, making storage a consideration. COMEX silver futures offer a physical delivery mechanism but involve leverage and margin and require futures accounts.
The fund profile for the iShares Silver Trust SLV states:
Barchart
SLV holds physical silver bullion. At $22.88 per share, SLV has over $10.40 billion in assets under management. The highly liquid ETF trades an average of around 20.68 million shares daily and charges a 0.50% management fee.
The last rally in COMEX May silver futures took the price 17.06% higher from $22.19 on February 14 to $25.975 per ounce on March 21.
Barchart
The chart shows SLV moved 16.6% higher, from $20.11 on February 13 to $23.45 on March 20. Since SLV trades during U.S. stock market hours and silver futures trade around the clock, SLV can miss highs or lows when the stock market is not operating.
The silver-gold ratio is trading at an elevated level on April 1, which is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the metric tells us that silver continues to underperform gold. However, the high level could create a significant opportunity if silver is heading for an upside break that could take the volatile metal substantially higher over the coming months. I favor the upside for silver and believe each price correction is a buying opportunity.
On the date of publication, Andrew Hecht did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
Pay Attention To Nvidia Chart For Near Term Market Direction, Tech Insiders Sell, Baltimore Impact
To gain an edge, this is what you need to know today.
Benzinga
Tech Insiders Sell
Please click here for an enlarged version of the chart of NVIDIA Corp NVDA.
Note the following:
This article is about the big picture, not an individual stock. The chart of NVDA stock is being used to illustrate the point.
NVDA is the center of the AI revolution and as such is the most important stock in this market at this time. As is often the case, the chart shows crosscurrents.
The chart shows an outside day. An outside day is a negative pattern in traditional technical analysis. For details, please see a prior Morning Capsule.
The chart shows that the pullback after the outside day was bought and the trendline held.
The chart shows yesterday Nvidia had a major reversal. In a major reversal the stock opens near the high of the day but then drops, closing near the low of the day. This is a negative pattern.
Of comfort to bulls is that the volume was not heavy on the reversal. This indicates a lack of conviction. However, most of the drop occurred during the last hour of trading. This is a negative.
Smart money tends to be most active in the last hour of trading. In contrast, the momo crowd is most active in the first hour of trading.
The chart shows that on the bullish side, both on the outside day and reversal day, the trendline held. This is a positive.
RSI on the chart shows that NVDA stock can go either way.
$1000 is the magnet for NVDA day traders and option buyers.
Pay close attention to the NVDA chart as what happens to NVDA will likely determine the course of the stock market in the near term.
Tech insiders from Amazon’s Bezos to Meta’s Zuckerberg are aggressively selling their tech stock holdings.
There is always some insider selling, but the insider selling taking place now in tech stocks is out of the ordinary.
Insiders are more knowledgeable about their companies than outsiders. Insiders are taking advantage of the momo crowd’s exuberance to unload their shares to the momo crowd.
Insiders are included in the smart money data that we publish.
The ratio the corporate tech insider selling to buying has reached the highest level in three years.
In The Arora Report analysis, just like sentiment, insider selling is a yellow light but not a precise timing signal.
There is all kinds of analysis on the economic impact of the Baltimore bridge disaster. Baltimore is one of the busiest ports. Some analysts are warning of a negative impact on the national economy. In The Arora Report analysis, with the exception of coal exports and auto imports, there is going to be no national impact. Other ports on the East Coast have spare capacity.
As an actionable item, the sum total of the foregoing is in the protection band, which strikes the optimum balance between various crosscurrents. Please scroll down to see the protection band.
Quarter End Window Dressing And Rebalancing
Quarter end window dressing is taking place. In quarter end window dressing, some money managers buy the best performing stocks and sell the worst performing stocks so that they can show their clients that at the quarter end, they were holding the best performing stocks.
In quarter end rebalancing, some money managers are selling stocks and buying bonds. The reason is that stocks have done better than bonds and money managers attempt to maintain a fixed ratio between stocks and bonds.
Magnificent Seven Money Flows
In the early trade, money flows are positive in NVDA, Apple IncAAPL, Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN, Alphabet Inc Class C GOOG, Meta Platforms IncMETA, Microsoft CorpMSFT, and Tesla IncTSLA.
In the early trade, money flows are positive in SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustSPY and Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 QQQ.
Momo Crowd And Smart Money In Stocks
The momo crowd is buying stocks in the early trade. Smart money is inactive in the early trade.
Gold
The momo crowd is buying gold in the early trade. Smart money is inactive in the early trade.
For longer-term, please see gold and silver ratings.
The most popular ETF for gold is SPDR Gold Trust GLD. The most popular ETF for silver is iShares Silver TrustSLV.
Oil
API crude inventories came at a build of 9.337M barrels, significantly more than the consensus.
The momo crowd is selling oil in the early trade. Smart money is inactive in the early trade.
For longer-term, please see oil ratings.
The most popular ETF for oil is United States Oil ETFUSO.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is range bound.
Protection Band And What To Do Now
It is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror.
Consider continuing to hold good, very long term, existing positions. Based on individual risk preference, consider a protection band consisting of cash or Treasury bills or short-term tactical trades as well as short to medium term hedges and short term hedges. This is a good way to protect yourself and participate in the upside at the same time.
You can determine your protection bands by adding cash to hedges. The high band of the protection is appropriate for those who are older or conservative. The low band of the protection is appropriate for those who are younger or aggressive. If you do not hedge, the total cash level should be more than stated above but significantly less than cash plus hedges.
It is worth reminding that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash. When adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non ETF); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high beta stocks. High beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market.
Traditional 60/40 Portfolio
Probability based risk reward adjusted for inflation does not favor long duration strategic bond allocation at this time.
Those who want to stick to traditional 60% allocation to stocks and 40% to bonds may consider focusing on only high quality bonds and bonds of seven year duration or less. Those willing to bring sophistication to their investing may consider using bond ETFs as tactical positions and not strategic positions at this time.
The Arora Report is known for its accurate calls. The Arora Report correctly called the big artificial intelligence rally before anyone else, the new bull market of 2023, the bear market of 2022, new stock market highs right after the virus low in 2020, the virus drop in 2020, the DJIA rally to 30,000 when it was trading at 16,000, the start of a mega bull market in 2009, and the financial crash of 2008. Please click here to sign up for a free forever Generate Wealth Newsletter.
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
The Nasdaq 100 closed lower by over 50 points on Thursday. Investors, meanwhile, focused on some notable insider trades.
When insiders sell shares, it could be a preplanned sale, or could indicate their concern in the company’s prospects or that they view the stock as being overpriced. Insider sales should not be taken as the only indicator for making an investment or trading decision. At best, it can lend conviction to a selling decision.
The Trade:Workday, Inc.WDAY Director George J Still Jr sold a total of 5,000 shares at an average price of $270.52. The insider received around $1.35 million from selling those shares.
What’s Happening: On Feb. 26, Workday reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.
What Workday Does: Workday is a software company that offers human capital management, or HCM, financial management, and business planning solutions.
The Trade:Broadcom Inc. AVGO Director Eddy W Hartenstein sold a total of 3,150 shares at an average price of $1,290.34. The insider received around $4.06 million from selling those shares.
What’s Happening: On March 7, Broadcom reported quarterly earnings of $10.99 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $10.29, a 6.39% increase over earnings of $10.33 per share from the same period last year.
What Broadcom Does: Broadcom is the sixth-largest semiconductor company globally and has expanded into various software businesses, with over $30 billion in annual revenue.
BorgWarner
The Trade:BorgWarner Inc. BWA Vice President Stefan Demmerle sold a total of 3,000 shares at an average price of $33.00. The insider received around $99,000 from selling those shares.
What’s Happening: On March 1, BorgWarner appointed Amy Kulikowski as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer.
What BorgWarner Does: BorgWarner is a Tier I auto-parts supplier with three operating segments. The air management group makes turbochargers, e-boosters, e-turbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, powertrain sensors, and cabin heaters.
Kraft Heinz
The Trade:The Kraft Heinz Company KHC Chief Omnich Sales & AEM Ofcr Cory Onell sold a total of 14,289 shares at an average price of $34.62. The insider received around $494,717 from selling those shares.
What’s Happening: On Feb. 14, The Kraft Heinz Company reported weaker-than-expected sales for its fourth quarter.
What Kraft Heinz Does: In July 2015, Kraft merged with Heinz to create the third-largest food and beverage manufacturer in North America behind PepsiCo and Nestle and the fifth-largest player in the world.
Check This Out: Top 3 Consumer Stocks That Could Lead To Your Biggest Gains This Quarter
The Nasdaq 100 NDX gained 221.73 points, or 1.25%, to 18,029.98 and recorded 5 new highs and no new lows. 81 stocks rose and 20 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a about a 4.1-to-1 ratio.
Benzinga's 'Stock Whisper' Index: 5 Stocks Investors Secretly Monitor But Don't Talk About Yet
Each week, Benzinga’s Stock Whisper Index uses a combination of proprietary data and pattern recognition to showcase five stocks just under the surface and warrant attention.
Investors are constantly on the hunt for undervalued, under-followed and emerging stocks. With countless methods available to retail traders, the challenge often lies in sifting through the abundance to uncover new information.
This index layers editorial commentary to help make sense of why these stocks should be of interest and whether investors or casual readers should watch them.
Here is a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of March 8:
Lytus Technologies HoldingsLLYT: The content and streaming company saw shares surge this week after announcing the launch of Lytus Cloud. The launch will help Lytus enter the huge cloud infrastructure market.
"Lytus Cloud will serve as the foundational backbone for all of our technology-driven ventures, presenting us with a remarkable opportunity to build a cutting-edge platform that drives growth and revenue on a global scale," Lytus Technologies CEO Dharmesh Pandya said.
Shares of Lytus were halted several times on Thursday and up over 500% at one point during the intraday. The stock has since fallen, but shares remain up over 175% in the last five trading days. The company conducted a reverse split in February, which makes Lytus a low-float stock and highly volatile to any upcoming news items.
MicroStrategy IncMSTR: The software company and major Bitcoin holder makes a repeat appearance on the Stock Whisper Index. While investors have been flocking to Bitcoin ETFs, MicroStrategy stock could also be appealing to investors given its large Bitcoin holdings. The company added 3,000 BTC between Feb. 15 and Feb. 25. The company now owns 193,000 Bitcoin with an average price point of $31,544.
Company Executive Chairman Michael Saylor previously told Benzinga that the company's "simple strategy" is to acquire Bitcoin and hold the Bitcoin. MicroStrategy recently announced $700 million in senior notes that it will be using for corporate purposes and to buy more Bitcoin.
Shares of MicroStrategy are up 469% over the last year and up 113% year-to-date in 2024, outperforming Bitcoin, which is up 211% and 53% respectively.
ON Semiconductor CorporationON: The semiconductor stock saw increased interest from investors this week, which comes with limited news for the company. Shares of semiconductor companies have been highly volatile and in some cases trading much higher over the last year. Shares of ON Semiconductor are down over the last year and down year-to-date. Analysts with new notes in February have Neutral and Buy ratings with price targets mostly ranging from $75 to $90. The stock bears monitoring as it could be a semiconductor company that has not run yet in the current cycle.
SoFi TechnologiesSOFI: Shares of the fintech company traded lower after announcing a $750 million convertible senior notes offering. The company said the proceeds would be used to help fund entering capped call transactions and for general corporate purposes. Benzinga recently shared that with the price of SoFi shares down, traders on Reddit were discussing if this was a buy-the-dip opportunity.
PrologicsPLD: The industrial real estate investment trust saw increased interest, which could be due to investors fearing more downside for commercial real estate. Prologics is a leader in logistics real estate, holding industrial and logistics facilities. The company calls itself a leader in the sector and said that 2.8% of the world's GDP flows through its distribution centers annually.
Stay tuned for next week’s report, and follow Benzinga Pro for all the latest headlines and top market-moving stories here.
Read the latest Stock Whisper Index reports here:
Feb. 9
Feb. 16
Feb. 23
March 1
Read Next: Tesla’s Bitcoin Blunder: Here’s How Much EV Giant Could Have Made If It Listened To Michael Saylor’s ‘One Rocket Scientist To Another’ Pitch
** U.S.-listed shares of lithium companies rise as prices for lithium carbonate gain in China
** Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices rise to 96,500-102,500 yuan/ton, up 1.5% from the previous working day, according to Shanghai Metals Market
** Shares of companies like Albemarle ALB, Arcadium Lithium ALTM, Piedmont Lithium PLL and U.S.-listed shares of Chile's SQM SQM_A, SQM_A up between 4% and 8.8%
** Canadian lithium companies like Frontier Lithium FL, Lithium Americas LLAC and Lithium Royalty Corp LIRC up between 6% and 13%
** Open interest in China's most-traded July lithium carbonate contract on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange increased for five days in a row on Wednesday
** Analysts say environmental inspections in key producing regions in China along with brighter demand outlook was leading to some supply concerns
** SQM, on a call with analysts, said it expects stable lithium prices for the next three months and anticipates strong demand through the year
OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited operates health and wellness centers onboard cruise ships and at destination resorts worldwide.
Stock Market Media
Currently, the stock of OSW has recently broken out of a long-term basing pattern. A basing pattern occurs when a stock consolidates within a specific price range for an extended period, forming a base of support. The breakout from this pattern suggests a significant shift in market sentiment and potential for a new upward trend.
Traders and investors analyzing OSW should consider this technical development as a bullish signal. The stock's ability to break out of a long-term basing pattern indicates increased buying pressure and potential for sustained upward movement. It may be an opportune time to consider long positions or monitor for potential entry points.
Largest Hedge Fund Bulked Up on Nvidia Stock as 2023 Ended — Barrons.com
As Nvidia stock closed in on a 240% surge for 2023, the world's largest hedge fund went in big on a bet that the chip maker's rally still had legs.
Bridgewater Associates quintupled its stake in Nvidia stock in the fourth quarter. It also more than doubled its investment in General Electric, scooped up AT&T stock, and halved its Palantir Technologies holdings. The fund disclosed the stock trades, among others, in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bridgewater didn't offer a comment on the stock trades. Founded by Ray Dalio in 1975, the hedge fund had assets of $97.2 billion as of June 30, 2023, putting it at the top of the list of the world's largest by assets, according to Pensions & Investments magazine.
Bridgewater bought 220,381 more Nvidia shares to end the fourth quarter with 268,489 shares of the chip maker.
In 2023, Nvidia stock crushed the S&P 500 index, which managed to rise 24%. Shares have surged 59% so far this year, while the index is up 6.7%.
Nvidia reported blowout fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, and its upbeat outlook reassured investors that growth in artificial intelligence is still ramping up. Nvidia's report lifted shares around the world.
Bridgewater's Nvidia stake was valued at $133 million at the end of 2023. If it still owns the same number of shares, they're now worth $212 million.
GE CEO Larry Culp, who worked at Bridgewater for a short time in 2015 and headed Danaher, took the top job at the conglomerate in 2018, setting it on course for its current transformation. GE spun off GE Healthcare Technologies in January 2023, and will soon split into two companies, one focused on aerospace, and the other on power generation.
Bridgewater bought 211,650 GE shares to end the fourth quarter with 384,161 shares. GE stock doubled in 2023. So far in 2024, shares are up 20%.
The fund bought 1.1 million more AT&T shares in the fourth quarter to lift its investment to 2.9 million shares of the telecom firm.
In December, AT&T agreed to buy up to $14 billion of hardware and services from Ericsson after the Swedish equipment supplier pledged to open up its software to competing systems. The deal was a setback for AT&T's former supplier, Finnish firm Nokia.
AT&T stock slipped in late January when it reported a lackluster fourth quarter. In the past week, AT&T and its unit Cricket suffered system outages that wouldn't allow customers to make phone calls.
AT&T stock slipped 9% in 2023. So far this year, shares are about flat.
Palantir stock rocketed 167% in 2023 and has powered ahead with a gain of 34% so far in 2024.
The data-analytics and AI-applications firm has gotten a lift from the Nvidia rally and excitement over AI in general. Palantir was seeing slowing deals from the U.S. government. But it might not matter. CEO Alex Karp told The Wall Street Journal that Palantir's new AI platform "is going to be nearly the complete value of our business."
Bridgewater sold 183,218 Palantir shares to end the fourth quarter with 165,947.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron's feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members — so-called insiders — as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Gap (GPS) Stock Surges 92.6% in Past Six Months: Here's Why
The Gap, Inc. GPS stock is well-poised to tap the positive trends in the fashion arena, thanks to its robust strategic initiatives, including the Power Plan 2023 Strategy. Management is committed to creating a trend-right merchandise assortment, deepening relations with customers via marketing, enhancing the digital commerce agenda and efficiently controlling expenses. The company is gaining from brand strength and solid demand for its products that resonate well with customers.
Buoyed by such strengths, shares of this clothing and accessories retailer have soared 92.6% compared with the industry’s 42.4% growth in the past six months. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GPS’ fiscal 2024 sales is pegged at $15 billion, indicating an increase of 1.1% year over year. This highlights analysts’ confidence in the stock.
Delving Deeper
Gap’s Power Plan 2023 Strategy focuses on opening highly profitable Old Navy and Athleta stores while closing the underperforming Gap and Banana Republic stores. It expects to leverage its powerful platform to deliver competitive omni capabilities to meet customers’ needs, fueled by its scaled operations. Through the plan, the company expects to deliver consistent sales growth, margin expansion and strong operating cash flow.
Gap is aggressively undertaking cost-management actions. It has been simplifying and optimizing its operating model and structure, including increasing spans of control and decreasing management layers to improve the quality and speed of decision-making. It is also creating a consistent organizational structure across its brands. The company is focused on actioning more than $550 million in annualized cost savings and realizing margin expansion on lower air costs, improved discounting and effective sourcing strategies.
Gap is gaining from lower airfreight and improved promotional activity. This has been aiding the company’s margins and, in turn, the overall profitability. During third-quarter fiscal 2023, the gross margin expanded 390 basis points (bps) year over year on a reported basis and 260 bps on an adjusted basis. Merchandise margin increased 340 bps on 180 bps of leveraged commodity costs and lower air utilization and 160 bps of improved promotional activity from better inventory position and robust assortments.
Given all the positives, Gap stock seems to deserve a place in your investment portfolio. A Value Score of A further adds strength to this current Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company.
Other Stocks to Consider
We have highlighted three other top-ranked stocks, namely Abercrombie & Fitch ANF, American Eagle AEO and Hibbett HIBB.
Abercrombie & Fitch, a leading casual apparel retailer, currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Abercrombie & Fitch’s current financial-year sales implies growth of 3.8% from the year-ago reported figure. ANF delivered an earnings surprise of 60.5% in the last reported quarter.
American Eagle, a leading apparel retailer, currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. AEO delivered an earnings surprise of 23% in the trailing four quarters.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Eagle’s current financial-year sales indicates growth of 5% from the year-ago reported figure.
Hibbett, a key sporting goods retailer, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). HIBB delivered an earnings surprise of 24.2% in the trailing four quarters.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hibbett’s current financial-year sales implies growth of 1.8% from the year-ago reported figure.
Zacks Investment Research
This is what the Red Sea attacks mean for U.S. retailers, says Moody's
U.S. retailers are better positioned to handle Red Sea disruption than their European counterparts, says Moody's, but spring and summer fashion deliveries could be impacted if shipments aren't swiftly rerouted
While the Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea have impacted global supply chains, U.S. retailers are better positioned to deal with the disruption than their European counterparts, according to Moody's Investors Service.
The Red Sea attacks, which were launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in October, have resulted in longer transit times for cargo as ships that would have transited the Suez Canal use alternate routes. In recent testimony on Capitol Hill, the National Retail Federation said that rerouting cargo around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope adds 10 to 14 days to its members' supply chains.
"European retailers that source maritime product imports from Asia rely heavily on the Suez Canal," wrote Moody's analyst Christina Boni in a note released Wednesday. Some of the major European apparel companies that rely on Asian market imports include Adidas AG (XE:ADS) and Next PLC, she added. In January, British clothing seller Next warned that the attacks could disrupt the company's supply chains and delay U.K. deliveries by up to two and a half weeks.
Related: Red Sea shipping disruptions would be much worse if not for these factors, logistics expert says
The Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, is a critical artery for global trade. In the first half of 2023, trade going through the Suez Canal represented about 12% of global trade, including 30% of container traffic, 10% to 15% of global seaborne cargo and 8% of global liquefied-natural-gas shipments, according to the International Monetary Fund.
However, U.S. retailers that import from Asia can also use the West Coast before moving products east by rail, according to Moody's Boni. "Although U.S. retailers tend to rely heavily on maritime imports from Asia, many have the ability to divert deliveries from the East Coast and Gulf - the port of call for ships through the Panama and Suez Canals to the West Coast, where they can use rail networks," Boni said.
Boni explained that many U.S. companies successfully pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic in the opposite direction, from West Cost ports to the East and the Gulf, when the risk of a strike loomed at West Coast ports in 2022, without pushing costs much higher. "We expect companies can now shift product successfully to the West Coast because conditions are even more favorable than during the pandemic," she added.
Related: Red Sea container traffic is down almost 30% amid Houthi attacks, says IMF, as experts weigh wider impact
But if shipments aren't rerouted quickly, then the prompt delivery of spring and summer fashion collections is potentially at risk, the analyst warned. This could be a negative for apparel and clothing companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) and Gap Inc. (GPS), she added.
"Air freight is a more expensive alternative but brings in product faster should the need arise," the analyst wrote, noting that this is better suited to luxury retailers such as Coach owner Tapestry Inc. (TPR), Capri Holdings Ltd.'s (CPRI) Michael Kors and Tory Burch.
"Nonetheless, larger companies with relatively more sophisticated supply chains are best positioned to pivot faster," Boni added. "The risks are greater for smaller operators with high import exposure for low cost products, should contracts be renegotiated at higher levels. This is because they could once again see a significant increase in their cost structure after finally benefiting from lower freight rates."
Related: Red Sea disruption forces retailers to rethink back-to-school and holiday shipments
Arts-and-crafts companies such as Joann Inc. (JOAN), the Michaels Companies and Harbor Freight are examples of companies where profitability could be materially impacted, according to Boni. Companies in the home-goods and furnishing category, including At Home and BDF Acquisition Corp., are already contending with lower demand and are vulnerable to future increases, she wrote.
Last month, the National Retail Federation warned that the disruption caused by the Houthi attacks was forcing U.S. retailers to rethink how they handle back-to-school and holiday shipments.
Experts have also warned of the impact of drought conditions affecting the Panama Canal on global supply chains.
Related: Red Sea and Panama Canal disruptions may snarl supply chains, but these two toy makers appear well-positioned
-James Rogers
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
MGM's hotels charged $1,000 a night on average for the Super Bowl, but the stock suffers a hangover
Casino operator's earnings beat expectations, but stock extends pullback from a six-month high after the big game
MGM Resorts International beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations, and said the Super Bowl effect was surprisingly "amazing" for its Las Vegas properties, but the stock continued to suffer from a post-game hangover Wednesday.
Chief Executive Bill Hornbuckle said on the post-earnings conference call with analysts that there had been some uncertainty about how much people would spend at MGM's Las Vegas properties, given that they had to already spend so much to go the game, which was played in Vegas.
"We were always concerned - we do great Super Bowl parties here - will it be the kind of even that will drive, given the additional expense of the tickets, et cetera, et cetera?" Hornbuckle said, according to an AlphaSense transcript of the call. "The answer was hands-down yes, and particularly rooms."
MGM's (MGM) average daily rate for rooms around the Super Bowl was near $1,000. In addition, the company posted three of the top five revenue days ever recorded around the game, as well as near-record event-gaming volumes.
That compares with the ADR for Las Vegas Strip Resorts of $295 during the fourth quarter, which included the inaugural Formula 1 race, and with the ADR of $258 in the first quarter of last year, when the Super Bowl was held in Glendale, Ariz.
"The game weekend is typically a strong event for MGM Resorts, but having the game in town amplified those results dramatically," Hornbuckle said.
MGM's Las Vegas properties include Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Luxor and New York-New York.
CFRA analyst Zachary Warring reiterated his buy rating on MGM's stock and his $59 price target, which implies 38% upside from current levels.
"We see MGM as the biggest beneficiary of the Super Bowl and continue to believe shares are undervalued," Warring wrote in a note to clients.
But despite how "amazing" the Super Bowl was for MGM, and despite the company reporting fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations, the stock sank 6.3% on Wednesday, and has tumbled 9% since closing Monday at a six-month high.
If there were some negatives in the fourth-quarter report, the company said that although the inaugural F1 race during the quarter was "an incredible success," the positive effect was isolated to MGM's premium properties.
Another negative was that while Las Vegas Strip Resorts revenue rose 3% to $2.4 billion, and MGM China revenue rocketed 462% to $983 million, Regional Operations revenue fell 12% to $873 million.
The weakness in regionals was attributed to the effects of the union strike at MGM Grand Detroit, and a decrease in "high-end table volume" at MGM National Harbor near Baltimore.
And Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Halkyard said there was also some "lingering cyber-incident challenges" that specifically impacted the regional portfolio.
Otherwise, quarterly results beat expectations.
MGM reported late Tuesday net income for the quarter to Dec. 31 that rose to $313.5 million, or 92 cents a share, from $284.0 million, or 69 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $1.06 were well above the FactSet consensus of 71 cents.
Revenue jumped 21.8% to $4.38 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $4.14 billion, as casino revenue soared 42.3% to $2.20 billion and rooms revenue grew 12.5% to $1.01 billion.
Meanwhile, food and beverage revenue increased 2.4% to $727.9 million and entertainment, retail and other revenue inched up 0.1% to $422.2 million.
In digital, the company said BetMGM met its full-year 2023 targets for both revenue and second-half profitability.
Looking ahead, CEO Hornbuckle said the outlook remains strong. "We're encouraged by the metrics we've seen in our business, including room and rates on the books and in-the-year group attendance and future bookings," he said, as well as a robust event calendar for the Las Vegas.
MGM's stock has gained 6.3% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 index SPX has advanced 10.8%.
-Tomi Kilgore
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
INTC continues to receive takeover proposals from chip companies, the latest being Arm Holdings Plc 
ARM following Qualcomm Inc‘s 
QCOM proposal earlier.
TSM excelled at.
AMZN Amazon Web services and the U.S. Chip grant.
MBLY, whose stock is down 66% in the last 12 months.
SFTBF 
TSEM deal have succumbed to global regulatory opposition.
MU, and continued AI investments from Big Tech companies.
PSI and SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF 
XSD, gained 5%- 7% in the last five days.
FCX shares, among other metal and mining stocks, are moving higher Tuesday after China Central Bank announced a new stimulus package.
HBM and Rio Tinto Plc 
RIO.
BABA had been cleared of allegations that it engaged in monopolistic practices. China's State Administration for Market Regulation said the company had corrected its practices after it had been ordered to "conduct comprehensive self-inspection and rectification" and submit compliance reports, according to a Google translation of the regulator's statement. Shares of Alibaba were up 2.4% at noon.
MS and Goldman Sachs Group 
GS to navigate the best way forward following the tech company's disappointing earnings results that were released earlier this month, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Intel is considering several options, including M&A, a split of its product-design and manufacturing businesses and scrapping some factory projects, Bloomberg reported, citing the people. Intel shares were up 8.2%.
DELL reported fiscal Q2 non-GAAP earnings late Thursday of $1.89 per diluted share, up from $1.74 a year earlier and above the Capital IQ consensus analyst estimate of $1.71. Second-quarter revenue was $25.03 billion, up from $22.93 billion in the year-ago period and above the Capital IQ consensus estimate of $24.12 billion. Separately, Dell is trying to sell SecureWorks 
SCWX again following previous failed attempts, Reuters reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company has engaged investment bankers at Morgan Stanley and Piper Sandler to explore takeover interest from potential buyers, including private equity firms, the people reportedly told Reuters. Dell shares were up 3.7%, while those of SecureWorks were down 5.4%.
LAC and General Motors 
GM subsidiary General Motors Holdings have agreed to extend the deadline for GM's second tranche investment in the Thacker Pass lithium project until the end of the year, Lithium Americas said Friday. General Motors Holdings has reaffirmed its commitment to invest an additional $330 million in the project and the extension of the outside date allows both parties to explore alternative investment structures and finalize a $2.26 billion loan from the US Department of Energy, Lithium Americas said. Separately, GM must face a class action across 26 states alleging it knowingly sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles with faulty transmissions, a federal appeals court ruled in a decision filed Wednesday. Shares of General Motors were down 0.7%, while those of Lithium Americas were down 6.4%.
TSLA Tesla Motors Beijing will recall 870 imported Model X vehicles from Oct. 8 to check the vehicles' roof adhesive for potential safety hazards, Reuters reported Friday, citing China's market regulator. Tesla shares were up 1.7%.
WYNN Director Margaret Jane Myers sold a total of 2,000 shares at an average price of $98.05. The insider received around $196,100 from selling those shares.
BOX CFO Dylan C Smith sold a total of 13,000 shares at an average price of $27.05. The insider received around $351,676 from selling those shares.
MTB Sr. Executive Vice President Michael J. Todaro sold a total of 4,791 shares at an average price of $162.57. The insider received around $778,897 from selling those shares.
MOS Director Kelvin R Westbrook sold a total of 12,666 shares at an average price of $27.32. The insider received around $346,042 from selling those shares.
SHOP rose sharply during Wednesday's session after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter EPS results.
PETQ shares surged 48% to $30.44 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter adjusted earnings results.
UPST gained 35.4% to $32.38 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter revenue guidance above estimates on Tuesday.
SWIM climbed 34% to $4.19 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 revenue guidance above estimates. Additionally, the company announced an acquisition of Coverstar Central.
LUMN gained 33% to $6.65 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue results. Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from Sell to Neutral and raised its price target from $1 to $4.
VCYT rose 32.4% to $28.90 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results. Also, Needham maintained a Buy rating on the stock and raised its price target from $27-$31.
RYAM jumped 27.8% to $7.17 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
ANGI gained 27.7% to $2.5250 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
INSP rose 25.6% to $184.81 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly sales results and raised its FY24 guidance. Also, the company announced it authorized a $150 million share repurchase program.
FTNT rose 23.5% to $68.93 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued FY24 guidance above estimates.
AXON gained 21.3% to $358.06 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 revenue guidance above estimates.
AZPN rose 18.3% to $210.40 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued strong guidance.
RUN gained 16.1% to $19.15 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results and announced a partnership with Tesla to support Texas’s power grid.
DT rose 15.3% to $46.69 following a Q1 earnings beat.
SKY gained 14.2% to $84.99 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
VFC gained 14% to $18.74 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
RPD gained 13.7% to $37.55 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
ILMN rose 11% to $129.15 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly sales results.
GPN gained 9.4% to $101.74 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
MDB rose 6.9% to $238.66.
SNOW gained 5.7% to $121.38.
NOVO_B reported Q2 earnings Wednesday of 4.49 Danish kroner ($0.66) per diluted American depositary receipt, up from 4.32 kroner a year earlier but below the Capital IQ consensus of 4.97 kroner. Q2 net sales were 68.06 billion kroner, up from 54.3 billion kroner in the year-ago period but below the Capital IQ consensus of 68.56 billion kroner. The company expects 2024 sales to grow between 22% and 28%, up from the previous guidance. It also cut its 2024 operating profit growth outlook to a range of 20% to 28%. Shares were trading down 8% near noon.
DIS reported fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings of $1.39 per diluted share, up from $1.03 a year earlier and above consensus of $1.19. Revenue was $23.16 billion, up from $22.33 billion in the year-ago period and above consensus of $23.09. The company expects per-share adjusted earnings to grow by 30% for fiscal 2024, up from the prior target of 25%. Separately, Disney said it may have to pay an additional $5 billion to Comcast's 
CMCSA NBC Universal for its 33% stake in Hulu. An arbitration process will determine how much. Once arbitration is complete, the final equity fair value will account for the valuation of a third appraiser. If the appraiser's valuation is equal to Disney's valuation, it wouldn't owe NBC Universal any more money, but if it is consistent with NBC Universal's, Disney would be required to pay an additional $5 billion.
CVS reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $1.83 per diluted share, down from $2.21 a year earlier but above consensus of $1.73. Revenue was $91.23 billion, up from $88.92 billion a year earlier, but below estimates of $91.43 billion. The company trimmed its 2024 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $6.40 to $6.65 from at least $7.00. The revised outlook reflects "continued pressure" in the healthcare benefits business. CVS shares were down 0.7%.
JPM, Bank of America 
BAC and Wells Fargo 
WFC are among the banks being investigated by regulators over the handling of customer funds on the Zelle, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking into how the banks respond when customers dispute transactions made via Zelle. Shares of JPMorgan were up 1%, while those of Bank of America and Wells Fargo were up 2.4% and 0.7%, respectively.
HPE anticipated acquisition of Juniper Networks 
JNPR. HP was down 1.8%, Juniper was up 1%.
NVDA tests for use in its artificial intelligence processors, Reuters reported. Samsung and Nvidia have not yet signed a supply deal but will do so soon. The sources told deliveries are expected to start by Q4. Nvidia shares were down 0.2%.
AAPL store in the US ratified a three-year contract after over a year of bargaining, according to media reports. The contract, which covers about 85 workers at the Towson, Md. store, includes an increase in starting pay for 80% of positions and average raises of 10% over the contract's lifetime. Apple shares were up 2.6%.
TNDM fall ~9.9% to $39.17
ABT and Medtronic 
MDT have entered into a partnership to integrate the former's continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors with MDT's insulin delivery systems
PODD shares down ~1.2% at $194.05, Dexcom 
DXCM down ~5% at $71.35
TLT, surged 0.7%.
XLRE outperformed, rallying 1.3%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund 
XLK lagged, down 2.2%.
AIG, down 7%,
BUD, up 2.7%,
BHC, up 0.5%,
BIIB, down 2.8%,
CVNA, up 8.3%,
CI, down 4.8%,
CHRW, up 14.3%,
COP, down 1.8%
D, up 2.8%,
EBAY up 3%,
EVGO, down 2.3%,
EG, down 6.8%,
HSY, down 0.4%,
HTZ, down 2.5%,
LRCX, down 9%,
META, up 6%,
REGN, up 1.2%,
SIRI, down over 6%,
TDOC, down over 5%,
W down over 7%
BZH, BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. 
BBAI, Block, Inc. 
SQ, Booking Holdings Inc. 
BKNG, Cloudflare, Inc. 
NET, Clorox Company 
CLX, Coinbase Global, Inc. 
COIN, DraftKings Inc. 
DKNG, Intel Corporation 
MCHP, MicroStrategy Inc 
MSTR, Opendoor Technologies Inc. 
OPEN, RingCentral, Inc. 
RNG, Roku, Inc. 
ROKU, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated 
VRTX, Twilio Inc. 
TWLO and United States Steel Corporation 
X.
VRT is “very good,” however: “I do prefer, because it was down today, that you buy the stock of Dover NYSE:DOV.”
SERV, he said, “There's a gigantic secondary coming on, a lot of insider stock going, and I don't like that. I don't like to see that, because the company's losing a lot of money. So, I don't want to be there.”
BMO right here.
CELH. I mean, this thing has fallen — it looks like a two-for-one split,” he said.
AMD is a buy, he said.
CCL, Cramer said he likes Royal Caribbean 
RCL and Viking Holdings Ltd 
VIK more.
LOGI. “It could be a Christmas play, not so much now.”
VST is “one of the winners of the year. I think it's going to continue to win,” Cramer said.
BX. “They have a lot of great companies in house that are going to do very well,” he added.
BORR, Cramer said he always goes with the best, which is Schlumberger NV 
SLB.
LOW is the kind of stock that should be bought right here, right now ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate cut cycle. “I would pick some up tomorrow,” he added.
MRVL, he said, “They're two different things. Marvell the stock is probably being hurt, but Marvell the company, Matt Murphy [Chairman and CEO at Marvell] is doing a terrific job. I actually would own the stock.”
JOBY.
EW, he said, “You want to swap over to Boston Scientific 
BSX.”
PYPL rose sharply during Tuesday's session after the company reported better-than-expected second quarter financial results.
JBLU jumped 20.6% to $7.16 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
CVLT jumped 19.1% to $146.77 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance above estimates. Also, the company raised its FY25 revenue guidance.
HLIT jumped 18.8% to $13.96 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter revenue guidance above estimates.
SFM shares rose 15.9% to $98.13 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued its third-quarter earnings guidance above estimates.
NEO rose 16.1% to $17.00 following upbeat earnings.
TLRY rose 16.1% to $2.1250 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
HWM gained 14.1% to $94.56 following better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, issued strong guidance, raised its dividend, increased its buyback authorization and issued strong guidance.
RGEN rose 13.4% to $156.48 following -quarter earnings.
VRNS jumped 13.3% to $54.92 as the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 guidance on Monday.
HAYW rose 11% to $14.98 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter EPS results.
FFIV shares climbed 10.6% to $196.46 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and raised its FY24 earnings guidance above estimates.
HSII gained 10.2% to $39.41 following upbeat quarterly results.
PHAR shares rose 9.8% to $8.28. Pharming Group will report second quarter financial results on Aug. 1.
CNO jumped 9% to $33.78 following upbeat quarterly results.
SWK gained 8.1% to $104.28 after the company reported better-than-expected second quarter financial results. Additionally, the company revised its FY24 adjusted EPS forecast upward.
EXP jumped 8.1% to $268.95 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter EPS results.
NVCR rose 8% to $22.47.
SAVE gained 7.3% to $3.0802. Spirit Airlines announced low-fare travel with new premium offerings starting Aug. 2024.
ZBRA jumped 6.4% to $356.62 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results. Additionally, the company raised its FY24 guidance.
IT rose 6.4% to $500.83 following better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
PSX climbed 4.9% to $147.31 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
PEGA gained 4.8% to $69.13.
AAL gained 4.3% to $10.88.
DHR.
CEG is a “solar play that is a very good company. It's up a huge amount versus a lot of other stocks.” He recommends buying some, holding on to it, and not selling it.
IBN is a great way to get exposure to India, Cramer said.
OGN, he said, “Pfizer 
PFE, Organon. These are companies that are just kind of quietly going higher. And I have to admit, that one's probably not done.”
MSFT.
GOOG.
USO.
URI as his final trade.
ARKK up 1.8%
XLC up 1.2%
JETS up 1.2%
GDX up 1.1%
VNQ up 0.9%
NOW and Molina Healthcare 
MOH shares jumped 15% each, the best performers on the S&P 500. The companies late Wednesday posted better-than-expected second-quarter results.
IBM was the top gainer on the Dow, up 5.8%. The company late Wednesday reported second-quarter earnings that unexpectedly increased year over year as momentum in its software division propelled consolidated revenue above Wall Street's estimates.
F was the second-worst performer on the S&P 500, down 17%. The automaker's second-quarter earnings late Wednesday came in below market estimates amid higher warranty costs and expenses, as the company continues to project a full-year loss for its electric vehicle business.
HON second-quarter results came in ahead of the Street's estimates, while the industrial conglomerate updated its full-year outlook amid recently announced acquisitions. The company's shares were down 4.3% intraday, the steepest decline on the Dow.
LHX and DexCom 
DJI was up 0.13% at 40,469.52. The S&P 500 
SPX was up 0.31% at 5,581.42 and the Nasdaq Composite 
IXIC was up 0.56% at 18,108.121.
FEIM: up 33.2%
89618: down 2.6%
PDD: down 0.6%
BILI: down 3.6%
CRWD: up 3.4%
NXPI: down 9.0%
ADI: down 3.8%
TXN: down 3.3%
ON: down 4.0%
UPS: down 13.1%
GE: up 7.1%
PII: down 6.5%
SPOT: up 12.3%
KMB: down 4.1%
KO: up 0.7%
PM: up 2.7%
AROC: down 6.4%
ZION: up 6.7%
MSCI: up 8.9%
SHW: up 4.4%
HCA: up 3.8%
BANC: down 7.4%
MEDP: down 17.3%
GPC: down 1.7%
MCO: up 0.7%
FDS: down 2.8%
NVR: down 0.6%
GATX: down 7.2%
TOELY and ASML Holding NV 
ASML persist in supplying advanced chips to China. Shares of the Dutch chipmaker ASML Holding fell nearly 12%, notching the worst decline since March 2020.
MAGS, saw a collective market cap loss of $500 billion in a single trading session. Nvidia Corp. 
XLP outperformed, up by 1.3%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund 
AMAT, also saw declined by about 8%.
JNJ rallied 3.7% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
SCHW plunged 9.4%, following a 10.2% drop on Tuesday, as several analysts lowered their price targets in response to disappointing Q2 earnings.
ELV, down 6.5%, U.S. Bancorp 
USB, up 4.6%, Ally Financial Inc. 
ALLY, down 3%, Northern Trust Corp. 
NTRS, down 7%, Citizens Financial Group 
CFG, up 3.4% and Synchrony Financial 
SYF, up 0.6%.
AA, Discover Financial Services 
DFS, Kinder Morgan, Inc. 
KMI, SL Green Realty Corp. 
SLG, Steel Dynamics, Inc. 
STLD and United Airlines Holdings, Inc. 
UAL.
PLD improving outlook
FR 2%, Rexford Industrial Realty 
REXR 1%, EastGroup Properties 
EGP >1%, STAG Industrial 
STAG ~2%, Terreno Realty 
TRNO ~1%
COLD up 1% on Weds
BITF: up 8.1%
RIOT: up 15.6%
MARA: up 17.0%
DJT: up 33.6%
PHUN: up 4.3%
RUM: up 13.1%
GEO: up 9.2%
BLK: up 0.4%
SWBI: up 10.2%s
RGR: up 7.1%
POWW: up 12.3%
HUM: up 1.8%
UNH: up 1.1%
SEDG: down 13.9%
CSIQ: down 9.6%
FSLR: down 8.2%
M: down 11.2%
DDOG: up 1.5%
BRK.A: up 1.7%
DVA: down 3.3%
NDX
CSGP
DLTR
MRNA
CTSH
PLTR shares are moving higher after the company announced a strategic partnership with Voyager Space. This collaboration aims to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to advance the space and defense technology sectors by integrating Palantir's AI tools across the Voyager enterprise.
BHP attempt to take over the non-South African parts of rival Anglo American 
AAL has hit the skids, the question is where the M&A spotlight is next going to fall in a sector newly buzzing with intrigue. The smart money right now seems to be on something involving Canada’s $25 billion Teck Resources 
TECK, or $72 billion New York-listed Freeport-McMoran 
ANTO, whose shares have doubled in the last two years, and $85 billion Southern Copper 
SCCO. These boast annual production of over 600,000 tonnes and 900,000 tonnes respectively. But Antofagasta is 65% owned by Chile’s Luksic family, which isn’t showing signs of selling, and Southern Copper is 90% held by Grupo México – led by Mexican tycoon Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco. Canada’s $11 billion First Quantum Minerals 
FM had over 700,000 tonnes of annual copper output last year, but its Cobre Panamá mine in the Central American state has been embroiled in a spat with the domestic government.
GLEN, Price’s group will become a hugely attractive target.
AVGO
TPL
SRPT
ADBE
ORCL
ADSK
COHR
DXC
GWRE
OLED
OLLI
ZG
RXO shares soared more than 23% in recent Monday trading after it struck a deal to acquire United Parcel Service's 
NKE from Perform to Outperform, while raising the price target from $110 to $120. Nike shares gained 0.8% to close at $95.57 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
OM from Sector Perform to Outperform, while increasing the price target from $5 to $6. Outset Medical shares fell 1.5% to settle at $3.5850 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
PBH from Neutral to Buy, while raising the price target from $65 to $93. Prestige Consumer shares settled at $65.28 on Thursday. See how other analysts view this stock.
JBL fell sharply during Thursday's session following third-quarter results.
MGOL shares jumped 222.8% to $1.48 after the company said it expects the pending acquisition of Spetner Associates to close in the second half of 2024, projecting it to increase annualized revenue to approximately $28 million.
GRDI climbed 89.3% to $1.48 after falling more than 10% on Tuesday.
RELI shares climbed 60.5% to $0.6279. Reliance Global Group announced major enhancement of capital structure following cashless exercise of warrants.
ALUR gained 50% to $1.598. Allurion announced publication of new data demonstrating lean mass gains in patients experiencing 14% weight loss.
SMX rose 43% to $0.1702 after jumping 19% on Tuesday.
SLNH gained 23.3% to $5.96.
FEMY rose 22% to $1.1650 after receiving CE Mark approval from the EU MDR for its FemaSeed, FemVue, FemCerv, and FemCath products.
MOLN shares rose 21.1% to $9.63 after gaining 9% on Tuesday.
SRFM jumped 20.6% to $0.3850.
TBLT gained 20.2% to $3.75.
HOLO surged 19.7% to $1.1303. MicroCloud Hologram entered into convertible note purchase agreements with investors for $28 million on June 18.
PRST shares climbed 19.2% to $0.0877after falling around 5% on Tuesday.
NNVC gained 16.5% to $1.91. Nanoviricides reported that the ultra-broad-spectrum antiviral NV-387, a Phase 2 Stage drug candidate, was found to be effective in protecting lungs from damage in a lethally infected influenza H3N2 mouse model.
OCUL gained 16% to $6.36 after TD Cowen upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and raised its price target from $7 to $11.
APLD jumped 15.3% to $5.95.
PACK climbed 13.7% to $6.49.
IBRX rose 13.6% to $7.08 after the company announced insurance coverage of ANKTIVA across multiple states with first commercial doses administered.
HROW gained 12.2% to $19.81 after the company announced the manufacture of the first of three commercial-scale process performance qualification batches of TRIESENCE 40 mg/mL. Also the company announced that the second and third required PPQ batches are now scheduled.
ZKH rose 11.4% to $3.92
HIMX jumped 11.1% to $8.23
WTO surged 11% to $0.5849
NXL gained 10% to $1.1450. Nexalin Technology shares jumped around 38% on Tuesday after the company was awarded a US patent on ‘Transcranial alternating current dynamic frequency stimulation (TACS) method for Alzheimers and Dementia.’
SMCI gained 7% to $982.60 after Elon Musk indicated the company will provide server racks for the supercomputer that xAI is building.
TRVN fell 43.7% to $0.1993. Trevena announced preclinical TRV045 data for long-term analgestic effect in prelinical model of neuropathic pain. Also, the company announced TRV045 results provided director for additional NIH-initiated studies in epilepsy prevention and treatment.
KAVL shares declined 33.5% to $2.99 after gaining 8% on Tuesday.
SONN fell 29% to $1.10. Sonnet BioTherapeutics announced exercise of warrants for gross proceeds of $3.4 million.
TPST declined 25% to $2.1208. The company announced new data from the ongoing Phase 1b/2 clinical study on amezalpat2 (TPST-1120).
NKLA declined 23.6% to $0.3672. Nikola announced 1-for-30 reverse stock split approved by board.
LRHC shares fell 23.5% to $1.37. La Rosa Holdings shares jumped 72% on Tuesday after the company entered a non-binding letter of intent to acquire a controlling interest in Red Door Title.
SYT dipped 21.7% to $1.70.
MBIO shares dipped 21% to $0.6721 after the company announced a $2.5 million registered direct offering of 6.130 million shares at $0.41 per share.
NLSP tumbled 20.3% to $0.1910 after jumping 82% on Tuesday.
DMTK fell 19.4% to $0.1176.
DXF shares fell 19.4% to $0.1728 after dipping 17% on Tuesday.
ESPR declined 15% to $2.2991 after B of A Securities downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform.
SVMH shares fell 13.7% to $0.2150. SRIVARU, last week, announced it will begin accepting paid reservations and bookings for its flagship product, the PRANA 2.0, on June 16th.
ASNS fell 12.2% to $1.8602. Actelis Networks shares jumped 84% on Tuesday after the company announced an agreement to serve as Carahsoft’s public sector distributor.
JSPR declined 10.1% to $20.84. Jasper Therapeutics announced appointment of Svetlana Lucas Ph.D., to its Board of Directors.
GMS declined 6.5% to $84.02 after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results.
NYAX fell 6.1% to $21.23.
VNDA fell 5% to $6.03 after the company’s board determined that recent takeover proposals were not in its best interests.
CHGG: up 15.1%
HUT: down 1.7%
BTBT: down 2.7%
VRE: down 6.7%
URGN: down 8.5%
ZNTL: down 33.6%
OXY: up 1.6%
MESA: up 29.6%
LNG: up 4.7%
OMGA: up 11.0%
KR: up 1.8%
RKLB: up 9.0%
NEE: down 3.2%
C: up 1.5%
SRAD: down 2.1%
BA: down 1.7%
ITCI: up 11.5%
WBA, reported Reuters.
XLY and Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF 
NRIX announced the presentation of updated clinical data for NX-5948, an orally bioavailable degrader of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK).
BGNE Brukinsa (Zanubrutinib), Eli Lilly And Co’s 
LLY Jaypirca (Pirtobrutinib), Johnson & Johnson’s 
AZN Calquence (Acalabrutinib).
PFS. The study continues to assess overall survival as a key secondary endpoint for both arms.
VLO saw the second-steepest decline on the S&P 500 Wednesday, down 3.4%, as Goldman Sachs adjusted its price target on the stock to $162 from $168.
PLAY are among the companies scheduled to report their latest financial results after the closing bell.
XAGUSD1! up 3.5% at $31.08/ounce, following gains in prices of gold, after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data fanned hopes of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this year
HL and Coeur Mining 
CDE rise 3.2% and ~6%, respectively
WPM, Pan American Silver 
PAAS, Endeavour Silver 
EDR and MAG Silver 
MAG gain between 1.8% and 3.8%
SIVR and iShares Silver Trust 
CZR CEO Tom Reeg said in the company’s first-quarter earnings report.
MGM and Las Vegas Sands Corp. 
LVS — generated more revenue compared to a year ago. The removal of COVID-19-related entry restrictions in Macau certainly helped.
BYD had “a challenging start to the year,” CEO Keith Smith said. It posted adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share, missing market estimates of $1.57 per share. Total adjusted EBITDAR was $330.5 million in Q1 — down from $367.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
ETSY, a unique two-sided online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. With its platform, the company promotes creativity and small business growth by providing unique, handcrafted goods. Etsy operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, France, Australia, India, Italy, Spain, and a few other countries. In fact, Statista reports that between 2015 and 2023, Etsy's buyer app was downloaded 53 million times in the U.S. alone.
COSM, a diversified, vertically integrated global healthcare group engaged in innovative R&D, owner of proprietary pharmaceutical and nutraceutical brands, manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, and operator of a telehealth platform, announced today that on May 21, 2024, it received an additional delinquency letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") notifying the Company that it continues to be out of compliance with Nasdaq's continued listing requirements set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) due to the Company's failure to timely file its Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2024, as well as remaining delinquent in filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2023 (the "Initial Delinquent Filing").
SCLX will be added to the MSCI Global Small Cap Index as of the market close May 31. Separately, Scilex said it sent a letter to the US House of Representatives requesting an investigation into alleged illegal market manipulation of its shares via naked short selling. Scilex shares rose 1.6%.
MRUS shares surged 35% after the company presented positive data for two of its multispecific antibodies in cancer patients ahead of an industry conference next weekend.
SMMT shares fell 22% after the company reported topline data associated with a phase 3 trial comparing ivonescimab plus chemotherapy with placebo plus chemotherapy in people with lung cancer.
VSTM announced the initial interim safety and efficacy results from the ongoing RAMP 205 Phase 1/2 trial evaluating avutometinib plus defactinib in combination with gemcitabine and Nab-paclitaxel in the first-line in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. 
AMGN and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co 
BMY Mirati to evaluate Lumakras (sotorasib) in combination with avutometinib and defactinib and Krazati (adagrasib) in combination with avutometinib in KRAS G12C mutant NSCLC as part of the Phase 1b/2 RAMP 203 and RAMP 204 trials, respectively. 
SSNLF.
TDY fell sharply during Wednesday's session after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and cut FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.
CSSE gained 136% to $0.3570.
BOF shares climbed 73% to $1.98 after the company announced it has expanded its existing relationship with the nation’s largest retailer, which brings the total annualized value of commitments from the retailer to over $8 million.
AMST jumped 55.7% to $3.10 after the company announced the Beta release of its NurseMagic app.
LICN gained 53.5% to $0.8599.
WIMI rose 44.6% to $1.05.
MULN rose 44% to $3.93.
PRE gained 36.6% to $6.25.
RILY shares surged 29.9% to $28.20 after the company announced the results of an independent investigation showed the company and its executives had no involvement with, or knowledge of, any of the alleged misconduct concerning Mr. Kahn or any of his affiliates.
MTC shares climbed 29% to $2.8948.
YYAI gained 28.8% to $0.9427.
RBBN shares rose 27.2% to $3.2699 after the company reported first-quarter financial results and issued guidance.
TROO gained 26.6% to $1.38.
BW gained 19.9% to $1.10
HAS surged 12.1% to $65.13 following better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
ICG gained 10.3% to $10.30.
NVTS surged 9.2% to $4.1402. Navitas Semiconductor is expected to report first-quarter financial results on Thursday, May 9.
WAB surged 9% to $161.84 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its 2024 guidance.
LRN surged 8.4% to $63.07 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued FY24 revenue guidance above estimates.
HLT rose gained 4.4% to $205.69 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.
ISUN fell 40% to $0.0901 after the company announced a reverse stock split.
GCTK declined 36.8% to $0.4801.
EVO shares dipped 32.4% to $5.27 after reporting fiscal year 2023 results.
ATXI fell 31% to $0.0925 after the company announced a reverse stock split.
APDN fell 20% to $0.2320.
RCON fell 16.5% to $0.0845.
FNCH fell 15.5% to $2.35.
EDU shares slipped 13.9% to $77.13 following downbeat quarterly earnings.
MRSN fell 11% to $2.8600.
HELE dipped 9.8% to $90.45 after the company reported fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY25 guidance below estimates.
ODFL shares declined 9.7% to $197.95 following a first-quarter revenue miss.
VICR dipped 8.5% to $32.17 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter sales results.
SNBR fell 8.4% to $13.38.
MANH shares declined 8.4% to $211.18 following quarterly results.
EQX fell 8.2% to $5.25. Equinox Gold entered into a binding share purchase agreement with certain funds managed by Orion Mine Finance Management LP to acquire Orion’s 40% interest in Greenstone Gold Mine GP Inc., giving Equinox Gold 100% ownership of the Greenstone Mine in Ontario, Canada.
ENPH fell 4.5% to $108.43 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance below estimates.
LAD shares fell 4.3% to $253.02 following downbeat quarterly earnings.
AOTG and the Spear Alpha ETF 
SPRX.
CPRT and Take-Two Interactive Software 
TTWO are among the companies scheduled to report their latest financial results after the closing bell.
SOFI released its Q1 earnings, and the stock got butchered despite beating on both the top line as well as the bottom line. The stock, which was already underperforming the markets by a wide margin in 2024, further extended its losses.
AGBA shares jumped 148% to $0.9898 after the company announced it entered into a definitive merger agreement with Triller.
TIRX jumped 106% to $1.0012 after gaining around 8% on Wednesday.
BPTH gained 77.7% to $5.74 after the company announced the completion of its second dose cohort in Phase 1/1b clinical trial of BP1002 evaluating the ability of BP1002 to treat refractory/relapsed acute myeloid leukemia patients.
SINT rose 51% to $0.0560.
ME gained 44% to $0.5035 after CEO Anne Wojcicki said she is considering a proposal to take the company private.
XPON gained 42.5% to $2.75. Expion360 announced ‘substantial’ preorders of its Group 27 and GC2 now featuring Vertical Heat Conduction™ Heating Technology.
VTNR rose 31% to $1.2901.
ALRN jumped 29.4% to $5.50. Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Aydin Huseynov maintained Aileron Therapeutics with a Buy and raised the price target from $9 to $19.
THCH shares surged 26.4% to $1.3190 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter financial results.
TLSA gained 20.1% to $0.6160. Tiziana Life Sciences announced new quantitative PET imaging data on Foralumab at Meeting of American Academy of Neurology.
SMSI climbed 18.7% to $2.3150.
WRNT rose 15.8% to $0.3745.
BMI gained 11.8% to $171.06 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.
B gained 8.8% to $36.31. DA Davidson analyst Matt Summerville upgraded Barnes from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $35 to $45.
APOG climbed 8.1% to $60.42 following upbeat quarterly earnings.
SPCB fell 28.4% to $0.2574. SuperCom announced pricing of $2.9 million registered direct offering.
BENF fell 27.5% to $4.1920.
NRXP fell 27.1% to $3.04. NRx Pharmaceuticals announced pricing of $2 million underwritten public offering of common stock at a public offering price of $3.30 per share.
TOON fell 25.3% to $1.1050 as the company announced pricing of up to $7 million registered direct offering of common stock.
INVO declined 24.4% to $1.3750. INVO BioScience recently reported a year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter revenue results.
WINT fell 24.4% to $0.2994. Windtree Therapeutics announced a 1-for-18 reverse stock split effective April 22.
SMXT dipped 11.2% to $8.53. SolarMax Technology recently reported fiscal year 2023 results.
PRI fell 8.6% to $193.38 following a report from The Bear Cave.
SNV shares declined 6.7% to $34.17 as the company posted weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter.
EFX fell 6.2% to $223.07 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter sales results and issued adjusted guidance below estimates.
SNA shares fell 5.5% to $267.96 following weak quarterly sales.
PALI soared 37% after it said Tuesday that an analysis of ex-vivo bioactivation of PALI-2108 showed that the prodrug showed "efficient" conversion into its active phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor form in stool samples from both normal healthy volunteers and people with ulcerative colitis. The company said the results "underscore our confidence in PALI-2108 as a targeted treatment" for UC.
AUID 10% owner Stephen Jeffrey Garchik acquired a total of 10,500 shares at an average price of $7.69. To acquire these shares, it cost around $80,745.
CRMT 10% owner Magnolia Group, LLC bought a total of 13,550 shares at an average price of $57.87. To acquire these shares, it cost around $784,139.
XLB, down 1.7%.
STT, flat for the day.
ANET plummeted 9% on a double downgrade by Rosenblatt Securities.
GL shares are trading higher Friday amid volatility following a short report on the stock from Fuzzy Panda Research.
WDAY Director George J Still Jr sold a total of 5,000 shares at an average price of $270.52. The insider received around $1.35 million from selling those shares.
BWA Vice President Stefan Demmerle sold a total of 3,000 shares at an average price of $33.00. The insider received around $99,000 from selling those shares.
KHC Chief Omnich Sales & AEM Ofcr Cory Onell sold a total of 14,289 shares at an average price of $34.62. The insider received around $494,717 from selling those shares.
PEP
DASH
EA
LULU
ZS
ALB, Arcadium Lithium 
ALTM, Piedmont Lithium 
PLL and U.S.-listed shares of Chile's SQM 
SQM_A, 
FL, Lithium Americas LLAC and Lithium Royalty Corp 
LIRC up between 6% and 13%
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