Market Update
Movers: Altria, Ciena, Credit Suisse, Lordstown Motors , Snap
Scott Peters
06 Mar, 2023
New York City
Altria Group Inc increased 1.1% to $47.04 after the maker of Marlboro cigarettes agreed to acquire e-cigarette company NJOY for $2.785 billion.
Altria recently sold its stake in the troubled e-cigarettes maker Juul Labs, which was once valued at $13 billion in 2018 and the company's products are still facing several investigations from the Food & Drugs Administration.
The U.S. FDA has approved six of the NJOY's vaping products for sale.
Ciena Corporation rose 4% to $51.14 after the networking equipment maker reported revenue in the last quarter increased 25.1% to $1.06 billion from $844.44 million a year ago.
Net income increased to $76.24 million or $0.51 per share from $45.82 million or $0.29 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Credit Suisse declined 0.7% to $3.01 after the company's main shareholder Harris Associates sold its entire stake in the company.
The news was first reported by the Financial Times and independently verified by Ticker.com.
Chicago-based Harris Associates reportedly owned as much as 10% last year but sold its entire stake in the last two months.
"There is a question about the future of the franchise. There have been large outflows from wealth management," deputy chair and chief investment officer David Hero said to Financial Times.
Lordstown Motors Corp declined 6% to $1.05 and the maker of light duty vehicles said revenue in the December quarter increased to $194,000 compared to zero a year ago.
Net loss in the quarter increased to $102 million from $81.2 million and diluted loss per share rose to 45 cents from 42 cents a year ago.
The company confirmed the cash on hand declined to $221.5 million from $244 million a year ago.
Snap Inc gained 13% to $12.03 as the U.S. lawmakers make progress in advancing a bill to provide an authority to President Joe Biden in banning TikTok, the company's main competitor.
Stocks Accelerate Gains Ahead of Jobs Report and Fed Comments
Barry Adams
06 Mar, 2023
New York City
Stocks advanced in morning trading ahead of the release of economic data on employment and comments from the Federal Reserve.
Economic reports on the U.S. labor market and jobless rate survey are expected to impact market sentiment later in the week.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to offer his views to congressional lawmakers and investors on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release the February jobs report on Friday and economists polled by Ticker.com are estimating net payroll additions between 265,000 and 295,000.
January's payrolls increase by 517,000 is viewed by most economists as an anomaly, despite the tight labor market conditions.
The U.S. labor market is expected to add less than 260,000 jobs a month, slower than 401,000 in 2022 and 600,000 in 2021.
Investors are looking ahead to the release of the Euro Area GDP data and comments from the European Central Bank policymakers.
Crude oil traded with a downward bias after China forecasted a modest increase in economic growth in 2023.
New orders for manufactured goods in January fell $8.9 billion or 1.6% to $542.8 billion, following the downwardly revised 1.7% rise, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday.
New orders declined in two of the last three months but shipments declined for the third month in a row in January by 0.7% following the fall by 0.6%.
China Sets Modest Economic Growth Target In 2023
China lowered its economic growth target in 2023 to 5% after missing the 5.5% in the previous year.
China's economy expanded at 3.3% in 2022 and is likely to advance at a slower pace on the weak export growth and falling property prices.
Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang announced the target rate at the annual legislative conference on Sunday and the party officials focused on reviving growth through other measures.
Indexes & Yields
The S&P 500 index increased 0.7% to 4,072.31 and the Nasdaq Composite index added 1.0% to 11,805.63.
The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.88%, 10-year Treasury notes to 3.96% and 30-year Treasury bonds eased to 3.88%.
Crude oil increased 55 cents to $80.21 a barrel and natural gas eased 39 cents to $2.60 a thermal unit.
Stock Movers
Snap Inc gained 13% to $12.03 as the U.S. lawmakers make progress in advancing a bill to provide an authority to President Joe Biden in banning TikTok, the company's main competitor.
Credit Suisse declined 0.7% to $3.01 after the company's main shareholder Harris Associates sold its entire stake in the company.
The news was first reported by the Financial Times and independently verified by Ticker.com.
Chicago-based Harris Associates reportedly owned as much as 10% last year but sold its entire stake in the last two months.
"There is a question about the future of the franchise. There have been large outflows from wealth management," deputy chair and chief investment officer David Hero said to Financial Times.
Ciena Corporation rose 4% to $51.14 after the networking equipment maker reported revenue in the last quarter increased 25.1% to $1.06 billion from $844.44 million a year ago.
Net income increased to $76.24 million or $0.51 per share from $45.82 million or $0.29 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Euro Area Retail Sales Eased, UK Vehicle Registrations Approached Pre-pandemic Level
Bridgette Randall
06 Mar, 2023
Frankfurt
European market indexes advanced and investors looked ahead to a busy week of economic reports and a fresh batch of corporate earnings.
Energy explorers and resource stocks closed lower following the weakness in crude oil and natural gas prices after China lowered its economic growth target in 2023.
European indexes are expected to trade volatile as investors look ahead to India's money supply growth, foreign exchange reserves and industrial production data, U.S. jobs market and the Euro Area GDP data later in the week.
Investors will also review comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank policy makers during the week.
Euro Area Retail Sales Eased
On the economic front, the Euro Area retail sales rose less than expected in January, Eurostat reported on Monday.
Retail sales in January rose 0.3% after falling 1.7% in December on a monthly basis.
On an annual basis, retail sales decline eased to 2.3% at the start of the year after falling 2.8% in December.
The weaker-than-expected retail sales suggested that consumers are still struggling under the high prices of food and energy.
Food, drinks and tobacco sales rose 1.8% after a 2.1% decline and non-food product sales rose 0.8% after falling 2.5%.
Automotive fuel sales fell 1.5% reversing a 0.5% increase in the prior month.
UK new car registration increased for the seventh month in a row on the sustained demand for electric vehicles, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported Monday.
Passenger vehicle sales increased 26.2% in February from 14.7% rise in January and new car registration increased to 74,441 units from 58,994 a year ago.
The 7-month sustained rebound in vehicle sales lifted automobile registration and approached the pre-pandemic 2020 registration in the corresponding month.
Vehicle registrations were only 6.5% lower than February 2020.
China Sets Modest Economic Growth Target In 2023
China lowered its economic growth target in 2023 to 5% after missing the 5.5% in the previous year.
China's economy expanded at 3.3% in 2022 and is likely to advance at a slower pace on the weak export growth and falling property prices.
Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang announced the target rate at the annual legislative conference on Sunday and the party officials focused on reviving growth through other measures.
Indexes & Yields
The DAX index increased 0.2% to 15,615.14, the CAC-40 index added 0.1% to 7,358.28 and the FTSE 100 index decreased 0.6% to 7,901.03.
The yield on the 10-year German Bunds edged lower to 2.66%, French bonds eased to 3.2%, the UK gilts to 3.8% and Italian bonds to 4.4%.
The euro inched higher to $1.06, the British pound edged higher to $1.20 and the Swiss franc to 93.48 U.S. cents.
Brent crude oil decreased $1.05 to $84.77 a barrel and the Dutch TTF natural gas futures dropped Є2.14 to Є42.85 per MWh.
Europe Movers
Telecom Italia SpA increased 3% to €0.32 after Italian state investor CDP and Australia's private equity and asset management group Macquarie submitted a joint bid to acquire the company's fixed-network business.
Eni SpA added 0.7% to €13.52 after the Italian company struck a deal with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in deepening their ties in reducing emissions and producing clean energy.
Clarkson PLC increased 5.5% to 3,485.0 pence after the U.K.-based shipping services provider reported a rise in 2022 earnings.
Resource stocks traded lower after Brent crude declined 1.1% and natural gas dropped 4.8% and base metal prices fell around 1%.
Glencore, Antofagasta and Anglo American declined between 1% and 3%.
James Fisher & Sons plc declined 4.6% to 372.50 pence after the U.K.-based company agreed to sell its nuclear decommissioning business for nominal consideration and established a new intercompany credit agreement.
Movers: Best Buy, Big Lots, Costco, Dell Technologies, Hibbett
Scott Peters
03 Mar, 2023
New York City
Best Buy Co Inc increased 2.7% to $83.0 after the electronic retailer reported higher-than-expected holiday quarterly earnings but forecasted same store sales to fall in the current year.
Best Buy Co, Inc said revenue in the fourth quarter decreased to $14.7 billion from $16.3 billion and net income declined $495 million from $626 million and diluted earnings per share dropped to $2.23 from $2.62 a year ago.
Revenue in the full-year 2022 declined to $46.3 billion from $51.8 billion and net income fell to $1.4 billion from $2.5 billion and diluted earnings per share dropped to $6.29 from $9.84 a year ago.
Domestic comparable sales in the fourth quarter declined 9.6% on top of 2.1% and domestic online sales fell 13.0% on top of 11.2% from a year ago. Domestic comparable sales in the fiscal year 2022 declined 9.9% from 10.4% increase and domestic online sales fell 13.5% on top of 12.0% fall in the previous year.
The electronics retailer estimated revenue in the fiscal 2024 in the range between $43.8 billion from $45.2 billion and comparable sales to decline between 3.0% and 6.0%.
Big Los, Inc increased 2.2% to $14.83 after the deep discount retailer swung to a quarterly loss but earnings were ahead of expectations.
Big Lots said revenue in the fourth quarter decreased 10.9% to $1.5 billion and the retailer swung to a net loss of $12.5 million from $49.8 million a year ago.
Diluted loss per share was 43 cents compared to a profit of $1.63 in the previous year.
Comparable sales declined 13% adversely impacted by 130 basis points in furniture sales following product shortages resulting from the unexpected closure of United Furniture Industries, parent company of Lane.
The company declared a quarterly dividend of 30 cents per share payable on March 31 to shareholders on record on March 17.
Costco Wholesale decreased 3.2% to $470.51 after the membership-based retailer mixed quarterly results a day ago.
Costco Wholesale said revenue in the fiscal second quarter ending on February 12 increased to $55.2 billion from $51.9 billion and net income increased to $1.5 billion from $1.3 billion and diluted earnings per share rose to $3.30 from $2.92 a year ago.
Comparable store sales at U.S. locations excluding gasoline increased 3.5% and adjusted for calendar shift rose 3.4% and overall comparable sales rose 3.5% and 5.0% respectively.
Online sales in the quarter declined 11.2% and dropped 10.3% in the calendar adjusted period.
Dell Technologies Inc increased 0.4% to $40.32 after the personal computer maker reported weaker-than-expected outlook.
Dell Technologies said revenue in the fourth quarter declined 11% to $25 billion and net income in the fourth quarter increased to $614 million from $2 million and diluted earnings per share rose to 84 cents from a loss of 4 cents in the previous year.
Revenue in the full-year 2022 increased 1% to $102.3 billion and net income plunged 51% to $2.4 billion from $5.7 billion and diluted earnings per share fell to $3.24 from $6.26 a year ago.
Hibbett Inc declined 1% to $69.85 after the sporting goods retailer reported revenues and earnings lower than expected.
Hibbett Inc said net sales for the 13-weeks ended on January 28 increased 19.6% to $458.3 million compared with $383.3 million in the previous year.
Comparable store sales increased 14.3% and online comparable sales increased 21.4% from the previous year.
In relation to the 13-weeks ended February 1, 2020, comparable store sales increased 32.6% and online sales grew 79.8%.
Online sales represented 17.4% of total net sales for the fourth quarter compared to 17.1% in the previous year and 14.2% for the 13-weeks ended February 1, 2020.
Net income in the fourth quarter increased to $38.4 million from $17.7 million in the year ago and diluted earnings per share rose to $2.91 from $1.25 a year ago.