Early Look

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	65.00	0.19%	34,886
S&P 500	7.25	0.16%	4,427
Nasdaq	23.50	0.16%	14,966

 

 

U.S. futures are pointing to a modestly higher open, looking to rebound after stocks closed at their lows on Wednesday as Treasury yields hold near their highest levels since last October, the highest since 2007 as recent data points and minutes from the Fed’s July meeting prompted concerns the central bank will continue to raise rates. Wall Street lost ground for the second straight day on Wednesday, extending its on the week ed by declines in technology and financials as the banking index fell to its lowest close in over a month. Tesla (TSLA) fell a 4^th straight day after the company announced further price cuts in China, which offset news that Texas approved a plan to mandate Tesla charging tech. In retail, Target (TGT) beat quarterly profit expectations but cut its full-year outlook though shares rose ahead of WMT earnings this morning. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index fell -140 points to 31,626, the Shanghai Index rose 13 points to 3,163, and the Hang Seng Index slipped -2 points to 18,326. In Europe, the German DAX is down -0.1% at 15,774, while the FTSE 100 is down -0.15% at 7,345.

 

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index dipped -33.53 points, or 0.76%, to 4,404.33.

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -180.65 points, or 0.52%, to 34,765.74.

·     The Nasdaq Composite slumped -156.42 points, or 1.15%, to 13,474.62.

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -24.24 points, or 1.28% to 1,871.52.

 

Economic Calendar for Today

·     8:30 AM ET                  Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 240K

·     8:30 AM ET                  Continuing Claims…est. 1.7M

·     8:30 AM ET                  Philly Fed Business Index for August…est. -10.0

·     10:00 AM ET                Leading Index Change M/M for July…est. (-0.4%)

·     10:30 AM ET                Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: BILI LITE SPTN TPR WMT

·     Earnings After the Close: AMAT BILL KEYS ROST

 

Other Key Events:

·     Sidoti Micro-Cap Conference (virtual), 8/16-8/17

·     Stephens Super Regional Bank Field Trip, 8/16-8/17

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	0.66	80.04
Brent	0.64	84.09
Gold	-1.50	1,926.80
EUR/USD	0.0007	1.0881
JPY/USD	-0.30	146.06
10-Year Note	+0.048	4.306%

 

 

World News

·     The bull-bear spread in the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) weekly survey was 5.8 vs 19.2 last week. Bulls fall to 35.9% from 44.7%, Neutrals rise to 34% from 29.8%, Bears rise to 30.1% from 25.5%.

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Electric-vehicle batteries and other car parts are the latest products under scrutiny as part of Washington’s effort to stamp out U.S. links to forced labor in Chinese supply chains, according to a document seen by Reuters. Until now, enforcement of a year-old U.S. law that bans the import of goods made in Xinjiang, China, has focused mainly on solar panels, tomatoes, and cotton apparel. But now, components that may include lithium-ion batteries, tires and major automobile raw materials aluminum and steel are increasingly subject to detentions at the border.

·     Tapestry (TPR) Q4 EPS $0.95 vs. est. $0.97; Q4 revs $1.62B vs. est. $1.65B; sees FY24 EPS $4.10-$4.15, vs. consensus $4.23 and sees FY24 revenue ‘approaching’ $6.9B vs. est. $6.93B.

·     Lovesac Company (LOVE) said it has identified via internal investigation certain errors with the methodology used to calculate accrual of its last mile freight expenses applicable to financial statements for the fiscal year ended Jan. 29, 2023, and 13 weeks ended April 2023; says net income was overstated by about $1.5 mln-$2.5 mln for the fiscal year.

·     Tyson Foods (TSN) plans to sell its China poultry business, three people with knowledge of the matter said, in the latest case of a multinational firm looking to divest from the country in recent years, Reuters reported.

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Amcor Plc (AMCR) Q4 adj EBIT $387Mm vs est. $413.09Mm n revs $3.673B vs est. $3.729B; sees FY adj EPS $0.67-0.71 vs est. $0.73 (sees adj EPS for 1H down mid-teens % vs 1H23 and adj EPS 2H +mid-single digits % vs 2H23).

·     BAE Systems (BAESY) agreed to buy Ball Corp’s (BALL) aerospace assets for about $5.55B in cash; said the Aerospace unit accounts for 13% of BALL’s consolidated net sales in 2022.

·     Hawaiian Electric (HE) adds to recent declines, falling late Wednesday after the WSJ reported the company in talks with restructuring advisory firms to address financial and legal challenges over its potential liabilities in the wake of the Maui wildfires.

·     Chesapeake Energy (CHK) to replace Mercury Systems (MRCY) in the S&P Midcap 400 index effective prior to market open on Aug. 21.

·     Mercury Systems (MRCY) will replace Arconic Corp. (ARNC) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Monday, August 21. Apollo Global Management Inc. (APO) is acquiring Arconic.

 

Financials

·     Paycor (PYCR) Q4 adj op profit $15.4Mm vs est. $13.59Mm on revs $140Mm vs est. $136.55Mm; guides Q1 revs $138-140Mm vs est. $142.5Mm, adj op profit $9-10Mm vs est. $14.34Mm; sees FY revs $644-650Mm vs est. $646.97Mm and adj op profit $97-100Mm vs est. $98.19Mm.

·     StoneCo (STNE) Q2 ADJ net income R$322.0M vs. est. R$287.4M; said Q2 active clients 3.01M, vs. est. 2.99M; payment volume R$97.4B, +7.4% y/y.

 

Healthcare

·     AbbVie (ABBV) announced that the European Commission has approved AQUIPTA(R) (atogepant) for the prophylaxis of migraine in adults who have four or more migraine days per month.

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Cisco Systems (CSCO) Q4 adj EPS $1.14 vs est. $1.06 on revs $15.2B vs est. $15.05B, adj op mgn 35.4%; guides Q1 revs $14.5-14.7B vs est. $14.62B and adj EPS $1.02-1.04 vs est. $1.00; sees FY revs $57.0-58.2B vs est. $58.381B and adj EPS $4.01-4.08 vs est. $4.04.

·     Asure Software (ASUR) 3.3M share Spot Secondary priced at $12.00.

·     Avnet (AVT) Q4 adj EPS $2.06 vs est. $1.65 on revs $6.555B vs est. $6.275B; guides Q1 revs $6.15-6.45B vs est. $6.035B and adj EPS $1.45-1.55 vs est. $1.39.

·     Bilibili (BILI) Q2 adjusted EPS loss (-$0.32) vs. est. loss (-$0.35); Q2 revs $731.5M vs. est. $726.38M; said Q2 average daily active users were 96.5M, representing an increase of 15% y/y; cuts FY revs view to CNY22.5B-CNY23.5B vs. CNY24.0B-CNY26.0B prior due largely to the delay of certain game launches.

·     Kimball Electronics (KE) Q4 adj EPS $0.76 vs est. $0.68 on revs $496.141Mm vs est. $472.69Mm; guides FY24 net sales $1.9-1.95B vs est. $1.977B, op mgn 4.7-5.2% and CAPEX $70-80Mm.

·     Synopsis (SNPS) Q3 adj EPS $2.88 vs est. $2.74 on revs $1.487B vs est. $1.483B; sees Q4 revs $1.567-1.597B vs est. $1.573B and adj EPS $3.01-3.06 vs est. $2.91.

·     Wolfspeed (WOLF) Q4 adj EPS ($0.42) vs est. ($0.48) on revs $235.8Mm vs est. $222.8Mm, adj gross margin 29%; guides Q1 revs $220-240Mm vs est. $233.19Mm and adj EPS ($0.75)-($0.60) vs est. ($0.29).