Morning Preview: January 15, 2025

Early Look
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Futures |
Up/Down |
% |
Last |
Dow |
155.00 |
0.36% |
42,907 |
S&P 500 |
22.25 |
0.40% |
5,906 |
Nasdaq |
76.50 |
0.36% |
20,095 |
U.S. stock futures rising following a mixed trading session Tuesday that saw eight S&P sectors finish higher led by materials, industrials, utilities and financials while health-care stocks fell, paced by Eli Lilly. Attention yesterday was on a “cooler” December PPI inflation print and the focus remains on inflation today with the consumer price index (CPI) reading at 8:30 am et. The increase in Dec CPI is expected to be the same as in November at +0.3%. Year-on-year, CPI probably advanced +2.9% last month (vs. +2.7% prior). The rise in core CPI (ex: food & energy) likely eased to +0.2% in December, after gaining +0.3% in November. On an annual basis, the core CPI rate in December is projected to remain at 3.3% reached in the previous month. Separately, the NY Fed manufacturing index reading for January is projected to be at 3, up from 0.20 recorded last month. Outside of the macro data, several large cap banks kick off earnings season this morning with shares of JPM, WFC, BLK and BK all rising this morning initially after results. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index dipped -29 points to 38,444, the Shanghai Index fell -13 points to 3,227, and the Hang Seng Index gained 66 points to 19,286. In Europe, the German DAX is up 179 points to 20,450, while the FTSE 100 rises 60 points to 8,262.
Market Closing Prices Yesterday
- The S&P 500 Index edged higher 6.69 points, or 0.11%, to 5,842.91.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 209.47 points, or 0.52%, to 42,518.28.
- The Nasdaq Composite dropped -43.71 points, or 0.23%, to 19,044.39.
- The Russell 2000 Index advanced 24.84 points, or 1.13% to 2,219.24.
Economic Calendar for Today
- 7:00 AM ET MBA Mortgage Applications Data
- 8:30 AM ET Consumer Price Index (CPI) headline M/M for December…est. +0.3%
- 8:30 AM ET Consumer Price Index (CPI) headline Y/Y for December…est. +2.9%
- 8:30 AM ET CPI Core (ex: food & energy) M/M for December…est. +0.2%
- 8:30 AM ET CPI Core (ex: food & energy) Y/Y for December…est. +3.3%
- 8:30 AM ET Empire Manufacturing for January…est. +3
- 9:00 AM ET Fed’s Barkin Speaks in Annapolis
- 10:30 AM ET Weekly DOE Inventory Data
- 11:00 AM ET Cleveland Fed CPI for December
- 11:00 AM ET Fed’s Williams Gives Keynote Remarks
- 12:00 PM ET Fed’s Goolsbee Speaks at Midwest Economic Forecast Forum
Earnings Calendar:
- Earnings Before the Open: BK BLK C GS JPM WFC
- Earnings After the Close: CNXC FUL HOMB SNV
Other Key Events:
- Goldman Sachs Global Macro Conference Asia Pacific 2025, 1/14-1/15, in Hong Kong
- ICR Conference 2025, 1/13-1/15, in Orlando, FL
- JP Morgan 43rd Annual Healthcare Conference, 1/12-1/16, in San Francisco, CA
- Needham 27th Annual Growth Conference, 1/14-1/15 Lotte NY Palace Hotel
Macro |
Up/Down |
Last |
Nymex |
0.11 |
77.61 |
Brent |
0.08 |
80.00 |
Gold |
24.00 |
2,706.30 |
EUR/USD |
-0.0002 |
1.0306 |
JPY/USD |
-1.06 |
156.90 |
10-Year Note |
-0.018 |
4.769% |
World News
- British inflation unexpectedly slowed to an annual rate of 2.5% in December from 2.6% in November, with the core measures of inflation falling more sharply. In France, consumer prices rose 1.8% year-on-year in December, while Spain’s EU-harmonized 12-month inflation rate rose to 2.8%.
- The Japanese yen rises after Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Wednesday that the Bank of Japan will debate whether to raise interest rates next week, signaling its intention to take borrowing costs higher. The remarks, which echo those made by BOJ Deputy Governor Himino, pushed up the yen +0.65% as markets continued to price in the chance of a rate hike at the bank’s next policy meeting on Jan. 23-24.
Sector News Breakdown
Consumer
- Calavo Growers (CVGW) Q4 adjusted EPS 5c vs. (2c) loss last year; Q4 revenue rose 19.5% y/y to $170.0M vs. est. $161.93M; Q4 adj Ebitda was $6.7M.
- General Motors (GM) has signed a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar agreement for Norway’s Vianode to provide the U.S. automaker with synthetic graphite anode materials for its electric vehicle batteries.
- Tesla (TSLA): The SEC has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, claiming he failed to timely disclose a major purchase of Twitter shares ahead of his takeover in 2022, Bloomberg reported. The complaint alleges Musk of failing to promptly report that he had accumulated more than 5% of the platform’s stock in early 2022.
Energy, Industrials and Materials
- Valaris (VAL), Transocean (RIG), Noble (NE), Helmrich & Payne (HP), SLB Inc. (SLB), NOV Inc. (NOV) all downgraded to In Line from Outperform at Evercore/ISI.
- Global oil markets face a smaller surplus this year than previously expected, the IEA said, with inventories set to grow by 725,000 barrels a day in 2025, rather than the 950,000 barrels a day projected before, the adviser to major economies said in a monthly report on Wednesday.
- Aluminum rose slightly, with the European Union considering curbs on imports from Russia and Chinese production growth expected to slow.
- Park Aerospace (PKE) Q3 EPS $0.08 on net sales $14.4Mm.
Financials
- Bank of New York (BK) Q4 adj EPS $1.72 vs. est. $1.56; Q4 assets under mgmt $2 trillion; total fee revenue grew 9% to $3.51 billion y/y; Q4 net interest rose 8% to $1.19B; assets under custody and administration were $52.1 trillion in the fourth quarter, 9% higher than last year.
- Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc (BHLB) files for offering of up to 3.45M shares of common stock shareholders.
- BlackRock (BLK) Q4 adj EPS $11.93 vs. est. $11.22; Q4 revenue rose 23% y/y to $5.68B vs. est. $5.58B; assets under management edged up to a record $11.55 trillion in Q4; Adj operating margin was 45.5%, up from 41.6% y/y; reported $281B of client inflows in Q4, topping ests and bringing net inflows for the year to a record $641B.
- Discover Financial Services (DFS) credit card charge-off rate 2.55% at Dec 2024 end and its credit card delinquency rate 1.76% at Dec 2024 end.
- JPMorgan (JPM) Q4 EPS $4.81 vs. est. $4.04; Q4 revenue $42.8B and managed revenue $43.7B vs. est. $41.56B; reported charge-offs for December of 1.63% and delinquencies 0.84%; Q4 FICC sales & trading revs $5.01B, vs. est. $4.37B; Provision for credit losses $2.63B, vs. est. $3.04B, Return on equity 17% and Return on tangible common equity 21%, EST 17.2%; notes client asset net inflows totaled $486B in 2024.
- Wells Fargo (WFC) Q4 EPS $1.43 vs. est. $1.35; Q4 net interest income $11.84B vs. est. $11.7B; Q4 revs $20.38B vs. est. $20.59B; Q4 commercial banking revenue $3.17B, corporate and investment banking revenue $4.61B and wealth & investment management total revenue $3.96B.
Healthcare
- Keros Therapeutics (KROS) announced that it has voluntarily halted all dosing in the TROPOS trial, a Phase 2 clinical trial of cibotercept in combination with background therapy in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, including the 1.5 mg/kg and placebo treatment arms, based on the ongoing safety review due to new observations of pericardial effusion adverse events.
- Vericel (VCEL) lowers FY24 revenue view to $237M-$237.5M from $238M-$242M (est. $239.76M), while raises FY24 gross margin view to 72.5% from 72%; backs FY24 adjusted EBITDA margin view 22%; sees Q4 revenue $75.2M-$75.7M, below consensus $77.9M.
Technology, Media & Telecom
- Applied Digital (APLD) Q2 adj EPS ($0.06) vs est. ($0.15), adj EBITDA $21.4Mm vs est. $19.68Mm on revs $63.9Mm vs est. $63.4Mm; cloud services biz revs $27.7Mm +523%.
- Impinj (PI) reiterates Q4 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance ahead of Needham growth conference; forecasts Q4 adj EBITDA within guidance of $13.6M-$15.1M and forecasts Q4 rev within prior guidance of $91M-$94.0M.
- Lam Research (LRCX) downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Wolfe Research
- nLIGHT (LASR) guided prelim Q4 revenue $46M-$48M, below consensus est. of $52M and says gross margin and adjusted EBITDA expected below Q4 guidance.
- Magnite (MGNI) strengthens partnership with Samsung Ads to power programmatic advertising on Samsung tv plus in southeast Asia.
- SentinelOne (S) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
- The U.S. plans to unveil more regulations to keep chips made by TSM (TSMC), Samsung (SSNLF), and other producers from flowing to China – Bloomberg.
Market commentary provided by Hammerstone Markets, Inc, a firm separate from and not affiliated with Regal Securities. Regal Securities has not participated in the creation of the content, and does not explicitly or implicitly endorse the content.