Early Look

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	55.00	0.18%	30,883
S&P 500	14.25	0.38%	3,804
Nasdaq	102.50	0.79%	13,087

 

 

U.S. markets are higher, looking to build on yesterday’s gains as today marks a big day in Washington D.C. as Joe Biden will become the 46^th President of the United States, as he is sworn to office later today. Biden is set to quickly begin pushing to get more virus relief aid into the economy, after having unveiled a $1.9 trillion proposal last week that would include increased stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits and aid to state and local governments. Tech gets another boost overnight as Nasdaq futures rise another 100 points after Netflix (NFLX) beats market estimates for holiday quarter paid subscriber additions (8.51 mln paid subscribers in Q4 vs est. of 6.1 mln), though earnings missed estimates, while said they believe they are very close to being sustainably FCF (free cash flow) positive.

 

Stocks got another boost on Monday as the Nasdaq Composite traded back near its record highs, led by mega cap tech names (AMZN, FB, GOOGL) while Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen supported big spending plans at her Senate confirmation hearing, adding that the benefits outweigh the costs of a higher debt burden, helping stimulus-sensitive sectors lead the rally. Eight out of the eleven S&P sectors were higher, led by Energy as oil prices climbed.

 

In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index fell -110 points to 28,523, the Shanghai Index rose 16 points to 3,583 and the Hang Seng Index jumped 320 points to 29,962, In Europe, the German DAX is up about 75 points to 13,890, while the FTSE 100 is up slightly at 6,720. Bitcoin prices drop over 6% back down near the $34,000 level, oil prices rise while the dollar is mixed.

 

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index jumped 30.66 points, or 0.81%, to 3,798.91

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 116.26 points, or 0.38%, to 30,930.52

·     The Nasdaq Composite spiked 198.68 points, or 1.53%, to 13,197.18

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 27.94 points, or 1.32% to 2,151.14

 

Events Calendar for Today

·     7:00 AM ET         MBA Mortgage Applications Data

·     10:00 AM EST    NAHB Housing Market Index for January

·     4:30 PM ET         API Weekly Inventory Data

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: BK, BOKF, CBSH, CFG, FAST, KMI, MS, PG, UNH, USB

·     Earnings After the Close: AA, DFS, HWC, INBK, NVEC, PLXS, STL, UAL, UMPQ, WTFC

 

Other Key Events:

·     Noble Capital Small & Microcap Investor conference (virtual), 1/19-1/20

·     Roth Capital Tech Summit 2021 (virtual), 1/20-1/22

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	0.62	53.60
Brent	0.41	56.31
Gold	13.00	1,853.25
EUR/USD	-0.0012	1.2117
JPY/USD	-0.22	103.82
10-Year Note	+0.012	1.10%

 

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Azek Company Inc. (AZEK) files prospectus relating to sale of up to 17.5M shares of class a common stock by selling shareholders; sees Q1 revenue $209.1M-$213.4M vs. est. $201.6M

·     Beyond Meat (BYND) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG

·     Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) said it has reached a settlement with certain plaintiff groups of poultry buyers that sued it for price-fixing claims, agreeing to pay $221.5 million

·     European car registrations declined 3.3% in December to 1,031,070 units and -23.7% to 9.9M for FY2020, followed by 12% decline in November, due COVID 19 pandemic

·     UBER (UBER) entered collaboration agreement with Aurora under which parties to launch & commercialize self-driving vehicles on co’s ridesharing network

·     Lithium Americas (LAC) files to sell common stock, no amount given

·     Corsair Gaming (CRSR) announces offering of 7.5M shares of common stock for holders

 

Energy

·     Halliburton (HAL) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens and raise tgt to $25 from $14

·     ProPetro Holding (PUMP) guides Q4 revenue $151M-$157M vs. consensus $149.21M; still sees FY21 Capex below $85M

·     One Gas Inc. (OGS) sees FY20 EPS $3.66-3.70 vs. est. $3.61, sees FY21 EPS $3.68-3.92 vs. est. $3.85; says expects net income to rise by avg +6-8% annually between 2020 and 2025

 

Financials

·     BNY Mellon (BK) Q4 EPS 96c vs. est. 91c and reports Q4 revenue $3.84B vs. est. $3.83B; Q4 CET1 capital ratio 13.1%. Reports Q4 book value per share $46.53

·     Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Q4 EPS $1.11 vs. est. 94c on revs $344.88M vs. est. $345.9M; net interest income rose 3.5% to $209.8 million and the provision for credit losses was negative $4.4 million; Q4 return on average assets of 1.63%

·     Citizens Financial (CFG) Q4 underlying EPS $1.04 vs. est. 91c and reports Q4 revenue $1.7B, in-line with consensus; board approves $750M common stock repurchase program

·     MoneyGram (MGI) said that COO Kamila Chytil is leaving the company on March 19, 2021.

·     Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Q4 adj EPS 69c vs. est. 59c and reports Q4 revenue $599M vs. est. $558.85M; Q4 commission revenue showed strong growth, increasing $120M, or 71%, from the year-ago quarter on higher customer trading volumes within an active trading environment worldwide

·     Fulton Financial (FULT) Q4 EPS 30c vs. est. 31c; Q4 net interest income was $162 mln

·     Zions Bancorp (ZION) Q4 EPS $1.66 vs. est. $1.02; Q4 net $275M; Net interest margin 2.95%

 

Healthcare

·     UnitedHealth (UNH) Q4 adj EPS $2.52 vs. est. $2.41 and reports Q4 revenue $65.47B vs. est. $65.06B; backs FY21 adjusted EPS view $17.75-$18.25 (est. $18.18) and also backs FY21 revenue view $277B-$280B (est. $278.56B); medical-care ratio, the ratio of medical expenditures to revenue from premiums, was 79.1% in the full year

·     BioLineRx (BLRX) 12.5M share Spot Secondary priced at $2.40

·     Fulcrum Therapeutics (FULC) 4M share Spot Secondary priced at $11.00

·     Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS) 5.4M share Spot Secondary priced at $14.00

·     TCR2 Therapeutics (TCRR) 4.59M share Secondary priced at $30.50

·     Bionano Genomics (BNGO) files automatic mixed securities shelf

·     CareDx (CDNA) files to sell $175M in common stock

·     Chimerix (CMRX) files to sell $75M in common stock

·     Editas Medicine (EDIT) files to sell 3.5M shares common stock

·     Hoth Therapeutics (HOTH) files prospectus relating to sale of up to 3.7 mln shares of common stock

·     Passage Bio (PAGS) files to sell 7M shares of common stock

 

Industrials & Materials

·     JB Hunt (JBHT) 4Q EPS $1.44 vs. est. $1.29 on revs $2.74B vs. est. $2.57B; Q4 Intermodal Segment revenue was down 1% at $1.25B

·     PACCAR (PCAR) and Aurora have signed a global, strategic agreement to develop, test and commercialize autonomous Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. This collaboration will integrate PACCAR’s autonomous vehicle platform with the Aurora Driver to enhance the safety and operational efficiency of PACCAR’s customers.

·     Document Security (DSS) 6.667M share Spot Secondary priced at $3.60

·     Domtar (UFS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank America

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Netflix (NFLX) shares rose 12% on better subs and FCF guidance; Q4 EPS $1.19 vs. est. $1.39 and revs $6.64B vs. est. $6.63B; Q4 global streaming paid net additions of 8.51M vs. guidance 6.0M; sees Q1 EPS $2.97 above est. $2.10 and Q1 revenue $7.13B above consensus $7.02B; for 1Q expect net adds 6.0Mm, says will explore returning cash to shareholders through ongoing stock buybacks, anticipate FY21 to be free cash flow breakeven

·     Alibaba (BABA) co-founder Jack Ma has made his first public appearance since criticizing China late last year, speaking at an event honoring educators in China’s village schools – NYTimes reported

·     Perion Network (PERI) sees Q4 EPS 35c-36 above consensus 23c and revs $110M-$115M vs. est. $101.51M; files to sell $50M in common stock; sees FY EPS 22c-24c on revs $320M-$325M vs. est. 28c and $311.8M