Early Look

Monday, June 26, 2023

U.S. stocks looking lower to kick off the week, erasing overnight gains as a volatile weekend in Russia pushed safe assets including gold and bonds higher. Wall Street ended lower on Friday, weighed down by losses in large cap tech (2023 biggest winners fell) as markets assessed the likely path of Fed interest rate hikes and the risk of a recession. For the week, unofficially, the S&P fell 1.39%, the Dow lost 1.66%, the Nasdaq shed 1.44%. With the losses, the S&P 500 snapped its 5-week winning streak, the Nasdaq snapped its 8-week streak of gains (longest since March 2019), and the Dow industrials snapped its 3-week streak of gains. The Nasdaq remains up 29% YTD). Trading was dominated by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress, where he signaled more rate hikes ahead but vowed the central bank would proceed with caution, while four other central banks (Bank of England, Swiss, Norway, Turkey) raised interest rates. Government bonds rallied, and stocks dropped. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index declines -82 points to 32,698, the Shanghai Index fell -47 points to 3,150 after returning from holiday, and the Hang Seng Index slips -95 points to 18,794. In Europe, the German DAX is lower by -42 points to 15,787, while the FTSE 100 is down -25 points to 7,436.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index slumped -33.56 points, or 0.77%, to 4,348.33.

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -219.28 points, or 0.65%, to 33,727.43.

·     The Nasdaq Composite dropped -138.09 points, or 1.01%, to 13,492.52.

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -26.54 points, or 1.44% to 1,821.63.

Economic Calendar for Today

·     10:30 AM ET            Dallas Fed Manufacturing for June

·     1:00 PM ET               US Treasury to sell $42B in 2-year notes.

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: CCL

·     Earnings After the Close:

World News

·     Wall Street is expecting a third straight quarter of falling profits and the worst decrease since the pandemic in 2020, when second quarter earnings are reported in July, but says that may be the bottom for year. Wall Street expects per-share profit for S&P 500 index companies to fall 6.5% for the second quarter, according to FactSet. That would be the worst decrease since the 31.6% plunge seen during the same quarter in 2020. https://tinyurl.com/2ddke5hu

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Boston Beer (SAM) mentioned positively in Barron’s this weekend saying the hard-seltzer boom has fizzled, but don’t count out the company out as the beaten-up stock looks ready to get off the mat this summer. This may be the year of Twisted Tea, which exemplifies Boston Beer’s culture of innovation and taking the long view, says CEO Dave Burwick.

·     LL Flooring Holdings Inc. (LL) said it has rejected a hostile cash buyout bid of $5.76 a share from F9 Brands Inc. subsidiary Cabinets to Go LLC. The bid represents a 34.3% premium to Friday’s closing price of $4.29. LL Flooring said it determined the $5.76-per-share bid “significantly undervalues” the worth of the company. https://tinyurl.com/2jpft65y

·     Lucid (LCID) is taking a 3.7% stake in luxury car maker Aston Martin under a deal that will see the electric vehicle start-up supplying the car maker with batteries and other technology. Aston Martin, which will launch its first battery-electric vehicles (BEV) from 2025.

·     Tesla (TSLA) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, but raises its EPS, target multiple (45x to 55x) and price target from $185 to $248.

·     The U.S. greenlighted two brands to make cell-grown chicken for consumers. The two California-based companies, UPSIDE Foods and Eat Just, Inc., received grants of inspection from the U.S.D.A., meaning the two brands finally achieved full approval needed to commercially produce and sell chicken grown from cells. – Marketwatch.com.

Energy

·     Offshore oil drillers Noble (NE), Transocean (RIG), Valaris (VAL), Seadrill (SDRL), and Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) mentioned positively in Barron’s saying they may be the ones to own as investors realize that oil will be needed to make the world go around for decades. Offshore drillers might be best positioned to take advantage of long-term demand for oil.

·     SolarWinds Corp. (SWI) said late Friday some current and former executives received notices from the SEC in connection with an investigation of a cyberattack on its Orion platform.

Financials

·     Amerant Bancorp (AMTB) files for mixed shelf of up to $300 mln.

·     Ares Management Corporation (ARES) announced that certain funds managed by its Alternative Credit strategy have completed the acquisition of a $3.5 billion specialty finance loan portfolio from PacWest Bancorp (PACW).

·     Prologis (PLD) has agreed to pay Blackstone (BX) $3.1 billion for a portfolio of U.S. warehouses and distribution properties; the portfolio includes nearly 14 million square feet in about 70 properties in major markets including Atlanta, California, Dallas, south Florida and the Washington, D.C., and New York regions – WSJ.

Healthcare

·     Agios Pharma (AGIO) announces positive results from phase 2 portion of rise up pivotal study in sickle cell disease with both mitapivat dose arms achieving statistically significant hemoglobin response.

·     Eli Lilly (LLY) said new data from a Phase 2 trial for its once-daily obesity therapy, orforglipron, indicating that the oral GLP-1 receptor agonist caused up to 14.7% weight reduction in adults.

·     Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc (SUPN) said on June 21, entered into settlement and license agreements with Apotex Inc. and Apotex Corp.

Industrials & Materials

·     Deere (DE), Eaton (ETN) among stocks to get a jump on industrial supercycle, mentioned positively in Barron’s. The article noted the U.S. is on the cusp of an industrial supercycle, partly fueled by $2T in spending coming from new federal plans for infrastructure and electric-vehicle development, United Rentals (URI), Deere (DE), Eaton (ETN), Schneider Electric (SBGSY), Quanta Services (PWR), and Johnson Controls (JCI) are among the stocks worth a look.

·     Mercury Systems (MRCY) said after a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives, the board of directors has determined that execution of the company’s strategic plan under a refreshed leadership team represents the best path forward.

·     Celanese (CE) downgraded to Market Perform at BMO Capital, while the broker upgraded shares of Sherwin-Williams (SHW) to Outperform in the chemicals space.

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     IBM Corp. (IBM) is close to a deal to acquire software company Apptio for about $5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would bring the technology giant greater automation capabilities. – WSJ reported https://tinyurl.com/4wz4bt6d

·     A group of investors led by Apollo Global Management is making a more than $1 billion debt investment in semiconductor maker Wolfspeed (WOLF) which has a $6 billion market capitalization, the Information reported this weekend. https://tinyurl.com/2yeav6ek

·     Dish Network (DISH) said in an SEC filing that its chief operating officer COO) Narayan Iyengar notified would resign effective June 23.