Early Look

Friday, March 1, 2024

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	-42.00	0.11%	39,001
S&P 500	-4.25	0.08%	5,099
Nasdaq	2.50	0.02%	18,085

 

 

After U.S. stocks closed out February with another month of gains, March kicks off flattish to down slightly ahead of another busy day of economic data. The Nasdaq posted a record high finish on Thursday, closing above its prior record high of 16,057.44 set on Nov. 21, 2021, with a new closing high of 16,091.92 as the index has been boosted by technology stocks linked to artificial intelligence including NVDA and the Philly Semi index (SOX) which also closed at a new high of 4,726.92. For the month the S&P was up 5.17%, the Nasdaq gained 6.12%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.22% (all three with 4^th straight monthly gain) while the Russell 2000 jumped 5.52%. Heading into Friday, the S&P and Nasdaq are on track for their 16^th winning week in the last 18 as the Bull run off the October lows continues. In stock news, NYCB shares tumble -30% after the bank booked a big hit to its profits last year (took $2.4B charge), said it had “material weaknesses” in its accounting protocols and disclosed other financial-reporting issues, leading to the departure of its CEO Thomas Cangemi after 27 years at the company. In the tech space, shares of DELL and NTAP surge overnight after earnings results. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index surged 744 points or 1.9% to settle at a new high of 39,910, the Shanghai Index rose 11 points to 3,027, and the Hang Seng Index gained 78 points to 16,589. In Europe, the German DAX is up 97 points to 17,775, while the FTSE 100 is up 48 points to 7,678.

 

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.37 points, or 0.12%, to 38,996.39.
• The Nasdaq Composite jumped 144.18 points, or 0.90%, to 16,091.92.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 14.54 points, or 0.71% to 2,054.84.

• 10:00 AM ET                ISM Manufacturing PMI for February…est. 49.5
• 10:00 AM ET                Construction Spending M/M for January…est. +0.02%
• 10:00AM ET                 University of Michigan Confidence, Feb-Final…est. 79.6
• 10:00 AM ET                University of Michigan Inflation Expectations for 1yr, 5-yr
• 12:15 PM ET                Fed’s Bostic Speaks on Economic Outlook, Real Estate
• 1:00 PM ET                   Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data
• 1:30 PM ET                   Fed’s Daly Participates in Panel Discussion w/ Fed’s Schmidt

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	1.25	79.51
Brent	1.29	83.20
Gold	10.80	2,065.50
EUR/USD	0.0013	1.0816
JPY/USD	0.38	150.35
10-Year Note	-0.025	4.227%

 

• Japan’s manufacturing PMI saw a further decline in February, falling to 47.2 from 48.0 in January; the ninth contraction in a row and the lowest reading since August 2020.

• Green Brick Partners (GRBK) Q4 EPS $1.58 vs est. $1.77 on revs $450.382Mm vs est. $478.1Mm, homebuilding gross margin 31.4%.
• Sweetgreen (SG) Q4 adj EBITDA ($1.8)Mm vs est. ($4.255)Mm on revs $153Mm vs est. $152.04Mm, comps +6%, AUV $2.9Mm; guides Q1 revs $150-154Mm, comps approx +3%, rest-level mgn 16-17% and adj EBITDA ($4)Mm – ($2)Mm vs est. ($5.872)Mm; sees FY revs $655-670Mm, comps +3-5%, rest-level mgn 18.0-19.5% and adj EBITDA $8-15Mm vs est. $9.491Mm.
• Xponential Fitness (XPOF) Q4 adj EPS $0.08 vs. est. $0.15; Q4 revs $90.195M vs. est. $81.89M; Q4 net income -$0.07M and franchise revs $39M.
• Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) 87M share Block Trade priced at $29.10.

• Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) files for non-timely 10k filing as currently expects to file the annual report by March 15, 2024; anticipates reporting a material weakness in the company’s internal control over financial reporting.
• MasTec (MTZ) Q4 revs rose 9% y/y to $3.28B vs. est. $3.26B; Q4 adj Ebitda fell -10% y/y to $231.4M but above ests; forecasts 2024 adj EPS $2.69, vs. est. $2.56 and forecasts 2024 revs $12.5B, vs. est. $12.56B; sees Q1 revs $2.6B vs. est. $2.84B; projected loss in Q1 is the result of a normal seasonally slow qtr, project delays and start-up costs.
• Tidewater (TDW) Q3 EPS $0.70 vs. est. $0.79; Q3 revs $302.7M (says highest qtrly revs in 8-years) vs. est. $309.17M; Q4 Average day rate increased to $18,066 per day, $201 higher than the third quarter of 2023; Q4 composite leading edge term contract day rate of $29,511, $902 higher than the third quarter of 2023.

• B Riley (RILY) cut its dividend 50% to 50c per share; launched a review of strategic options for its appraisal and retail, wholesale, and industrial solutions businesses, which could include a potential sale.
• CubeSmart (CUBE) Q4 AFFO/shr $0.70 vs est. $0.68; sees Q1 AFFO/shr $0.63-0.65 vs est. $0.65 and FY AFFO/shr $2.59-2.69 vs est. $2.68.
• New York Community Bank (NYCB) appointed Alessandro Dinello as president and CEO after Thomas Cangemi notified the company of his resignation as the president and CEO on 2/23; said identified material weaknesses in the company’s internal controls related to internal loan review.
• P10 (PX) Q4 adj EPS $0.21 in-line with consensus on revs rose 8% y/y to $63.1M vs. est. $62.58M; Q4 Fee-Paying Assets Under Management: $23.3 billion, a 10% increase y/y; board approved stock repurchase program under which co may repurchase up to $40 mln of its common stock in open market from time to time.
• Verra Mobility (VRRM) Q4 adj EPS $0.24 vs est. $0.26, adj EBITDA $91.3Mm on revs $211Mm vs est. $202.7Mm; sees FY revs $865-880Mm vs est. $859.62Mm, adj EBITDA $395-405Mm vs est. $395.83Mm, adj EPS $1.15-1.20 vs est. $1.19, adj FCF $155-165Mm.

• Humacyte (HUMA) 13.4M share Spot Secondary priced at $3.00.
• Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (TARS) 2.8M share Spot Secondary priced at $32.00.
• Cooper Companies (COO) Q1 adj EPS $0.85 vs. est. $0.78; Q1 revs $931.6M vs. est. $915.94M; sees FY24 EPS $3.50-$3.58 above consensus $3.46 and raises FY24 revenue to $3.85B-$3.9B vs. est. $3.85B; Q1 CooperVision (CVI) revenue up 7% to $621.5M, and CooperSurgical (CSI) revenue up 12% to $310.1M.
• PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) Q4 EPS loss -$155.8M and Q4 revs $307.1M vs. est. $321.29M; sees FY24 revenue $600M-$680M vs. est. $612.29M; said expects to submit an MAA to the EMA for Sepiapterin for the treatment of PKU in March 2024 and expects to submit an NDA to the FDA for Sepiapterin no later than the third quarter of 2024.
• Veeva Systems (VEEV) Q4 EPS $1.38 vs. est. $1.30; Q4 revs rose 12% y/y to $630.6M vs. est. $621.14M; sees FY25 non-GAAP EPS $6.16 vs. est. $5.57 and sees FY25 revenue $2.73B-$2.74B vs. est. $2.75B; Q4 Subscription Services Revenues of $521.5M, up 13% y/y.
• Zynex Inc. (ZYXI) Q4 EPS $0.04 vs est. $0.17, adj EBITDA $9.9Mm vs est. $9.79Mm on revs $47.3Mm vs est. $54.53Mm; guides Q1 revs at least $47.5Mm vs est. $47.74Mm and EPS at least $0.03 vs est. $0.04; sees FY revs at least $227Mm vs est. $232.85Mm and EPS at least $0.50 vs est. $0.55.

• Arlo Technologies (ARLO) Q4 adj EPS $0.11 vs est. $0.08, ARR $210.1Mm, revs $135.093Mm vs est. $134.59Mm, adj gr mgn 35.8%; sees Q1 revs $117-127Mm vs est. $122.37Mm and adj EPS $0.05-0.11 vs est. $0.08.
• Autodesk (ADSK) Q4 adj EPS $2.09 vs est. $1.95, adj EBIT mgn 36%, revs $1.5B vs est. $1.432B; guides Q1 revs $1.385-1.4B vs est. $1.39B and adj EPS $1.73-1.78 vs est. $1.78; sees FY revs $5.99-6.09B vs est. $5.979B, adj op mgn 35-36% and adj EPS $7.89-8.11 vs est. $8.13.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) Q4 adj EPS $2.20 vs. est. $1.73; Q4 revs $22.3B vs. est. $22.16B; said its backlog of artificial intelligence servers (most powered by NVDA H100 chips as per DJ) has now reached $2.9 billion, compared with $1.6 billion last quarter and $800 million two quarters ago; Q4 client solutions group revenue was $11.7 billion, down 12% from a year earlier and off 5% sequentially.
• Elastic NV (ESTC) Q3 adj EPS $0.36 vs est. $0.32, adj op Inc $43Mm vs est. $37.8Mm, adj op mgn 13% on revs $328Mm vs est. $323.14Mm; sees Q4 revs $328-330Mm vs est. $329.4Mm, adj op mgn 7.4-7.8% and adj EPS $0.18-0.20 vs es.t $0.19.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) Q1 adj EPS $0.48 vs est. $0.45 on net revs $6.76B vs est. $7.113B, adj gr mgn 36.2%; guides FY revs +0-2% vs est. +1.2%, adj op Inc +0-2% vs est. +1.9% and adj EPS $1.82-1.92 vs est. $1.92.
• Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS) Q4 adj op Inc ($9.7)Mm vs est. ($10.31)Mm on revs $26.1Mm vs est. $24.67Mm; guides Q1 revs $22.5-23.5Mm vs est. $28.76Mm, gr mgn 40.5-41.5%.
• NetApp Inc. (NTAP) Q3 adj EPS $1.94 vs. est. $1.69; Q3 revs $1.61B vs. est. $1.59B; sees Q4 adj EPS $1.73-$1.83 vs. est. $1.73 and revs $1.585B-$1.735B vs. est. $1.65B; raises FY24 adjusted EPS view to $6.40-$6.50 from $6.05-$6.25 and guides FY24 revenue $6.185B-$6.335B vs. est. $6.23B.
• SoundHound AI (SOUN) Q4 adj EBITDA ($3.7)Mm vs est. ($0.547)Mm on revs $17.1Mm vs est. $17.75Mm; sees FY24 revs $63-77Mm vs est. $69.73Mm and FY25 revs exceeding $100Mm vs est. $99.77Mm with positive EBITDA vs est. ($3.125)Mm.
• Zscaler (ZS) Q2 adj EPS $0.76 vs est. $0.58, billings $627.6Mm and revs $524.999M vs est. $507.17M; guides Q3 revs $534-536M vs est. $531.3M, adj op Inc $98-100M vs est. $88.13M and adj EPS $0.64-0.65 vs est. $0.58; sees FY revs $2.118-2.122B vs est. $2.102B, adj op Inc $395-400M vs est. $348.85M and adj EPS $2.73-2.77 vs est. $2.49.
• CCC Intelligent Solutions (CCCS) 43M share Spot Secondary priced at $11.42.

_________________________________________________________________

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.