Early Look

Friday, March 22, 2024

U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher open, on track for yet another weekly advance as the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq ended at new record highs on Thursday, despite finishing at the lows. Footwear stocks pressured after Nike (NKE) reported better Q3 earnings, revs, and a decline in inventories, but said revenue in H125 to shrink by a low single-digit percentage as it scales back on franchises to save costs. Treasury yields finished little changed on Thursday, though the policy-sensitive two-year rate advanced as data showed U.S. business activity continues to rise (10-yr down this morning to 4.24% and the 2-yr 4.61%). In U.S. economic data Thursday, S&P Global’s flash U.S. composite PMI came in at 52.2 for March, signaling a solid monthly improvement in business activity at U.S. companies. Output has now risen in each of the past 14 months, while Leading Indicators were positive for the first time in over a year. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 72 points to 40,888, the Shanghai Index declined -29 points to 3,048, and the Hang Seng Index tumbled -363 points to 16,499. In Europe, the German DAX is up 17 points to 18,196, while the FTSE 100 gains 65 points or +0.8% to 7,948. A quiet day expected for major averages with no meaningful economic data, Fed speakers, or earnings, while day 2 of the NCAA March Madness tournament resumes around noon this afternoon.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 269.24 points, or 0.68%, to 39,781.37.
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 32.43 points, or 0.20%, to 16,401.84.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 23.67 points, or 1.14% to 2,098.56.

• 4:00 PM ET                   Fed’s Bostic Participates in Moderated Conversation

• S&P Global 39th Annual World Petrochemical Conference, 3/18-3/22, in Houston, TX

• Nike Inc. (NKE) Q3 EPS $0.77 vs. est. $0.74; Q3 revs rose 0.3% to $12.43B vs. est. $12.31B (and prior year $12.39B); Q4 inventories were $7.7B, down -13% y/; Q3 gross margins 44.8% vs. est. 45%; reported a 3% jump in its largest market, North America; forecast revenues to be down in the 1H24 to low single digits.
• Tesla (TSLA) said it has reduced its car production at its China plant, according to Bloomberg News reports. Earlier this month, co instructed employees at its Shanghai facility to lower production of both the Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan by working five days a week instead of the usual 6-1/2 days., the report adds.
• Dutch Bros (BROS) 8M share Spot Secondary priced at $34.00.
• Scholastic (SCHL) Q4 EPS ($0.91) vs est. ($0.80) on revs $323.7Mm vs est. $329.21Mm.

• Refiners PBF Energy (PBF), Valero (VLO) downgraded to neutral from Buy at Mizuho on valuation.
• AAR Corp. (AIR) Q3 adj EPS $0.85 vs est. $0.84 on sales $567Mm vs est. $569.58Mm.
• United Airlines (UAL) is allowing up to five MileagePlus members to pool loyalty points that can be redeemed for flights and other products; JetBlue (JBLU) and Frontier (ULCC) already allow customers to pool frequent flyer miles.

• Global Payments (GPN) is seeking a buyer for AdvancedMD according to banking and private equity sources, looking for $3 billion for it, but may have to settle for half of that – Fortune https://tinyurl.com/3jjr56jw

• 10x genomics (TXG) expands Xenium menu with multi-modal cell segmentation kit and immuno-oncology gene panel; launches first xenium application-focused panel optimized for immuno-oncology across all tissue types.
• Stevanato Group (STVN) 12.7M share Spot Secondary priced at $26.00.

• MicroStrategy (MSTR) Chairman Michael Saylor sells $1.6M in company sharers as disclosed the sale of 1,012 shares of company stock at $1,537.02 per share on March 20 for a total transaction amount of $1,555,466; it was a 10v5-1 plan.