Early Look

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

After logging its first 3-day winning streak since early February (4^th-6^th), S&P futures are looking slightly lower as markets are still broadly focused on the upcoming reciprocal tariffs from the Trump administration on April 2^nd but look for more clarity on the scope and size. Trump indicated on Friday and then again on Monday that he might be “flexible” or offer countries “breaks” in reciprocal duties set to take effect on April 2. Economic data is lighter today than yesterday which saw March consumer confidence drop more than anticipated (to the lowest level in 4-years) along with softer Richmond Fed manufacturing index, as investors await GDP tomorrow and the PCE inflation report on Friday. Stock markets pushed higher in the final minutes of trading Tuesday to lift major averages into positive territory, helped by gains in large cap tech names AAPL, AMZN, GOOGL and TSLA (the stock is up 28% since its March 18 close). In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index jumped 246 points to 38,027, the Shanghai Index fell -1 point to 3,368, and the Hang Seng Index gained 139 points to 23,483. In Europe, the German DAX is down -154 points or 0.67% to 22,955, while the FTSE 100 is up a few points to 8,669.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.18 points, or 0.01%, to 42,587.50
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 83.26 points, or 0.46%, to 18,271.86
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -14.00 points, or 0.66% to 2,095.38

• 8:30 AM ET                  Durable Goods M/M for February…est. (-1.0%)
• 8:30 AM ET                  Durable Goods Ex: Transportation M/M for February…est. +0.2%
• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $70B in 5-year notes
• 1:10 PM ET                   Fed’s Musalem Speaks on Economy, Monetary Policy

• Earnings After the Close: CATX CNXC FUL ITRG JEF MLKN MVIS SCS USIO VRNT WOOF ZEPP

• CarParts.com (PRTS) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.71) vs. loss of (-$0.15) y/y; Q4 sales fell -15% y/y to $133.5M; Q4 adjusted EBITDA of ($6.8) million vs. $1.0 million; not providing guidance for 2025 as the company is currently evaluating various strategic alternatives in response to inbound interest.
• Dollar Tree (DLTR) announces an agreement to divest its family dollar business to Brigade Capital Management and macellum capital management; Family Dollar purchase price set at $1.007B; reports Q4 adj EPS $2.11 vs. est. $2.21 and sales fell -42% y/y to $4.99B vs. est. $8.29B; Q4 gross profit margin 37.6% vs. 32.1% y/y; guides Q1 sales $4.5B-$4.6B
• GameStop (GME) Q4 adj EPS $0.30 vs est. $0.08, adj EBITDA $96.5Mm vs est. $32.07Mm on revs $1.283B vs est. $1.477B; says to add Bitcoin as a Treasury reserve asset.
• Tesla (TSLA) announces Launch Event In Saudi Arabia on April 10.

• Glencore (GLNCY) has declared force majeure on copper shipments from its Chilean Altonorte smelter, where production has been suspended, two industry sources said as per Reuters.
• JinkoSolar Holding (JKS) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.32); Q4 sales -3.9% y/y to $2.83B vs. est. $3.37B and below $4.62B a year ago due to lower average selling price of solar modules; the company expects Q1 module shipments to be between 16.0 gigawatt (GW) and 18.0 GW.
• Phillips 66 (PSX) is expected to nominate two new directors to its board as the proxy fight with activist Elliott Investment Management intensifies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• Range Resources (RRC) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Westlake Chemical (WLK) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper and cut tgt to $120 from $135 saying the co’s midcycle earnings power is lower than previous expectations.
• Worthington Industries (WOR) Q3 adj EPS $0.79 vs. est. $0.71; Q3 revs fell -4% y/y to $304.5M vs. est. $285.5M; Q3 Earnings before income taxes increased 30% to $52.6M, while adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations grew 10% to $73.8M.
• US tariffs on copper imports could be coming within several weeks, months earlier than the deadline for a decision, according to people familiar with the matter – Bloomberg.

• PaySign Inc. (PAYS) Q4 EPS $0.02 vs est. $0.02, adj EBITDA $2.86Mm vs est. $2.7Mm o revs $15.61Mm vs est. $15.4Mm; guides FY revs $68.5-70Mm vs est. $65.84Mm and adj EBITDA $12.5-13.5Mm vs est. $12.73Mm.

• Guardant Health, Inc. (GH) announced its Shield blood test for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is now covered by a key healthcare insurance program for U.S. veterans. The screening test is covered for patients receiving community care authorized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as an in-network benefit.
• Verastem Oncology (VSTM) announced multiple oral and poster presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025 to be held on April 25-30 in Chicago, Illinois. These presentations will highlight clinical and preclinical data from the Company’s development programs.

• GCT Semiconductor (GCTS) Q4 net loss $5.0Mm on revs $1.8Mm vs est. $2.031Mm, gr mgn 32.3%; FY EPS ($0.30) vs est. ($0.30) on revs $9.1Mm vs est. $9.374Mm, gr mgn 55.6%.
• Qualcomm (QCOM) has launched an antitrust campaign against Arm (ARM), arguing Arm is guilty of anticompetitive behavior, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Qualcomm’s complaints to the European Commission, US Federal Trade Commission and Korea Fair Trade Commission claim Arm is hurting competition by restricting access to its technology after operating for more than 20 years.