Early Look

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	-41.00	0.12%	34,337
S&P 500	0.50	0.01%	4,351
Nasdaq	31.00	0.22%	14,732

 

 

U.S. equity futures are looking mixed to slightly higher despite the cautious tone heading into the start of the third quarter earnings season with a focus on surging energy prices, faster inflation and their combined effect on growth prospects in the world’s biggest economies. Stock markets slumped in the final hour of the trading day Monday, with major averages finishing at the session lows as the Dow fell 0.72%, the S&P 500 was down 0.69%, and the Nasdaq moved down 0.64%. Overnight, Asian markets fell amid news that indebted China property giant Evergrande had missed a third coupon payment in as many weeks, reigniting concerns that its collapse could trigger contagion in regional bond markets. Bond markets reopen after being closed for the Columbus Day holiday, with the 10-year yield holding around the 1.6% level. Oil prices are trading near seven-year highs amid a global power crunch. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index dropped -267 points to 28.230, the Shanghai Index fell -45 points to 3,546, and the Hang Seng Index declined -362 points (1.43%) to 24,962. China Evergrande Group once again misses payment on the firm’s 9.5% note due 2022 and its 10% bond due 2023. Also adding to concerns, Shanghai-based developer Sinic Holdings Group said that it doesn’t expect to pay the principal or interest due Oct 18 for a $250 mln bond not helping Asian sentiment. In Europe, the German DAX is lower by about -40 points to 15,155, while the FTSE 100 slips -30 points to 7,115.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index dropped -30.15 points, or 0.69%, to 4,361.19

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -250.19 points, or 0.72%, to 34,496.06

·     The Nasdaq Composite slumped -93.34 points, or 0.64%, to 14,486.20

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -12.45 points, or 0.56% to 2,220.64

 

Events Calendar for Today

·     6:00 AM ET         NFIB Small Business Optimism

·     7:45 AM ET         ICSC Weekly Retail Sales

·     8:55 AM ET         Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales

·     10:00 AM ET      JOLTs Job Openings for Aug

·     4:30 PM ET         API Weekly Inventory Data

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: None

·     Earnings After the Close: VOXX

 

Other Key Events:

·     American Society of Retina Specialists Annual Scientific Meeting, in San Antonio, TX 10/8-10/12

·     China Imports and Exports for September

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	0.11	80.63
Brent	-0.03	83.62
Gold	5.80	1,763.50
EUR/USD	0.0002	1.1554
JPY/USD	0.00	113.30
10-Year Note	-0.009	1.596%

 

 

World News

·     German ZEW said economic sentiment missed: 22.3 vs 24.0 consensus; current conditions missed: 21.6 vs 28.5 consensus; the economic situation has worsened, economic o/l for next 6 months has got considerably worse

·     The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index: 99.1 vs. 99.5 consensus, 100.1 in August.

·     China’s widening power crisis, which has forced rationing across the country and threatens to derail economic growth, is prompting policy makers to rethink the pace of the nation’s energy transition – Bloomberg

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Tesla (TSLA) sold 56,006 China-made vehicles in September, up 26.5% M/M from August’s sales of 44,264 units, and the highest since it started production in Shanghai about two years ago, Reuters reports.

·     Automobile sales in China declined 19.6% Y/Y in September to 2.07M vehicles, falling for a fifth consecutive month; sales of passenger cars in September fell 17% Y/Y to 1.58M vehicles, the China Passenger Car Association said

·     MGM Resorts (MGM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse and up tgt to $68 from $33

·     Trex Company (TREX) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird and cut tgt to $108 from $116 saying decking channel checks suggest sell-through demand will be slower in Q3 and Q4

·     Vroom (VRM) has agreed to acquire California based United Auto Credit Corporation for $300M in cash

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Matson (MATX) guides Q3 diluted EPS $6.39-$6.58 above est. $4.39 saying they continued to see strong demand with higher year-over-year volumes compared to the largely pandemic-reduced volumes in the third quarter of last year; expects Q3 operating income for Ocean Transportation of $358M-$363M and Logistics operating income of $15M-$16M

·     TechnipFMC (FTI) awarded a substantial long-term charter and services contract by Petrobras (PBR) for the pipelay support vessel Coral do Atlântico; said contract is between $250M-$500M

·     AO Smith (AOS) raises quarterly dividend to $0.28 from $0.26

·     AZZ Inc. (AZZ) Q2 adj EPS $0.76 vs. est. $0.62; Q2 revs $216.45M vs. est. $219.95M; raises FY22 EPS view to $2.90-$3.20 from $2.65-$3.05 (est. $3.03); revises FY22 revenue view to $865M-$925M from $855M-$935M (est. $924.2M)

·     Hecla Mining (HL) announced preliminary production results for the third quarter. Highlights include: Silver production of 2.7M ounces, decreased due to lower grades at Greens Creek based on mine sequencing, partially offset by Lucky Friday production. Gold production of 42,206 ounces, in line with the same period in the prior year

 

Financials

·     China Evergrande Group once again misses payment on the firm’s 9.5% note due 2022 and its 10% bond due 2023. Also adding to concerns, Shanghai-based developer Sinic Holdings Group said that it doesn’t expect to pay the principal or interest due Oct 18 for a $250 mln bond.

·     Square (SQ) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral with a $300 price target at Atlantic Equities

·     Arch Capital Group Ltd. (ACGL) said Q3 results will be negatively impacted by the effects of Hurricane Ida and the July flooding events in Central Europe, as well as from other minor global events; sees pre-tax catastrophe losses of $330M-$345M in Q3 across its property casualty insurance and reinsurance segments, net of reinsurance recoveries and reinstatement premiums; board boosts share buyback program to $1.5b total

·     Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (APAM) prelim assets under management as of September 30, 2021 totaled $173.6 billion. Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds accounted for $85.4 billion of total firm AUM, while separate accounts and other AUM accounted for $88.2B

·     Cohen & Steers, Inc. (CNS) preliminary assets under management of $97.3 billion as of September 30, 2021, a decrease of $3.2 billion from assets under management at August 31, 2021. The decrease was due to market depreciation of $3.9 billion and distributions of $306 million, partially offset by net inflows of $1.1 billion.

·     Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN) preliminary month-end assets under management of $1,530.1 billion at September 30, 2021, compared to $1,572.1 billion at August 31, 2021. This month’s decrease in AUM primarily reflected market depreciation and slight long-term net outflows, excluding a $2 billion fixed income institutional redemption that had minimal impact on revenue.

·     Invesco Ltd. (IVZ) preliminary month-end assets under management of $1,528.6B, a decrease of 2.2% versus previous month-end. Total net inflows were $4.2B. The firm achieved net long-term inflows of $3.2 billion this month. Money market net inflows were $1.0 billion. AUM was negatively impacted by unfavorable market returns, which decreased AUM by $36 billion.

·     Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (VRTS) preliminary assets under management (AUM) as of September 30, 2021 of $177.3 billion. The decrease in AUM from June 30, 2021 reflected market performance and open-end fund net outflows, partially offset by positive net flows in retail separate accounts, exchange traded funds, and institutional.

 

Healthcare

·     GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) consumer healthcare unit is drawing buyout interest from private equity firms such as Advent, CVC and KKR, ahead of the drugmaker’s planned separation from the unit next year, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     GitLab Inc. (GTLB) has raised the expected pricing range of its IPO to between $66-$69 a share from between $55-$60 a share last week. The all-remote software company is still offering 8.42 million shares in the IPO, with the new pricing expectation boosting what the company will raise to $580.98 million

·     Relay Therapeutics (RLAY) announces $350M common stock offering

·     Quanterix (QTRX) announces that its Simoa phospho-Tau 181 (pTau-181) blood test has been granted Breakthrough Device designation by the U.S. FDA as an aid in diagnostic evaluation of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

·     SeaSpine Holdings Corporation (SPNE) announced the full commercial launch of its NorthStar OCT Posterior Cervical Fixation System