Early Look

Thursday, April 1, 2021

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	2.00	0.01%	32,901
S&P 500	9.25	0.25%	3,977
Nasdaq	111.50	0.85%	13,201

 

 

Stock futures are again moving higher, paced by strength in technology shares (Nasdaq up over 0.8%) as Treasury yields slip, chip maker Micron offers upbeat guidance and investors extend the rotation into the sector while broader market sentiment rises after President Joe Biden announced details of a $2.25 trillion infrastructure spending plan. Oil companies rise, tracking gains in crude prices on optimism over a U.S. government spending plan and hopes that OPEC+ will keep production curbs in place when they meet later this morning. Biden’s infrastructure proposal includes a doubling of federal funding for public transportation, $650 billion for clean water and high-speed broadband, more than $500 billion in spending on manufacturing, and $400 billion for improved care for the elderly and people with disabilities. To pay for the bill, Biden’s plan would increase the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and set a 21% minimum tax on global corporate earnings. New lockdowns in France and part of Canada due to surging Covid-19 cases has failed to dent market optimism at this point.

 

Major U.S. averages finished higher again on Wednesday, closing out a strong month of returns as the gains in the S&P 500 (closed in on the 4,000 level) and Nasdaq were driven by tech and consumer discretionary names, while the Dow Jones ended slightly lower as details of President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan was released. For the quarter, the Dow turned in the best performance with an 8.5% advance during the first three months of the year; the S&P gained 6.5%; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.9%, reflecting the rotation from growth to value (though tech posted big gains yesterday). Last night, President Biden unveiled a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan centered on fixing roads and bridges, expanding broadband internet access and boosting funding for research and development, plus higher corporate taxes to pay for the package. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit a 14-month high of 1.776% early on Tuesday, but was at about 1.715% late day. Ahead of the long holiday Easter weekend (stock markets are closed Friday), investors get a heavy dose of economic data with weekly jobless claims, manufacturing, and construction spending due today ahead of the jobs data on Friday. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index gained 210 points to 29,388, the Shanghai Index rose 24 points to 3,466, and the Hang Seng Index jumped 560 points to 28,938. In Europe, the German DAX is up over 30 points, holding above the 15,000 level, while the FTSE 100is up around 40 points to 6,750.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index climbed 14.34 points, or 0.36%, to 3,972.89

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -85.41 points, or 0.26%, to 32,981.55

·     The Nasdaq Composite jumped 201.48 points, or 1.54%, to 13,246.87

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 24.72 points, or 1.13% to 2,220.52

 

Events Calendar for Today

·     7:30 AM EST      Challenger Layoffs for March

·     8:30 AM ET         Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 680K

·     8:30 AM EST      Continuing Claims…est. 3,775M

·     9:45 AM EST      Markit Manufacturing PMI for March…prior 59.0

·     10:00 AM EST    Construction Spending MoM for February…est. (-1.0%)

·     10:00 AM EST    ISM Manufacturing PMI for March…est. 61.3

·     10:30 AM ET      Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	1.35	60.51
Brent	1.30	64.04
Gold	7.40	1,715.10
EUR/USD	0.0016	1.1746
JPY/USD	0.08	110.80
10-Year Note	-0.028	1.718%

 

 

World News

·     China March Manufacturing PMI lower at 50.6 vs 51.4 consensus

·     The Bank of Japan Q1 Tankan: Large Manufacturing Index 5 vs -15 previous; Large non-Manufacturing Index -1 vs -5 previous; Small Manufacturing index -13 vs -20 previous

·     Japan March Manufacturing PMI lower at 51.7 vs 52.0 previous

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Guess (GES) 4Q adj EPS $1.18 vs. est. $0.56 on revs $648.5Mm vs. est. $659.9Mm; not providing detailed 1Q or FY guide; says reaffirms plan to deliver 10% operating margins by FY25, says expects 1Q22 revs -HSD vs. 1Q20 and sees FY22 revs -HSD vs. FY20 assuming no covid shutdowns beyond 1Q

·     Dave & Buster’s (PLAY) Q4 EPS loss ($1.19) vs. est. loss ($1.25); Q4 revenue $116.82M vs. est. $101.74M; overall comparable store sales declined (-70%); said results for the reported periods were severely impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; sees Q1 revenue $210M-$220M vs. est. $164.11M and sees positive enterprise level EBITDA in Q1

·     Nio (NIO) delivered 7,257 vehicles in March, an increase of 373% Y/Y and 30.1% MoM from 5,578 vehicles in February 2021.

·     XPeng (XPEV) delivered a total of 5,102 Smart EVs in March 2021, an increase of 384% YoY and 130% MoM; March deliveries consisted of 2,855 P7s, and 2,247 G3s.

·     FuboTV (FUBO) signs carriage agreement with Marquee Sports Network that will bring Chicago Cubs game coverage to the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform in the coming weeks.

·     QuantumScape Corp. (QS) said it has successfully met the technical milestone that was a condition to close for the investment of an additional $100 million by Volkswagen Group of America Investments, LLC into QuantumScape

·     WingStop (WING) Q1 sales $558.9Mm +30%, domestic comps +20.7%, company-owned comps +13.4%, digital sales 63.6% vs 43.3% YoY

·     Sportsman’s Warehouse (SPWH) Q4 EPS 75c vs. est. 44c; Q4 revenue $438.2M vs. est. $377.05M; Q4 comp sales rose 58%

·     XpresSpa Group (XSPA) 4Q revs $0.3Mm vs. est. $1.8Mm, says limited airport traffic and changes in consumer behavior have caused reopened locations to underperform; does not anticipate reopening other spas for traditional service near-term

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     OPEC+ is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting from 1 p.m. London time to decide on oil production policy – CNBC

·     AgEagle Aerial Systems (UAVS) FY revs approx. $1.3Mm +333%, gross margin 45% from 32%; cash Dec. 31 was $23.9Mm

·     Air Lease (AL) announced the delivery of one new Boeing 787-9 aircraft on long-term lease to Air Premia

·     XL Fleet Corp. (XL) 4Q EPS ($0.06) vs. est. ($0.09) on revs $10.9Mm vs. est. $12.1Mm; guides 1Q revs about $1.0Mm vs. est. $7.9Mm

 

Financials

·     Riot Blockchain (RIOT) said Q4 mining revenues rose 116% sequentially to $5.2M (from Q3’s $2.4M), and selling, general and administrative costs rose just 14% quarter-over-quarter (to $2.3M); posted $3.9M in net income on a GAAP basis, vs. a prior-year loss of $3.4M, and a loss of $1.7M in Q3

 

Healthcare

·     AzurRX BioPharma Inc. (AZRX) shares fell -29%; said results didn’t “consistently meet the primary efficacy endpoint” in its Phase 2b OPTION 2 clinical trial, “investigating MS1819 in cystic fibrosis patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.”

·     BioXcel Therapeutics (BTAI) shares fell after posting top-line results from its Phase 1b/2 proof-of-concept RELEASE study of BXCL501 for opioid withdrawal symptoms

·     Sonoma Pharmaceuticals (SNOA) entered into an agreement with EMC Pharma for the exclusive right to manage, market and distribute the company’s HOCl-based prescription dermatology and eye care products in the U.S. for an initial term of five years

·     Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said it had found a problem with a batch of drug substance for its COVID-19 vaccine, which did not meet quality standards at Emergent Biosolutions’ production site in Baltimore, Maryland.

·     Abbott (ABT) received FDA Emergency Use Authorization for over-the-counter, non-prescription, asymptomatic use of its BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Self-Test for detection of coronavirus infection

·     Becton Dickinson (BDX) announced the FDA has granted emergency use authorization, or EUA, for its rapid antigen test to be used for SARS-CoV-2 screening through serial testing of asymptomatic individuals.

·     BeyondSpring (BYSI) submitted an NDA to the FDA and the China National Medical Products Administration for use of plinabulin in combination with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia

·     CytoDyn (CYDY) files new protocol with U.S. FDA for 4 doses of leronlimab for critically ill covid-19 patients with the objective to duplicate or surpass 82% survival benefit with p-value of 0.0233 originally achieved from two weeks of treatment in cd12 trial with 2 doses

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Micron (MU) Q2 adj EPS $0.98 vs. est. $0.95 on revs $6.24B vs. est. $5.83B; guides 3Q revs $6.9B-$7.3B vs. est. $6.79B, sees 3Q EPS $1.45-1.59 vs. est. $1.32; sees 3Q adj EPS $1.55-1.69, sees adj gr margin 40.5-42.5%; said DRAM mkt in severe shortage and NAND market is showing signs of stabilization in hear term

·     Micron Technology Inc. (MU) and Western Digital Corp. (WDC) are each exploring a potential deal for Kioxia Holdings Corp. that could value the Japanese semiconductor company at around $30 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, as a global scramble for memory chips used in smartphones and other devices heats up – WSJ https://on.wsj.com/2QWCHLN 

·     Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI) and Bally’s (BALY) have formally rebranded Sinclair’s regional sports networks as Bally Sports.

·     Verint Systems (VRNT) Q4 adj EPS $0.98 vs. est. $0.79 on adj revs $351Mm vs. est. $344.7Mm

·     Camtek (CAMT) said it recently received inspection and metrology systems orders totaling over $20M from various customers which are expected to be delivered during Q2’21.