Early Look

Friday, April 19, 2024

S&P futures posted a massive bounce overnight, still down -0.4% at 5,027, but well off the lows of 4,963.50 after Israel launched an attack on Iran according to reports in response to the Drone attack on Israel this past weekend. The CBOE Volatility index (VIX) is up 7% at 19.29, down from overnight highs of 21.36. On Thursday, the S&P 500 ended lower for a fifth straight day and following the Middle East escalation of war and the response to NFLX after earnings and guidance overnight (shares -6% pre mkt), investors will have their work cut out to snap the losing streak. Oil prices jumped initially over 2% to $86.28 on the headlines (WTI crude now -0.6% to $82.24), along with gold (which is also now down on the day) and bonds (yields tumbled) in flight to haven assets after Israel began its counterstrike against Iran. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index tumbled over 1,000 points or 2.66% to settle at 37,068, the Shanghai Index fell -8 points to 3,065, and the Hang Seng Index fell -161 points to 16,224. In Europe, the German DAX is down -126 points to 17,710, while the FTSE 100 is down -48 points to 7,828. Equities have been rattled this week as investors readjusted their expectations over by how much the Fed would cut rates this year, with both the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow poised for a third weekly decline, while the Nasdaq was set for its fourth consecutive weekly loss if current trend hold.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22.07 points, or 0.06%, to 37,775.38.
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped -81.87 points, or 0.52%, to 15,601.50.
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -4.99 points, or 0.26% to 1,942.96.

• 1:00 PM ET                   Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

• Ulta Beauty (ULTA) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies and cut tgt to $438 from $585.

• O-I Glass (OI) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank America and cut tgt to $16 from $21.
• PPG Industries (PPG) board authorizes $2.5B share buyback program; Q1 adj EPS $1.86 in-line with consensus while Q1 revs $4.311B vs. est. $4.43B; sees Q2 adj EPS $2.42-$2.52 vs. est. and sees FY24 adj EPS $8.34-$8.59 vs. est. $8.48; sees FY24 organic sales growth up low single digits for Q2 and FY24.

• Metropolitan Bank Holding (MCB) Q1 EPS $1.46 vs. consensus $1.34 and Q1 revenue $66.7M vs. est. $64.56M; Q1 Net Interest Margin (NIM) 3.40% vs. 3.36% q/q and 3.86% y/y; Total deposits at March 31, 2024 were $6.2B, an increase of $500.3M q/q and an increase of $1.1B y/y.
• Regions Financial (RF) Q1 revenue $1.75B, in-line with consensus; 2Q NII expected to be flat to down 2% vs Q1 while sees 2024 NII $4.7B-$4.8B; sees 2024 average loan balances to be stable to down modestly compared to 2023; expect 2024 average deposits to be stable to down modestly compared to 2023.
• OceanFirst Financial (OCFC) Q1 EPS $0.44 vs. est. $0.41; Q1 net interest income (NII) decreased to $86.2M, from $98.8M, primarily reflecting the net impact of the higher interest rate environment; said Q1 net interest margin (NIM) decreased to 2.81%, from 3.34%.
• Western Alliance Bank (WAL) Q1 EPS $1.60 vs. est. $1.68; Q1 total deposits $62.23B; Q1 Net interest margin (NIM) of 3.60%, compared to 3.65% and vs. est. 3.56%; Q1 net interest income (NII) $598.9M (in-line with ests) and Q1 non-interest income $129.9M vs. est. $107.6M.

• Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Q1 EPS $1.50 vs. est. $1.41; Q1 revenue $1.89B vs. est. $1.87B; said Q1 worldwide da Vinci procedures grew approximately 16% y/y and shipped 313 Da Vinci Surgical Systems (vs 312 y/y); grew its da Vinci surgical system installed base to 8,887 systems as of March 31, 2024, an increase of 14% y/y.

• Apple Inc. (AAPL) removes WhatsApp, Threads from China App Store on Government Orders; China’s cyberspace officials cite national-security concerns for targeting the Meta apps, Apple says – WSJ https://tinyurl.com/3br4yw2h
• Jabil (JBL) CEO placed on leave: On April 15, 2024, Mr. Kenneth S. Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Jabil Inc., was placed on paid leave pending completion of an investigation related to corporate policies.
• Paramount Global (PARA) shares rose after a report that Sony Entertainment and Apollo Global (APO) are discussing making a joint bid for the company. The company and Apollo Global Management are discussing a joint effort, even as Paramount conducts exclusive merger negotiations with Skydance. https://tinyurl.com/2swrznny
• Frontier Communications (FYBR) Parent on Thursday said a possible cybercrime group had gained access to its IT systems in a breach earlier this week; said they detected the cyber breach April 14 and believed the unauthorized third party was likely a cybercrime group.