Early Look

Thursday, December 5, 2024

U.S. futures are little changed overnight, with S&P futures (SPUZ) trading in a narrow 7-point range all night (6,091 low vs. 6,097.75 high) while attention turns to crypto and Bitcoin, which topped the $100,000 level for the first time (last +4.65% at $102,400), boosting crypto related stocks following President-elect Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins to be next SEC regulator (seen as crypto friendly). U.S. stocks posted more all-time records on Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 45,000 for the first time, the S&P 500 made it a 56^th record high of 2024 (the most since 70 in 2021) and the Nasdaq Composite outperformed, surging 1.3% to 19,735 (also a record) benefitting from strong results in MRVL in semis and CRM in software. S&P futures (SPUZ) also recorded a higher high then the day prior for a 12^th straight trading day, new highs every day since 11/18 of 5,933 while overall advanced for the 11th time in the last 12-trading days (Spuz needs to top 6,102.25 to extend the beating consecutive high streak). Tech (XLK), Consumer discretionary (XLY) and Communication services (XLC) were the top performing S&P 500 groups on the day, and all closed at all-time highs. Stocks jumped on earnings, mostly better economic data and comments from Fed Chairman Powell saying the economy is stronger than it had appeared in September when the FOMC began cutting interest rates. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 119 points to 39,395, the Shanghai Index rose 4 points to 3,368, and the Hang Seng Index fell -182 points to 19,560. In Europe, the German DAX is up 77 points to 20,309, while the FTSE 100 is down a few points to 8,332.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 308.51 points, or 0.69%, to 45,014.04.
• The Nasdaq Composite surged 254.21 points, or 1.30%, to 19,735.12.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 10.22 points, or 0.42% to 2,426.56.

• 8:30 AM ET                  Weekly Jobless Claims
• 8:30 AM ET                  Continuing Claims
• 8:30 AM ET                  International trade Balance for October
• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: AOUT ASAN COO DOCU DOMO GTLB GWRE HCP HPE IOT PATH RBRK SDCH SMAR SWBI TLYS ULTA VEEV VSCO WOOF ZUMZ

• Goldman Sachs 16th Annual Industrials & Autos Week, 12/2-12/5, in London
• Goldman Sachs Industrials and Materials Conference 2024, 12/4-12/5, in New York
• Piper Healthcare Conference, 12/3-12/5, in New York
• Roth MKM 7th Annual Sustainability Private Capital Event, 12/4-12/5 (virtual)
• Seaport Global Macau Global Gaming tour, 12/2-12/6, in Macau China
• UBS Global technology Conference, 12/2-12/5, in Scottsdale, AZ

• The S&P Global/CIPS UK Purchasing Managers’ Index for the construction industry came in at 55.2 last month, up from October’s 54.3.
• Electric Vehicle sales in UK rose 58% in November, marking the eleventh straight month of growth, industry data showed, but overall new car sales for the month fell 1.9% from a year ago to 153,610 units.
• The Chinese government on Thursday issued guidelines on building resilient cities through the construction of new urban infrastructure, state media Xinhua reported. The goal is to make “significant progress” in constructing new urban infrastructure by 2027, and to build a batch of resilient cities by 2030, the guidelines showed.

• American Eagle (AEO) Q3 adj EPS $0.48 vs. est. $0.46 as revs fell -0.9% y/y to $1.29B vs. est. $1.3B; cut its annual comparable sales growth to about 3%, compared with prior expectations for a roughly 4% rise; Q4 comparable sales are expected to be up approximately 1%, with total rev down -4%; revenue decline includes roughly $85m from retail calendar shift, one less selling week.
• ChargePoint Holdings (CHPT) Q3 EPS loss (-$0.18) vs. est. loss (-$0.09); Q3 revs fell -10% y/y to $99.6M vs. est. $89.58M; guides Q4 revenue $95M-$105M vs. consensus $101.02M; Q3 Networked charging systems revenue was down -29% y/y to $52.7M from $73.9M; Q3 subscription revs rose +19% y/y to $36.4M.
• Costco (COST) reports November comparable sales up 3.1%; November net sales $21.87B, up 5.6%; reports Q1 net sales $60.99B, up 7.5%.
• Five Below (FIVE) Q3 EPS $0.42 vs. est. $0.17 as sales rose 15% y/y to $843.7M vs. est. $800.9M; Q3 comp sales rose +0.6% vs. est. -4.41%; guides Q4 net sales $1.35B-$1.38B vs. est. $1.36B and guides Q4 comp sales decline of -3% to -5%, better than est. -5.44%; raises year sales to $3.84B-$3.87B vs. prior $3.73B-$3.8B.
• PVH Corp. (PVH) Q3 adj EPS $3.03 vs est. $2.59 on revs $2.26B vs est. $2.22B; guides Q4 revs -7% to -6% vs est. -6.5% and adj EPS $3.05-3.20 vs est. $3.71.
• Procter & Gamble (PG) has overhauled its supply chain for the tiny, extra-thin strips of stainless steel in its Gillette razors to source from India, a move expected to help protect its margins from any tariffs U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump may impose.

• Air Products & Chemicals Inc (APD): Mantle Ridge withdraws nomination for five board candidates, now only nominating its remaining four candidates for co’s board.
• Culp Inc. (CULP) Q2 adj operating Income ($2.6)Mm vs est. ($3.589)Mm on sales $55.7Mm vs est. $58Mm; guides Q3 sales flat to down slightly sequentially, sees 2H adj EBITDA positive with return to consolidated adjusted op income some time in Q4.
• Greif Inc. (GEF) Q4 EPS $1.08 vs. est. $1.10; Q4 revs rose 8.3% y/y to $1.42B vs. est. $1.41B and adj Ebitda -0.8% y/y to $197.6M; Q4 net cash provided by operating activities decreased by $16.3M to $187.2M; Q4 adjusted free cash flow increased by $8.5M to $144.7M; sees FY25 ‘low-end’ adjusted EBITDA $675M.
• Southwest Airlines (LUV) raised its Q4 forecast for revenue per available seat miles, benefiting from improved pricing and a rebound in domestic travel demand as now sees range between 5.5% and 7%, compared with its prior expectation of between 3.5% and 5.5%.

• Shift4 Payments (FOUR) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Benchmark after President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped FOUR CEO Jared Isaacman to lead NASA.
• Robinhood (HOOD) will expand into Asia next year, with its local headquarters to be in Singapore.

• Applied Materials (AMAT) downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley in semi equipment saying they are cautious Memory as forecast DRAM WFE to decline 10% y/y as the industry digests capacity adds from 2025 and the NAND upgrade cycle is unlikely to start in the near-term.
• HP Enterprise (HPE) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley and raised tgt to $28 from $23 as sees the value proposition of the Juniper (JNPR) acquisition as attractive in the near term.
• nCino Inc. (NCNO) Q3 adj EPS $0.21 vs est. $0.16 on revs $138.8Mm vs est. $137.44Mm; guides Q4 revs $139.5-141.5Mm vs est. $143.87Mm and adj EPS $0.18-0.19 vs est. $0.19.
• Ooma Inc. (OOMA) Q3 EPS $0.17 vs. est. $0.16; Q3 revs rose 9.1% y/y to $65.1M vs. est. $64.3M; Q3 Subscription and services revenue increased to $60.1M from $55.9M y/y and was 92% of total revenue; guides Q4 EPS $0.16-$0.17 vs. est. $0.14 and revs $64.6M-$65.1M vs. est. $64M; raises year EPS and rev outlook.
• SentinelOne (S) Q3 EPS ($0.25) vs est. $0.01 on revs $210.6Mm vs est. $209.7Mm, adj gr mgn 80%; guides Q4 revs $222Mm vs est. $220.61Mm, adj gr mgn 79% and adj op mgn (3%); sees FY revs $818Mm vs est. $815.38Mm, adj gr mgn 79% and adj op mgn (4%).
• Synopsys (SNPS) Q4 adj EPS $3.40 vs. est. $3.30; Q4 revs $1.64B vs. est. $1.63B; guides Q1 revs $1.435-1.465B vs est. $1.643B and adj EPS $2.77-2.85 vs est. $3.53; sees FY revs $6.745-6.805B vs est. $6.905B and adj EPS $14.88-14.96 vs est. $14.88.
• Verint Systems (VRNT) Q3 EPS $0.54 vs. est. $0.43; Q3 revs $224.2M vs. est. $210.0M; New SaaS ACV bookings for new deals, excluding cloud conversions, increased 37% y/y in Q3; guides FY 25 revs $933M plus/minus 2%.
• Walt Disney Company (DIS) Board raised cash dividend to $1.00 per share from $0.75 prior.
• Semtech (SMTC) announces a $400M common stock offering.