Early Look

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

After slipping more than -0.5% on Monday, U.S. futures are looking slightly higher as investors continue to await key inflation data with CPI tomorrow morning. European stocks fall and are poised to snap an eight-day rising streak and Asian markets were mixed. The Nikkei Index advanced 207 points to 39,367, the Shanghai Index rose 20 points to 3,422, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -102 points to 20,311. In Europe, the German DAX is up 10 points to 20,355, while the FTSE 100 is down -42 points to 8,309. Overnight software giant Oracle (ORCL) reported revs that just fell short of consensus, weighing on shares down -8%. After surging yesterday, US listed China stocks (BABA, BIDU, JD, PDD, NIO) are giving back some gains despite the Shanghai rising overnight. Markets also await several central bank meetings this week including the ECB, Swiss National Bank, and Bank of Canada ahead of the FOMC next week where another rate cut is expected. Futures are quiet thus far, with Treasury yields edging higher along with gold and Bitcoin.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -240.59 points, or 0.54%, to 44,401.93.
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped -123.08 points, or 0.62%, to 19,736.69.
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -16.16 points, or 0.67% to 2,392.84.

• 7:45 AM ET ICSC Weekly Retail Sales
• 8:30 AM ET                  Nonfarm Productivity for Q3…est. +2.2%
• 8:30 AM ET                  Unit Labor Costs for Q3…est. +1.5%
• 8:55 AM ET                  Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 12:00 PM ET WASDE Corn, Soybean, Wheat crop report
• 1:00 PM ET U.S. Treasury to sell $58B in 3-year notes
• 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: GME LPTV MAMA MIND PLAY SFIX SKIL SPWH

• Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference 2024, 12/10-12/11, in New York
• Piper Infrastructure Software Bus Tour, 12/9-12/10, in San Francisco
• Raymond James TMT and Consumer Conference, 12/9-12/11, in New York
• UBS Global Media & Communications Conference, 12/9-12/10, in New York

• Casey’s General Store (CASY) Q2 EPS $4.85 vs. est. 44.27; Q2 revs fell -2.9% y/y to $3.95B vs. est. $4.03B; Q2 Grocery & General Merchandise revenue rose 8.8% y/y to $1.05B and Fuel revenue fell -8.8% y/y to $2.41B vs. est. $2.47B; Q2 Same-store grocery sales +3.6% and Q2 same-store prepared food sales +5.2%.
• eBay (EBAY) downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies and cut tgt to $52 from $60.
• Stellantis (STLA) and Chinese battery maker CATL plan to invest up to 4.1B euros ($4.33B) to build a plant in Spain to develop low-cost EV batteries, seeking to bring more affordable electric cars to the market.
• Toll Brothers (TOL) Q4 EPS $4.63 vs. est. $4.33; Q4 revs rose 10% y/y to $3.33B vs. est. $3.17B; Q3 backlog fell -6.9% y/y to $6.47B; net signed contracts 2,658 units, +30% y/y; Q3 adj. home sales gross margin 27.9% vs. 29.1% y/y; sees Q1 deliveries 1,900-2,100 units and FY25 deliveries 11,200-11,600 units.
• Vail Resorts (MTN) reports Q1 EPS ($4.61) vs. ($4.60) last year and revs $260.28M vs. est. $252.9M; Guides net income $240.0M to $316.0M, vs. prior $224M to $300M; guides Total reported EBITDA $844.0M-$906.0M, vs. est. $849.5M

• Celanese Corp. (CE) announced that Scott Richardson, currently Celanese’s Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and will join the Company’s Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2025. Richardson will succeed Lori Ryerkerk, who is stepping down.
• Fluence Energy’s (FLNC) announces $300M offering of convertible bonds due Jun 2030.
• Planet Labs (PL) Q3 adj EPS loss (-$0.02) vs. est. loss (-$0.04); Q3 revs $61.3M vs. est. $63.12M; sees Q4 revenue $61M-$63M, vs. consensus $66.11M and sees Q4 adjusted EBITDA $0M-$2M.

• Arhtur Gallagher (AJG) priced offering of $8.5B of shares of Common Stock at $280 per share
• Cohen & Steers, Inc. (CNS) preliminary assets under management of $91.4 billion as of November 30, 2024, an increase of $1.7 billion from assets under management of $89.7 billion at October 31, 2024. The increase was due to market appreciation of $1.9 billion, partially offset by distributions and net outflows.
• Lazard, Inc. (LAZ) preliminary assets under management as of November 30, 2024 totaled approximately $234.4 billion. The month’s AUM included market appreciation of $3.0 billion, net outflows of $2.3 billion and foreign exchange depreciation of $2.2 billion.

• Fate Therapeutics (FATE) presents new phase 1 clinical data of ft819 off-the-shelf, car t-cell product candidate for systemic lupus erythematosus. All three patients treated in first dose cohort administered fludarabine-free conditioning and show rapid, deep, and sustained b-cell depletion with favorable safety profile. First patient to reach 6-month follow-up remains in DORIS clinical remission and free of all immunosuppressive therapies
• HealthEquity (HQY) Q3 EPS $0.78 vs. est. $0.72; Q3 revs $300.4M vs. est. $290M; Q3 adjusted EBITDA of $118.2 M, an increase of 24% compared to $95.6M; sees FY 24 EPS $3.08-$3.16 vs. consensus $3.12 and sees FY24 revenue of $1.185B to $1.195B, vs. consensus $1.18B.

• Braze, Inc. (BRZE) Q3 adj EPS $0.02 vs. est. loss (-$0.01); Q3 revs $152.1M vs. est. $148.19M; Q3 net income -$28.12M and operating income -$32.57M; guides Q4 above ests and raises FY25 revenue view to $588M-$589M from $582.5M-$585.5M 9est. $584.4M).
• C3.ai.Inc (AI) Q2 revs rose 29% y/y to $94.3M vs. est. $91M; Q2 adj EPS loss (-$0.06) vs. est. loss (-$0.16); forecasts Q3 revs $95.5M to $100.5M, vs. est. $97.5M; sees FY25 revenue $378M-$398M vs. consensus $382.57M and sees FY25 adjusted operating income ($135M)-($105M).
• The U.S. Department of Commerce has finalized a subsidy of more than $6.1B for memory chip maker Micron Technology (MU) to support the construction of several domestic semiconductor facilities.
• MongoDB Inc. (MDB) Q3 adj EPS $1.16 vs. est. $0.69; Q3 revs rose 22% y/y to $529.4M vs. est. $495.72M; Q3 Atlas Revenue up 26% y/y and was 68% of total Q3 revenue; strong customer growth with over 52,600 customers as of October 31, 2024; guides Q3 higher and raises FY25 EPS view to $3.01-$3.03 from $2.33-$2.47 (est. $2.47) and boosts FY25 revenue view to $1.973B-$1.977B from $1.92B-$1.93B (est. $1.93B); CFO Gordon resigns.
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) reported y/y sales growth of 34% in November, reaching NT$276.06B. However, sales declined 12.2% on a sequential basis.