Early Look

Friday, June 28, 2024

U.S. stock futures are well bid this morning, with the S&P (Spuz) rising +0.35% to 5,565, hitting fresh all-time highs and Nasdaq futures climbing over 0.4% as markets/investors showing no concern ahead of key PCE inflation data, and after Dow component Nike (NKE) shares tumble on a cautious revenue growth outlook (shares -14% pre mkt). All eyes on this morning’s May Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report (at 8:30 AM ET), a measure of the spending of goods and services by households tomorrow at 8:30 AM ET. Estimates are for headline PCE M/M to hold steady (vs. prior +0.3%) and PCE Index Y/Y to rise +2.6% (vs. prior +2.7%). The core PCE M/M expected to rise +0.1% (vs. prior +0.2%) and Y/Y to rise +2.6% (vs. prior +2.8%) along with monthly Personal Income and Spending data. Global stock indexes were mixed in choppy trading Thursday, while U.S. Treasury yields declined slightly after a series of U.S. economic reports suggested ebbing momentum. Thursday’s data mostly supported the view the Federal Reserve could soon begin cutting interest rates with GDP up slightly but down sharply from prior quarter and another weak housing data point, while the number of people on jobless rolls jumped to a 2-1/2-year high in mid-June. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 241 points to 39,583, the Shanghai Index gained 21 points to 2,967, and the Hang Seng Index inched higher 2 points to 17,718. In Europe, the German DAX is up 120 points to 18,331, while the FTSE 100 gained 43 points to 8,223. The uncertainty over France’s budget trajectory–because of the current political situation and election, pushed the Cac-40 lower by -24 points to 7,506. The first presidential debate took place last night, with a stronger performance from former President Trump vs. current President Biden shaky performance. The two men traded barbs on abortion, immigration, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, their handling of the economy.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.26 points, or 0.09%, to 39,164.06.
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 53.53 points, or 0.30%, to 17,858.68.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 20.22 points, or 1.00% to 2,038.34.

• 8:30 AM ET                  Personal Spending M/M for May
• 8:30 AM ET PCE Price Inde M/M for May…est. 0.0%
• 8:30 AM ET PCE Price Index Y/Y for May…est. +2.6%
• 8:30 AM ET                  Core PCE Price Inde M/M for May…est. +0.1%
• 8:30 AM ET                  Core PCE Price Index Y/Y for May…est. +2.6%
• 9:45 AM ET                  Chicago PMI for June…est. 40.0 (prior 35.8)
• 10:00 AM ET                University of Michigan Sentiment, June Final…est. 65.8
• 10:00 AM ET                University of Michigan 1 and 5-yr inflation expectations…prior 3.3% and 3.1%
• 12:00 PM ET USDA Quarterly Grain report
• 1:00 PM ET                   Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

• Russell Reconstitution Friday June 28th

• American Outdoor Brands (AOUT) Q4 adj EPS $0.00 vs. est. loss (-$0.07); Q4 sales rose 9.7% y/y to $46.29M vs. est. $43.13M; Q4 Growth in traditional channel net sales of 26.3% was partially offset by a decline in e-commerce net sales of 9.6%; Quarterly GAAP gross margin was 41.9%, compared with quarterly gross margin of 45.2% y/y.
• Kura Sushi (KRUS) Q3 sales $63.1M vs. est. $65.4M; now sees FY24 sales $235M-$237M, down from prior view $243M-$246M; Q3 comp restaurant sales up about +0.6% and operating profit about 20% of sales.

• Lindsay (LNN) raises quarterly dividend to 36c from 35c per share.

• Eisai (ESIAY) and Biogen (BIIB) launch Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi in China.
• Guardant Health (GH) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim.
• Novavax (NVAX): the U.S. ACIP recommends use of authorized and approved 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines; intends to provide doses of 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine at start of vaccination season and upon EUA by U.S. FDA.

• Apple Inc’s (AAPL) smartphone shipments in China surged by 39.6% in May from the same month a year prior, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). Shipment of foreign-branded smartphones jumped by 40.1% y/y and 44.1% monthly, reaching 5.03 million units in May.
• CCC Intelligent Solutions (CCCS) announces offering of 30M shares of common stock.
• SAP AG (SAP) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital.
• Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT) and shares of software developer Phunware (PHUN), which was hired by Trump’s 2020 presidential re-election campaign to build a phone app, are both rising following Donald Trump performance at the debate last night with Joe Biden.
• The National Football League will have to pay roughly $4.7B in damages, a figure that could potentially be tripled under federal law, after losing a case over anticompetitive features of its NFL Sunday Ticket broadcasting package, Bloomberg reported. A jury in Los Angeles federal court determined that the league conspired with AT&T’s DirecTV (T) to increase the price of subscriptions to watch away games