Early Look

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	38.00	0.10%	39,519
S&P 500	2.25	0.04%	5,243
Nasdaq	-12.50	0.07%	18,464

 

 

U.S. stock futures are looking flat following another massive upside squeeze day, pushing major averages back at record highs. The S&P 500 posted another record high, shrugging off yet another “hotter” than expected CPI inflation report as it did not change market bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in June, despite worries inflation may be getting too sticky. The S&P 500 gains were led by a 2.5% gain in the info tech sector and communications, while utilities were the biggest declining sector. The CPI index rose 0.4% after climbing 0.3% in January, and in the 12 months through February, the CPI increased 3.2% after advancing 3.1% in the prior month on an annualized basis. So, what was the best explanation for a stock market surge on higher inflation? Well, the general take was the CPI may not have satisfied the most dovish expectations in the market, but it does not appear to add a great deal of new information following Chairman Powell’s assertion that inflation holding close to present levels might present a sufficient precondition for an eventual cut (even if not reaching their 2% target). The S&P 500 closed at another all-time high today, its 17th of the year vs. none in 2023 and only one I early 2022 (see chart attached as per Charlie Bilello). https://tinyurl.com/yc7xuvxk . Asian markets were lower overnight as the Nikkei Index declined -101 points to 38,695, the Shanghai Index fell -12 points to 3,043, and the Hang Seng Index slipped -11 points to 17,082. In Europe, the German DAX is up 27 points to 17,993, while the FTSE 100 is up 9 points to 7,757.

 

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.83 points, or 0.61%, to 39,005.49.
• The Nasdaq Composite surged 246.36 points, or 1.54%, to 16,265.64.
• The Russell 2000 Index dipped -0.40 points, or 0.02% to 2,065.48.

• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET                   US Treasury to sell $25B in 30-year notes.

• Earnings After the Close: ANIK BOXL CHRS FOSL FTCI GRWG HEAR HLTH LEN LMB NVGS OPAL PATH S SSSS VRM

• Deutsche Bank 32nd Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference, 3/11-3/13, in Palm Beach, FL
• JP Morgan Industrials Conference, 3/11-3/14, in New York
• Oppenheimer 34th Annual Healthcare MedTech & Services Conference, 3/12-3/13
• UBS Technology, Media & Internet Conference, 3/12-3/13, in London

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	1.16	78.72
Brent	1.03	82.95
Gold	1.60	2,167.70
EUR/USD	0.0005	1.093
JPY/USD	0.27	147.92
10-Year Note	+0.007	4.163%

 

• The Bank of Japan will debate ending its negative interest rate policy next week if Friday’s preliminary survey on big firms’ wage talks outcome yield strong results, sources said, marking a landmark shift away from its decade-long stimulus program – Reuters.
• UK Gross domestic product grew by 0.2% month-on-month – boosted by a rebound in retailing and house-building – after a fall of 0.1% in December, in line with economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll.

• Allbirds (BIRD) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.37) vs. est. loss (-$0.23); Q4 revs $71.99M vs. est. $69.06M; sees Q1 revs $37M-$42M below est. $50M; reports inventory at year-end of $57.8M, representing a decrease of 51% y/y; guides FY24 revenue $190M-$210M below consensus $249.76M and FY24 adjusted EBITDA loss $63M-$78M.
• Beauty Health (SKIN) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.07), in-line with consensus on revs $96.8M vs. est. $87.6M; sees Q1 revenue $77M-$83M vs. est. $85.5M and sees Q1 adjusted EBITDA ($9M) to ($6M); sees FY 2024 flat to low-single digit % net sales growth.
• Dollar Tree (DLTR) Q4 adj EPS $2.55 vs. est. $2.65; Q4 revs $8.63B vs. est. $8.67B; Q4 same-store net sales: Dollar Tree +6.3%; Family Dollar -1.2%; Enterprise +3.0%; sees Q1 EPS $1.33-$1.48 vs. est. $1.69 and revenue $7.6B-$7.9B vs. est. $7.68B; sees FY24 EPS $6.70-$7.30 vs. est. $7.04 and sees FY24 revenue $31B-$32B vs. est. $31.65B.
• Purple Innovation (PRPL) Q4 adjusted EPS loss (-$0.15) vs. est. loss (-$0.18); Q4 revs $145.9M vs. est. $145.56M; sees FY24 revenue $540M-$560M vs. est. $546.53M; entered into a settlement agreement with Tempur Sealy International (TPX); to reaffirm patent and trademark rights in and to its proprietary hyper-elastic polymer gel material.
• Tesla (TSLA) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo and slashed tgt to $125 from $200.

• Nucor (NUE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

• LoanDepot (LDI) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.16) vs. est. loss (-$0.07); Q4 revs $228.6M vs. est. $236.76M; said revenue increase in 4q driven by higher servicing income, gain on sale margin, pull through weighted lock volume, and said expect significant additional benefits from our previously announced $120 m annualized cost reduction program during 2024.

• Clover Health (CLOV) Q4 adjusted EBITDA loss ($19.1M) vs ($80M) y/y and revs $510.30M vs. est. $480.25M; sees 2024 insurance revenue $1.25B-$1.3B; Issues 2024 guidance with Insurance MCR range of 79% – 83% and up to $20 million of Adjusted EBITDA profitability at the high end of the range.
• GE HealthCare (GEHC) announces offering of 13M shares of common stock for holders.

• Supermicro (SMCI) price target was raised to $1,280 from $1,040 at Bank America.

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Market commentary provided by Hammerstone Markets, Inc, a firm separate from and not affiliated with Regal Securities. Regal Securities has not participated in the creation of the content, and does not explicitly or implicitly endorse the content.