Early Look

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	112.00	0.28%	39,633
S&P 500	17.25	0.33%	5,249
Nasdaq	84.50	0.46%	18,413

 

 

After a mixed trading session on Thursday that saw the Dow Jones industrials and Russell 2000 Smallcaps rise and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slip on no macro headlines, major averages are broadly higher overnight heading into a busy day of economic data. After dismissing higher CPI inflation on Tuesday, pushing to all-time highs for the S&P 500, investors get a taste of producer price index (PPI) inflation data later this morning at 8:30 AM, along with jobless claims and retail sales for February. For Feb Producer Price Index (PPI) M/M est. +0.3% (prior +0.3%) and Y/Y est. +1.1% (prior +0.9%). For core PPI or Ex: Food & Energy M/M est. +0.2% (prior +0.5%) and Y/Y for February est. +1.9% (prior +2.0%). A “cooler” reading will likely put Wall Street back in the camp of sooner rate cuts by the Fed while another “hot” reading could throw a monkey wrench into timing predictions. Treasuries steady heading into the PPI report, the dollar is flat and stocks are pointing to a stronger open. The upside buying momentum continues in Bitcoin as well as major stock averages as prices rise and hold above $73,000 taking names like COIN, MSTR along for the ride this year (up 45% and179% YTD respectively in just 2 � months). Wall Street closed mostly lower on Wednesday, as Energy was the big winner while info tech fell. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index gained 111 points to 38,807, the Shanghai Index fell -5 points to 3,083, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -120 points to 16,961. In Europe, the German DAX is +47 points to push above 18,000, while the FTSE 100 slips a few points to 7,763. Brent futures closed at a four-month high above $84 a barrel on Wednesday.

 

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.83 points, or 0.10%, to 39,043.32.
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped -87.87 points, or 0.54%, to 16,177.77.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 6.24 points, or 0.30% to 2,071.71.

• 8:30 AM ET                  Continuing Claims…est. 1.9M
• 8:30 AM ET                  Producer Price Index (PPI) M/M for February…est. +0.3% (prior +0.3%)
• 8:30 AM ET                  Producer Price Index (PPI) Y/Y for February…est. +1.1% (prior +0.9%)
• 8:30 AM ET                  PPI (core) Ex: Food & Energy M/M for February…est. +0.2% (prior +0.5%)
• 8:30 AM ET                  PPI (core) Ex: Food & Energy Y/Y for February…est. +1.9% (prior +2.0%)
• 8:30 AM ET                  Retail Sales M/M for February…est. +0.8%
• 8:30 AM ET                  Retail Sales – Less Autos M/M for February…est. +0.5%
• 10:00 AM ET                Business Inventories M/M for January…est. +0.2%
• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: ADBE ALLO BLNK BW CODX CTSO ETON EVCM GETY KRT PD PHR PLBY SKLZ SMAR SMR TLYS ULTA ZUMZ

• JP Morgan Industrials Conference, 3/11-3/14, in New York
• JP Morgan Gaming, Lodging, Restaurant and Leisure Forum, 3/14-3/15, in Las Vegas, NV
• Truist Texas Bank Summit (one day), in Dallas
• China House Prices Y/Y for February

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	0.73	80.45
Brent	0.62	84.65
Gold	-5.70	2,175.10
EUR/USD	-0.0007	1.0939
JPY/USD	0.05	147.79
10-Year Note	+0.002	4.194%

 

• The bull-bear spread in the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) weekly survey was 24 vs 29.9 last week. Bulls fall to 45.9% from 51.7%, Neutrals rise to 32.2% from 26.5%, Bears rise to 21.9% from 21.8%.

• Fossil Group Inc. (FOSL) shares rose after-hours after Kosta Kartsotis stepped down as chief executive and the company announced a strategic review amid pressure from an activist investor.
• Lennar Corp. (LEN) Q1 EPS $2.57 vs. est. $2.20; Q1 revs $7.3B vs. est. $7.39B; Q1 new orders increased 28% to 18,176 homes; Q1 backlog of 16,270 homes with a dollar value of $7.4B and deliveries increased 23% to 16,798 homes; sees Q2 new orders 20,900-21,300.
• Limbach Holding (LMB) Q4 adj EPS $0.44 vs est. $0.40 on revs $142.691Mm vs est. $129.38Mm; sees FY revs $510-530Mm vs est. $541.1Mm, adj EBITDA $49-53Mm vs est. $45.43Mm.
• Under Armour (UAA) announced that Kevin Plank will become President & CEO, effective April 1. Plank will succeed Stephanie Linnartz, who will be stepping down as President & CEO and member of the Board.
• Utz Brands (UTZ) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank America.

• GrowGeneration Corp. (GRWG) Q4 EPS ($0.44) vs est. ($0.13) on revs $49.45Mm vs est. $45.55Mm; sees Q1 revs $205-215Mm vs est. $219.02Mm, adj EBITDA ($2)Mm – $3Mm vs est. ($3.007)Mm; sees Q1 revs $45-48Mm vs est. $50.5Mm and adj EBITDA ($2)Mm – flat vs est. ($1.649)Mm; announced that it is exploring strategic opportunities for its benching, racking, and storage solutions business, MMI, which was acquired by the Company in late 2021.
• Lithium Americas (LAC) shares rose overnight following a Bloomberg report that the Biden administration is set to lend the company $2 billion for its lithium mine in Nevada. The conditional loan commitment could come as soon as Thursday, according to the report as the funding will come from the U.S. Department of Energy.
• REV Group (REVG) 7.4M share Spot Secondary priced at $18.00.

• Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) February 2024 operating data: Funded Customers at the end of February were 23.6 million, up approximately 130 thousand from January 2024. Assets Under Custody at the end of February were $118.7 billion, up 16% from January 2024. Net Deposits were $3.6 billion in February, translating to a 42% annualized growth rate relative to January 2024 AUC. Equity Notional Trading Volumes were $80.9 billion (up 36%). Options Contracts Traded were 119.1 million (up 12%). Crypto Notional Trading Volumes were $6.5 billion (up 10%).

• Coherus Biosciences (CHRS) Q4 EPS ($0.71) vs est. ($0.12) on revs $91.524Mm vs est. $96.4Mm; sees 2024 combined R&D and SG&A $250-265Mm including approx $40Mm stock-based comp exp.
• Spruce Biosciences (SPRB) shares plunged 75% on news that the company plans to cut 21% of its workforce in the wake of a failed Phase 2 study for its drug candidate tildacerfont; said the study, called CAHmelia-203, failed to meet its primary endpoint and was being terminated as a result.
• Spero Therapeutics (SPRO) Q4 EPS $0.97 vs est. ($0.10) on revs $73.5Mm vs est. $18.63Mm; sees expected cash runway into late 2025.

• UiPath (PATH) Q4 adj EPS $0.22 vs est. $0.16, adj gr mgn 89%, adj FCF $146Mm on revs $405Mm vs est. $383.8Mm; sees Q1 revs $330-335Mm vs est. $347.85Mm, adj op Inc $55Mm vs est. $50.96Mm; sees FY revs $1.555-1.56B vs est. $1.531B and adj op Inc approx $295Mm vs est. $243.44Mm.
• Impinj, Inc. (PI), a leading RAIN RFID provider and Internet of Things pioneer, today announced a successful settlement of its patent disputes with NXP Semiconductors N.V (NXPI).
• Paramount Global (PARA) said it had agreed to sell its Indian television interests to partner Reliance Industries for about $517M. The deal comes two weeks after Reliance and entertainment giant Walt Disney (DIS).

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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.