Early Look

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

After back-to-back daily declines for the S&P, futures are looking at a higher open as major averages (S&P, Dow, Nasdaq) remain not far off their recent record highs reached last week. Treasury prices rose slightly after slumping Monday, as yields are slightly lower ahead of a handful of economic data later this morning. Today’s February durable goods orders are expected to increase, Thursday, 4Q GDP third estimate is forecast to remain 3.2% while weekly jobless claims would accelerate. A slight slowdown in the core 12-month February PCE inflation is expected Friday (while markets are closed). In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index slipped -16 points to 40,398, the Shanghai Index rose 5 points to 3,031, and the Hang Seng Index gained 144 points to 16,618. In Europe, the German DAX is up 83 points to 18,344, while the FTSE 100 is flat at 7,917. Gold prices rise approaching $2,200 an ounce again and oil dips. Not much in the way of stock news.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -162.26 points, or 0.41%, to 39,313.64.
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped -44.35 points, or 0.27%, to 16,384.47.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 2.16 points, or 0.10% to 2,074.16.

• 8:30 AM ET                  Durable Goods Orders M/M for February…est. +1.1%
• 8:30 AM ET                  Durable Goods Ex: Transportation for Feb…est. +0.4%
• 8:55 AM ET                  Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 9:00 AM ET                  Monthly Home Prices M/M for January
• 9:00 AM ET                  S&P CaseShiller for January…est. +0.2%
• 10:00 AM ET                Consumer Confidence for March…est. 107.0
• 10:00 AM ET                Richmond Fed Composite Index for March…prior -5.0
• 1:00 PM ET                   U.S. Treasury to sell $67B 5-year notes.
• 4:30 PM ET                   API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: BIOR CNXC FRGE GME INTZ LIDR LUXH MRAI NCNO OUST PAYS PBLA PRGS VLD

• JP Morgan 13th Annual NAPA Valley Biotech Forum, 3/26-3/28, in San Francisco, CA
• Optical Fiber Communication Conference, 3/24-3/26, in San Diego, CA
• TD Cowen 17th Annual Infrastructure Services Conference, 3/26, in Toronto, CA

• Hershey (HSY), Mondelez (MDLZ), and other confection-makers are employing promotions and pitching more non-chocolate Easter treats like cookies ‘n’ cream bunnies at a time when soaring cocoa prices threaten their profits. Cocoa prices have tripled over the past 12 months thanks to bean disease in West Africa – Reuters.
• McCormick (MKC) Q1 adjusted EPS $0.63 vs. est. $0.58; Q1 revs $1.6B vs. est. $1.56B; sees FY24 adjusted EPS $2.80-$2.85, vs. consensus $2.83 and sees FY24 revenue down 2% to flat vs. consensus $6.64B.

• UPS Inc. (UPS) issues 2026 targets ahead of its investor and analyst day later this morning; will discuss its 2026 financial targets as follows: Consolidated revenue ranging from approximately $108 billion to approximately $114 billion. Consolidated adjusted* operating margin above 13%.
• Maersk (AMKBY) shares fall in Copenhagen after the company confirmed it chartered the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore − a major span critical to East Coast shipping – and collapsed early Tuesday after it was struck by a large cargo ship.
• Iron ore futures prices fell as downstream steel consumption in top consumer China disappointed the market; May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 3.72% lower at 814.5 yuan ($112.85) a metric ton, the lowest since Mar. 21. It posted a week-on-week rise of 6.1% on Mar. 22.
• Matador (MTDR) offers to sell 5.25M shares of common stock.
• Maxeon Solar Technologies (MAXN) announced that it has initiated a patent infringement lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas against Canadian Solar (CSIQ), alleging infringement of Maxeon patents relating to TOPCon solar cell technology.
• Parsons (PSN) was awarded a $28M cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance command and control and space software baselines for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Global Application program.

• Effector Therapeutics (EFTR) shares fell overnight after saying topline data from randomized phase 2B kickstart trial of Tomivosertib combined with pembrolizumab in expected in early Apr 2024 (vs late Q1); said cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaling $18.4M as of December 31, 2023.
• Stoke Therapeutics (STOK) shares surge overnight after announces landmark new data that supports the potential for STK-001 to be the first disease-modifying medicine for the treatment of patients with Dravet syndrome; said STK-001 generally well-tolerated.
• Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc (LXRX) files for resale of up to 57.7M shares by the selling stockholders.

• Dell Technologies (DELL) said it reduced its workforce as part of a broader initiative to cut costs that included limiting external hiring and employee reorganizations; the number of employees as of Feb. 2, 2024, was 120,000, down from 126,000 a year earlier and posted drop in Q4 revenue and missed analysts’ estimates.
• SK Hynix, an Nvidia (NVDA) supplier, is planning to invest roughly $4 billion to build an advanced chip packaging facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
• Trump Media & Technology Group’s (DJT) shares jump premarket, ahead of debut after merger with blank check firm Digital World Acquisition (DWAC); warrants of TMTG to begin trading with ticker "DJTWW" TMTG owns social media platform Truth Social and is backed by former U.S. president Donald Trump. Trump to own between 58.1% and 69.4% of TMTG, valued at about $3.3B.