Early Look

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

U.S. stock markets partially rebounded on Tuesday as technology stocks helped propel the Nasdaq nearly 200 points and helped lift the S&P 500 as well while the Dow fell, as investors await key earnings results from semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA) on Wednesday evening, as shares finished near all-time highs. This morning, Target (TGT) shares fell as much as -20% pre mkt after earnings missed, and guidance was below forecasts, disappointing investors that saw good results the day prior from competitor Wal-Mart (WMT). U.S. futures are looking modestly higher with no major economic data on the calendar or Fed speakers. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index fell -62 points to 38,352, the Shanghai Index rose 21 points to 3,367, and the Hang Seng Index gains 41 points to 19,705. In Europe, the German DAX is up 50 points to 19,112, while the FTSE 100 is up about 5 points to 8,104. Oil prices are edging higher despite news that the entire production facility at Johan Sverdrup resumed operations on Tuesday and is now producing steadily at normal levels, an Equinor spokesperson said. Oil prices rose for a third day. Spot gold falls $6 to $2,626/oz. Bitcoin rises 1% to above $93,000. Treasuries fall, with US 10-year yields rising 2 bps to 4.42%.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -120.66 points, or 0.28%, to 43,268.94.
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 195.66 points, or 1.04%, to 18,987.47.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 18.48 points, or 0.80% to 2,342.82.

• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $13B in 20-year notes

• Earnings After the Close: JACK MMS NVDA PANW SNOW UTI WALD

• Jefferies Consumer Conference, 11/19-11/20, in Miami, FL
• Nareit Annual Conference: REITWorld 2024, 11/18-11/21, in Las Vegas, NV
• Needham Virtual tech Week, 11/19-11/21
• Needham 6th Annual Virtual Infrastructure, Data Analytics Software, & Cloud, 11/20
• RBC Capital Global Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications Conference, 11/19-11/20, in New York
• Roth MKM 13th Annual Technology Event, 11/19/11/20, in New York

• Azek Company (AZEK) Q4 adj EPS $0.29 vs. est. $0.27; Q4 adj Ebitda $91.8M vs. est. $88.1M; Q4 sales $348.22M vs. est. $339M; guides FY25 revenue $1.51B-$1.54B vs. consensus $1.53B and sees FY25 adjusted EBITDA $400M-$415M vs. est. $411.1M; continues to see positive residential sell-through growth.
• Chewy (CHWY) upgraded to Buy from Underperform at Bank America and raised tgt to $40 from $24.
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) forecast revenue growth in the mid-single digit percentage points next year, in line with analysts’ estimates; expects to expand capacity by no more than 4% year-over-year in 2025.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB) Q2 adj EPS $0.71 vs. est. $0.64; Q2 sales rose 1.9% y/y to $521M vs. est. $506.5M; Q2 Operating margin was 7.4% for the quarter; Q2 Written sales for the Retail segment increased 6% with growth from new and acquired stores, while Written same-store sales decreased 1%, driven by lower traffic from softer industry-wide demand; guides Q3 sales $505M-$525M vs. est. $512.25M and raises quarterly dividend to $0.22 from $0.20.
• Uber (UBER) introducing Uber XXL for rides to & from over 60 airports globally; launching new reserve features including flight-tracking capability to alert riders of delayed flights & adjust drop offs accordingly.

• DT Midstream, Inc. (DTM) said that it has reached an agreement to acquire a portfolio of three FERC-regulated natural gas transmission pipelines from Oneok, Inc. (OKE) for $1.2B. The pipelines have a total capacity of more than 3.7 Bcf/d with approximately 1,300 miles across seven states in the attractive Midwest market region.
• Dycom (DY) Q3 adjusted EPS $2.68 vs. est. $2.26; Q3 revs $1.27B vs. est. $1.22B; for Q4, expects total contract revenues to increase mid- to high single digit as a percentage of contract revenues, compared to $952.5M for the quarter ended January 27, 2024.
• Patrick Industries, Inc. (PATK) announces a three-for-two common stock split.
• Powell Industries (POWL) shares stumble as Q4 revs rose 32.1% y/t to $2751M but was below consensus $284.3M; Q4 EPS $3.77 vs. est. $3.55; said orders rose 56% y/y to $267M, Backlog as of September 30, 2024, remained at $1.3 billion; said for FY25 expect continued strength across most of end markets.
• SolarEdge (SEDG) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Guggenheim and removed the firm’s prior $10 price target.

• JPMorgan (JPM) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer on valuation.
• Lemonade (LMND) upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley after an investor day event.
• StoneX Group (SNEX) Q4 EPS $2.32 vs est. $2.05 on net revs $454.8Mm vs est. $462.98Mm.
• XP Inc. (XP) announces a new share repurchase program for up to R$1.0B; Q3 EPS 2.18 vs est. 2.18 on net revs 4.319B vs est. 4.357B; Active clients grew 6% YoY and 1% QoQ, totaling 4.7M in Q3.

• Pfizer (PFE) named company veteran Chris Boshoff, who led the drugmaker’s cancer research and marketing for more than a year, as its R&D chief, WSJ reported on Wednesday. Boshoff will take on the role as chief scientific officer starting Jan. 1, the report added.
• Pfizer (PFE) has won European Commission approval of its Hympavzi treatment for certain patients with the blood-clotting disorder hemophilia.
• Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO) said the FDA cleared its application to start human trial for ST-503; SGMO plans to initiate enrollment of patients in the early-to-mid stage study for ST-503 in mid-2025.
• Varex Imaging (VREX) Q4 EPS $0.19 vs. est. $0.09; Q4 revs fell -10% y/y to $205.7M vs. est. $199.4M; Q4 medical segment revenue fell -12% y/y to $144M and Industrial revenue fell -4% y/y to $61M; Q4 non-GAAP gross margin was 33% compared to 36% y/y; sees Q1 revs $195M-$215M vs. est. $189M and mixed EPS view.
• Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) presented results from a mid-stage trial of its experimental liver disease drug, VK2809, at a medical conference. The detailed data shows patients treated with the drug had a 44% to 57% improvement in fibrosis or scarring of liver tissue vs 34% for placebo. The drug previously achieved its primary goal of reducing liver fat content in the study and helped patients achieve NASH resolution with no worsening of fibrosis.

• Dolby Labs (DLB) Q4 adj EPS $0.81 vs est. $0.70 on revs $305Mm vs est. $307.94Mm; sees Q1 revs $330-360Mm vs est. $337.96Mm, adj gr mgn approx 90% and adj EPS $0.96-1.11 vs est. $1.09; sees FY revs $1.33-1.39B vs est. $1.334B, adj gr mgn approx 90% and adj EPS $3.99-4.41 vs est. $3.81.
• Flex Ltd (FLEX) will replace Azenta Inc. (AZTA) in the S&P MidCap 400, and Azenta will replace Envestnet Inc. (ENV) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Monday, November 25.
• Keysight Technologies (KEYS) Q4 adj EPS $1.65 vs est. $1.57 on revs $1.287B vs est. $1.258B; guides Q1 revs $1.265-1.285B vs est. $1.234B and adj EPS $1.65-1.71 vs est. $1.58.
• Wix.com (WIX) Q3 EPS $1.62 vs. est. $1.51; Q3 revs $444.67M vs. est. $457.9M; raises FY24 revenue view to $1.757B-$1.764B from $1.747B-$1.761B, also boosts full year bookings outlook to $1.822B-$1.832B, or 14-15% y/y growth, compared to previous guidance of $1.802B-$1.822B or 13-14% y/y growth.
• ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (ZI) Chairman Schuck Buys 492,500 Of ZoomInfo Technologies Inc on 11/15/24 @ $10.25, in transaction valued at $5,049,750 as per form 4 filing last night.