Early Look

Friday, October 15, 2021

U.S. equity futures extended gains, looking to build on the upward momentum Thursday as corporate earnings and improving sentiment offset persistent concerns that inflation will continue to weigh on markets over the months ahead. It was a stellar performance for U.S. stocks on Thursday as all eleven S&P 500 Index sectors advanced in a rally led by materials and technology following better-than-expected corporate earnings, slightly lower than expected inflation data and lower-than-forecast jobless claims, The easing in producer price inflation added to the market “risk-taking”, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury as low as 1.505%. The dollar pared losses while commodities and precious metals gained. When it was all over, the S&P 500 closed up 1.7% for its biggest gain in 7-months (up about 18% in 2021, and it is down just over 2% from its Sept. 2 record high close) and on the verge of moving back above its 50-DMA (stands at 4,436). The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.73%, its largest % gain since May 20th and the Dow with its biggest % jump since July 20th (+1.56%). Fear continues to disappear as the CBOE volatility index (VIX) closed down 1.78 points at 16.86, for its lowest closing level since September 3^rd. A busy morning ahead of for economic data with Empire manufacturing retail sales, import data and confidence readings all expected. Overseas, European stocks are on pace for their best week in seven months, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at a two-week high. The Nikkei Index jumped 517 points (1.81%) to settle at 29,068, the Shanghai Index rose 14 points to 3,572, and the Hang Seng Index advanced 368 points to 25,330. In Europe, the German DAX gains 0.25% to move above 15,500, while the FTSE 100 rises 0.3% to 7,225. Bitcoin prices looking to end the week near its best levels since May, topping the $59,000 level, picking up momentum in October as prices are up roughly $18,000 in the first two-weeks of the month. Bloomberg reported overnight that the SEC is set to approve the first set of exchange traded funds linked to the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index spiked 74.46 points, or 1.71%, to 4,438.26

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 534.75 points, or 1.56%, to 34,912.56

·     The Nasdaq Composite surged 251.79 points, or 1.73%, to 14,823.43

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 32.21 points, or 1.44% to 2,274.18

Events Calendar for Today

·     8:30 AM ET         Empire Manufacturing Index for October…est. 27.0

·     8:30 AM ET         Import Prices MoM for September…est. +0.6%

·     8:30 AM ET         Retail Sales MoM for September…est. (-0.2%)

·     8:30 AM ET         Retail Sales Ex Autos MoM for September…est. +0.5%

·     10:00 AM ET      Business Inventories MoM for August…est. +0.6%

·     10:00 AM ET      University of Michigan Confidence, Oct-P…est. 73.1

·     1:00 PM EST       Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: BMI, GS, JBHT, PLD, PNC, SCHW, SXT, TFC

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Corsair Gaming (CRSR) sees 3Q revs about $391Mm vs est. $484Mm, cuts FY revs to $1.825-1.925B from $1.9B-$2.1B and vs est. $2.04B

·     Del Taco Restaurants (TACO) 3Q adj EPS $0.11 vs est. $0.10 on revs $124.3Mm vs est. $124.9Mm, system comps +1.8% vs est. +2.4% (company +1.6% vs est. +2.38%)

·     Duckhorn Portfolio (NAPA) 12M share Secondary priced at $20.50

·     Sun Country Airlines (SNCY) 8.5M share Secondary priced at $32.50

Energy, Industrials & Materials

·     Alcoa Corp. (AA) another record quarter for net income; announces initiation of a quarterly cash dividend and a new $500 mln share repurchase program; Q3 adj EPS $2.05 vs. est. $1.71; Q3 sales $3.11B vs. est. $2.93B; 2021 shipment outlook for alumina and aluminum segments remains unchanged; anticipates continued positive financial results in q4 of 2021

·     Boeing (BA) former chief technical pilot was charged with fraud on Thursday for deceiving federal regulators evaluating the company’s 737 MAX jet, hindering the ability to protect airline passengers and leaving “pilots in the lurch,” the U.S. Justice Department said – Reuters

·     EOG Resources (EOG) says for Q3 of 2021, anticipates a net loss of $494 mln on mark-to-market of its financial commodity derivative contracts

·     Virgin Galactic (SPCE) plunges over -20%; begins planned vehicle enhancement and modification period; Unity 23 test flight rescheduled to follow completion of this program; says enhancement period about 1-month later than anticipated, and commercial service is now expected to commence in Q4

·     Kosmos (KOS) 37.5M share Secondary priced at $3.30

Financials

·     Discover Financial Services (DFS) said credit card charge-off rate 1.01% at September end vs 1.14% at august end; credit card delinquency rate 0.95% at September end vs 0.92% at august end

·     Truist (TFC) Q3 EPS adj $1.42 vs. est. $1.19; qtrly net interest income was down 0.4% compared to Q2 2021 and 3.8% compared to Q3 2020; Q3 revs $5.6B vs. est. $5.53B; provision for credit losses was a benefit of $324M for Q3, primarily reflecting an improving economic outlook

Healthcare

·     Moderna (MRNA) adding to yesterday gains after a panel of expert advisers to the U.S. FDA unanimously voted on Thursday to recommend booster shots of its COVID-19 to those age 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness or occupational exposure to the virus

·     Hologic (HOLX) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bolder Surgical, a privately held, U.S.-based company that provides advanced energy vessel sealing surgical devices, for approximately $160M

·     Neurix Therapeutics (NRIX) 3Q EPS ($0.65) vs est. ($0.63) on revs $10.3Mm vs est. $8.5Mm

·     Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announces that LTL Management LLC, a newly created and separate subsidiary, established to hold and manage claims in the cosmetic talc litigation, has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

·     MiNK Therapeutics (INKT) 3.33M share IPO priced at $12.00

·     Paragon 28 (PNA) 7.813M share IPO priced at $16.00

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Duck Creek Technologies (DCT) Q4 non-GAAP EPS $0.02, in-line with ests; Q4 revs $70.9M vs. est. $69.1M; sees FY22 revs $292M-$300M vs. est. $303M; sees Q1 revs $68M-$70M vs. est. $68.7M

·     Adtran (ADTN) guides Q3 revenue $138M below consensus of $148.9M; sees Q3 gross margin at 34.6 and operating loss of $2.6M

·     Paltalk (PALT) 1.35M share Spot Secondary priced at $7.50