Early Look

Friday, September 8, 2023

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	-36.00	0.10%	34,492
S&P 500	-5.25	0.12%	4,451
Nasdaq	-23.50	0.16%	15,258

 

 

Stocks futures edging lower after the S&P 500 closed lower for a third consecutive session on Thursday and the Nasdaq falling for a 4^th day (still up 16% and 31% YTD respectively) as a strong jobless claims report, weaker data out of China and concerns over Chinese government restrictions to Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone use also proved to be a headwind for tech stocks. The recent economic data has stoked the twin fears of higher-for-longer restrictive Fed policy amid a global economic slowdown. Technology fell the most on Thursday led by AAPL, with the sector down -1.6% dragging the Nasdaq lower -0.9%. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index tumbled -384 points to 32,606, the Shanghai Index slipped -5 points to 3,116, and the Hang Seng Index was closed (prior settle 18,202). In Europe, the German DAX is lower by -71 points to 15,647, while the FTSE 100 is down -14 points to 7,427. Equities came under renewed pressure, with Europe’s Stoxx 600 sliding for an eighth day, the longest streak since 2016. There aren’t any major economic or corporate releases set for Friday, with a speech from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly at 11 AM and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr speaking at 9 AM.

 

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index slipped -14.28 points, or 0.32%, to 4,451.20.

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 57.80 points, or 0.17%, to 34,500.99.

·     The Nasdaq Composite dropped -123.64 points, or 0.89%, to 13,748.83.

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -18.52 points, or 0.99% to 1,855.76.

 

Economic Calendar for Today

·     10:00 AM ET                Wholesale Inventories M/M for July

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

·     3:00 PM ET                   Consumer Credit for July

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: HOFT KR RENT

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	0.44	87.31
Brent	0.50	90.42
Gold	4.90	1,947.40
EUR/USD	-0.0002	1.0698
JPY/USD	0.06	147.35
10-Year Note	-0.02	4.242%

 

 

World News

·     Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan on Thursday said that if the Fed skips a rate hike at its meeting in two weeks, it doesn’t imply they will stop hiking for good. The Fed skipped a rate increase at its June meeting before raising its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 5.25%-5.5% at its last meeting in July. Logan said another skip “could be appropriate.” “But skipping does not imply stopping,” she added.

·     Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee on Thursday suggested the Fed is almost done raising interest rates. “We are very rapidly approaching the time when our argument is not going to be about how high should the rates go,” Goolsbee said. “It’s going to be an argument of how long we need to keep the rates at this position before we’re sure that we’re on the path back to the target” of 2% inflation.

·     China’s vehicle sales rose in August as Beijing’s measures to boost auto consumption took effect as retail sales of passenger cars rose 2.5% to 1.92 million vehicles last month, the China Passenger Car Association said Friday. Sales in August rose 8.6% from the previous month.

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     American Outdoors (AOUT) Q1 EPS $0.01 vs. est. flat; Q1 revs $43.4M vs. est. $42.23M; continue to believe net sales for fiscal 2024 could exceed fiscal 2023 net sales by as much as 3.5%

·     RH Corp. (RH) shares fell -9%; Q2 EPS $3.93 vs. est. $2.56; Q2 revs $800M vs. est. $784.9M; Sees Q4 revenue $760M-$800M vs. est. $773M and operating margin in the range of 14.4% to 16.6%; narrows higher FY23 revenue view to $3.04B-$3.1B from $3.0B-$3.1B (est. $3.07B).

·     Smith & Wesson Brands (SWBI) Q1 adj EPS $0.13 vs est. $0.05 on revs $114.2Mm vs est. $100.93Mm, adj gr mgn 27.4%, adj EBITDAS $17.5Mm vs est. $14.97Mm.

·     Zumiez (ZUMZ) Q2 EPS loss (-$0.44) vs. est. loss (-$0.67); Q2 revs $194.44M vs. est. $190.16M; guides Q3 sales $211M-$216M vs. est. $217.8M; continue to believe that our net sales for FY24 could exceed FY23 net sales by as much as 3.5%.

·     Limoneira (LMNR) Q3 adj EPS $0.02 vs. est. $0.15; Q2 revs $52.5M vs. est. $50.1M; sees fresh lemon volumes in range of 4.7M-5M cartons for FY 2023; reiterates avocado volume guidance and updates lemon volume guidance for fiscal year 2023.

·     National Beverage (FIZZ) Q1 EPS $0.53 vs est. $0.53 on net sales $324Mm vs est. $327.66Mm, op Inc 463Mm vs est. $64.42Mm.

·     Dutch Bros (BROS) 11.54M share Secondary priced at $26.00.

·     Las Vegas Union Strip workers have decided workers will vote on a citywide strike on September 26 and, if approved, could lead to over 50,000 housekeepers, bartenders, and other staff walking off the job (watch CZR, MGM, LVS, WYNN) – WSJ

·     Food prices fell in August as a strong supply of wheat, corn and other key foodstuffs helped to lower global food commodity prices. The UN FAO’s food price index, which tracks global prices for a basket of staple foods, averaged 121.4 points in August, down 2.1% from July, putting prices 24% lower than the March 2022 peak.

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Concrete Pumping (BBCP) Q3 adj EBITDA $34.9Mm vs est. $35.28Mm on revs $120.7Mm vs est. $114.98Mm; sees FY revs approx $440Mm vs est. $438.23Mm, adj EBITDA approx $125Mm vs est. $127.91Mm and FCF approx $70Mm.

·     First Solar (FSLR) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank and raised its price tgt to $235 from $220 saying the company delivered a strong growth message over the next three years at its analyst day.

·     Plant Labs PBC (PL) Q2 EPS loss (-$0.14) vs. est. loss (-$0.08); Q2 revs $53.8M vs. est. $54.1M; guides Q3 revs $54M-$56M vs. est. $57M; Non-GAAP Gross Margin is expected to be in the range of approximately 50% to 52%; cuts FY24 revenue view to $216M-$223M from $225M-$235M.

·     Workers at two large natural-gas plants run by Chevron (CVX) in Australia began industrial action Friday, intensifying a dispute that has rattled global gas markets.

 

Financials

·     Goldman Sachs (GS) plans to dismiss underperformers as soon as next month, as part of the Wall Street firm’s annual evaluation of staff, the Financial Times reported. Reductions this year will be at the lower end of the bank’s usual range of 1% to 5% of its workforce, the newspaper said.

·     Guidewire Software (GWRE) Q4 adj EPS $0.74 vs est. $0.38 n revs $270Mm vs est. $261.36Mm; guides Q1 ARR $766-769Mm, revs $197-202Mm vs est. $212.51Mm, adj op Inc $(25)Mm – $(20)Mm vs est. $(11)Mm; sees FY ARR $846-858Mm, revs $976-986Mm vs est. $988.72Mm, adj op Inc $(72)Mm – $(62)Mm vs est. $(55.56)Mm.

·     Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) said it has teamed up with private-equity firm Warburg Pincus to lead a $1 billion equity investment in Prismic Life Reinsurance Ltd., a new Class E life and annuity reinsurance company based in Bermuda.

·     Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP), which serves tech and media tenants, suspends its quarterly dividend, starting with one for 3Q that would’ve been paid in September.

 

Healthcare

·     Avid BioServices (CDMO) Q1 EPS loss (-$0.03), in-line with estimates and revs $37.73M vs. est. $36.09M; backs FY24 revs to $145M-$165M vs. est. $155.7M; signed $36M in net new business orders resulting in a backlog of $189M.

·     Gilead (GILD) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank America and raised tgt to $95 from $88.

·     Vir Biotechnology (VIR) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank America and cut tgt to $14 from $23 citing limited near-term upside.

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Braze Inc. (BRZE) Q2 EPS ($0.33) vs est. ($0.14) on revs $115.107Mm vs est. $108.63Mm; sees Q3 revs $116.5-117.5Mm vs est. $114.31Mm, adj EPS ($0.14)-($0.13) vs est. ($0.15); sees FY revs $451.5-454.5Mm vs est. $445.13Mm and adj EPS ($0.39)-($0.37) vs est. ($0.51).

·     DocuSign (DOCU) Q2 adj EPS $0.72 vs est. $0.66 on revs $687.7Mm vs est. $677.56Mm, adj gr mgn 82%; sees Q3 revs $687-691Mm vs est. $686.03Mm, adj gr mgn 81-82%, adj op mgn 22-23%; sees FY revs $2.725-2.737B vs est. $2.723B, adj gr mgn 81-82%, adj op mgn 23-24%.

·     Smartsheet Inc. (SMAR) Q2 adj EPS $0.16 vs est. $0.07 on revs $235.6Mm vs est. $229.52Mm; guides Q3 revs $240-242Mm vs est. $241.24Mm, adj op Inc $8-10Mm vs est. $7.555Mm, adj EPS $0.08-0.09 vs est. $0.07; sees FY revs $950-953Mm vs est. $945.8Mm, adj op Inc $62-67Mm vs est. $48.79Mm and adj EPS $0.53-0.57 vs est. $0.42.

·     ChipMOS (IMOS) reported its unaudited consolidated revenue for the month of August. Revenue for the month of August was $57.5M, representing a slight decrease of 0.2% from July and an increase of 6.9% from August 2022