Early Look

Friday, August 20, 2021

Global stock markets are lower again as investors grapple with the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant, the impact of the virus on growth and China’s continued crackdown on its technology sector. All eyes on next week’s Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium where comments on inflation, bond asset purchase tapering will be closely watched. The dollar rose for a fifth day, while Treasury yields continued a slide. Oil prices are currently lower, on track for a 7-day losing streak (longest decline wince 2019) while the U.S. dollar is set for its biggest weekly gain since June (weighing again on commodity prices), currently up at 9 ½ month highs around 93.65 for the dollar index (DXY) with Sept 2020 highs around 94.74. In vaccine news, the Washington Post reported that U.S. health officials are investigating reports that Moderna Inc’s (MRNA) COVID-19 vaccine may be linked to a higher risk of a rare heart condition in younger adults than previously thought, sending shares lower. In Asian markets, more regulatory concerns/measures crippling stocks as the Nikkei Index slides -267 points (about 1%) to settle at 27,013, the Shanghai Index fell -38 points or 1.1% to close at 3,427 and the Hang Seng Index plunged -466 points or 1.84% to end the week at 24,849. In Europe, the German DAX is down around -70 points (-0.45%) to drop below 15,700, while the FTSE 100 slip about -10 points to 7,045. Stocks finished a choppy Thursday session mixed on concerns the Federal Reserve could begin tapering stimulus this year, even as surging coronavirus infections caused by the delta variant raised worries about the pace of the U.S. recovery. In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield at 1.23%. The Russell 2000 SmallCap index pointing to a lower open, entering today with a 6-day losing streak.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index climbed 5.53 points, or 0.13%, to 4,405.80

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -66.57 points, or 0.19%, to 34,894.12

·     The Nasdaq Composite gained 15.87 points, or 0.11%, to 14,541.79

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -26.36 points, or 1.22% to 2,132.42

Events Calendar for Today

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

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: BKE, DE, FL

World News

·     Germany July PPI +1.9% MoM vs. +0.8% consensus and rose +10.4% YoY vs. 9.2% consensus

·     UK Jul Retail Sales miss falling -2.5% MoM vs 0.4% consensus and rose +2.4% YoY vs 6.0% consensus; core m/m fell -2.4% vs 0.3% consensus and on a YoY basis, rose +1.8% vs 5.7% consensus

·     Consumer confidence in the U.K. edged down in August but remained at pre-pandemic levels, market-research company GfK said Friday. GfK’s consumer-confidence indicator came in at minus 8 in August, down one point from July vs, forecast an unchanged reading at minus 7.

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Farfetch Limited (FTCH) Q2 EPS loss (-$0.17) vs. est. loss (-$0.33); Q2 revs $523.3M vs. est. $496.8M; Q2 Gross Merchandise Value exceeds $1 billion, up 40% YoY and more than double compared to Q2 2019; full-price sales growth of 90% drives Q2 2021 Digital Platform GMV; Q2 2021 gross profit margin improves by 30 bps year-over-year to 44%

·     Ross Stores (ROST) 2Q EPS $1.39 vs est. $0.98 on sales $4.8B vs est. $4.5B, comps +15%; sees 3Q comps +5-7% with EPS $0.61-0.69 vs est. $0.93; guides FY EPS $4.20-4.38 vs est. $4.40 on comps +10-11%

·     Macy’s (M) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight with $25 tgt at JPMorgan

·     Adtalem Global Education Inc. (ATGE) 4Q adj EPS $0.70 on revs $280.4Mm vs est. $283.4Mm; guides FY22 revs $1.685-1.735B vs est. $1.2B, sees FY22 adj EPS $4.20-4.45 vs est. $3.30

·     Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association have struck new exclusive baseball card agreements with a new company controlled by online sports-merchandise retailer Fanatics Inc., breaking the decades-long grip that Topps Co. (MUDS) has held on the trading-card market, people familiar with the matter said. https://on.mktw.net/3AX9qSN

·     Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said the electric-vehicle company plans to adapt the artificial intelligence technology it has been developing for autonomous driving to make humanoid robots

Energy, Industrials & Materials

·     Deere (DE) Q3 EPS $5.32 vs. est. $4.58; Q3 revs $11.52B vs. est. $10.3B; full-year earnings forecast raised to range of $5.7B-$5.9B vs. prior guidance of $5.3B-$5.7B; says looking ahead, we expect demand for farm and construction equipment to continue benefiting from favorable fundamentals; sees 2021 production & precision ag net sales up 25 to 30%, 2021 small ag & turf net sales up about 25%

Financials

·     Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted: “We recently received board approval to purchase over $500M of crypto on our balance sheet to add to our existing holdings. And we’ll be investing 10% of all profit going forward in crypto. I expect this percentage to keep growing over time as the crypto-economy matures.

·     Cboe Global Markets (CBOE) increases dividend 14% to 48c per share

·     LPL Financial LLC (LPLA) July total advisory and brokerage assets at the end of July were approximately $1.13 trillion, an increase of $17.6B, or 1.6%, compared to the end of June 2021; total net new assets for July were $10.0B, translating to an 11.5% annualized growth rate

·     The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) said it is implementing a special five percent pay increase for employees “in recognition of their unwavering service to clients and each other throughout the pandemic

Healthcare

·     U.S. health officials are investigating reports that Moderna Inc’s (MRNA) COVID-19 vaccine may be linked to a higher risk of a rare heart condition in younger adults than previously thought, the Washington Post reported late on Thursday https://reut.rs/3z3wKxP

·     AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) said Friday it would seek regulatory approval for an antibody drug after a study showed strong efficacy in preventing symptomatic Covid-19, offering a potential new alternative to vaccines for people who refuse shots or for whom they aren’t effective. The company said AZD7442 showed 77% efficacy in reducing risk of symptomatic Covid-19 compared with a placebo in late-stage clinical trials testing its usefulness as a preventive treatment

·     Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said that Joaquin Duato, vice chairman of the company’s executive committee, will become CEO on Jan. 3, with Chairman and Chief Executive Alex Gorsky transitioning to executive chairman. Gorsky has served as the company’s chairman and CEO for nearly a decade, and has been with Johnson & Johnson for 30 years. “

·     Fate Therapeutics (FATE) announces positive interim clinical data from its FT596 and FT516 off-the-shelf, IPSC-derived NK cell programs for b-cell lymphoma; 10 of 14 Patients in FT596 single-dose escalation cohorts 2 and 3 achieved objective response; 7 patients achieved complete response, including 2 of 3 patients treated with FT596 in combination with Rituximab following autologous CD19 CAR T-cell therapy

·     Sorrento (SRNE) announces its lead protein-based covid-19 vaccine candidate – dyai-100 – elicits strong neutralizing immune responses in vaccinated animals against sars-cov-2 and multiple major variants of concern

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Applied Materials (AMAT) 3Q adj EPS $1.90 vs est. $1.77 on revs $6.2B vs est. $5.94B; guides 4Q net sales approx $6.33B +/- $250Mm vs est. $6.04B, sees 4Q adj EPS $1.87-2.01 vs est. $1.81

·     Adobe Systems (ADBE) to acquire Frame.Io in a transaction, valued at $1.275B

·     Spotify Technology (SPOT) has authorized to repurchase 10M company’s ordinary shares, up to the amount of $1B

·     Marin Software (MRIN) enters $50M equity distribution agreement

·     U.S. listed China shares active amid yet more regulatory pressure headlines; the country approved a strict data privacy law, triggering fresh concerns over the intensity of Beijing’s recent regulatory crackdowns. The Personal Information Protection Law was passed at a meeting in Beijing of the nation’s top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

·     Apple (AAPL) delays office return to at least January on Covid rise, while IBM closes New York City offices amid rising covid-19 cases

·     A new round of proposed regulations sent Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ’s (BABA) U.S. listing to decline 4.9% on Tuesday to $173.73, its lowest close since October 2019. The Chinese tech company’s American depository receipts have fallen more than 25% so far this year. New draft guidelines released Tuesday by China’s top market regulator aim to prevent internet companies from adopting forced exclusivity and blocking competitors’ links and apps