Morning Preview: March 05, 2021

Auto PostDaily Market Report

Early Look

Friday, March 5, 2021

Futures

Up/Down

%

Last

Dow

64.00

0.21%

30,942

S&P 500

7.25

0.19%

3,772

Nasdaq

13.50

0.11%

12,468

 

 

Stocks are looking slightly higher following a day of selling pressure, pushing the Nasdaq Composite below key technical levels and putting it on track for a 3rd straight week of losses (and turned negative on the year) as rising Treasury yields and inflation concerns weigh on stocks and sentiment. Oil futures are extending their strong gains from Thursday, as Brent and WTI crude are both higher by another 2%, pushing to fresh 1-year highs. Market attention turns to the jobs front this morning as the February Nonfarm payroll data is expected at 8:30 AM (est. 182K) with the unemployment rate expected to dip slightly to 6.3%. Treasury yields jumped on Thursday (and remain elevated today at 1.54% for the 10-yr) after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell disappointed investors by not taking a firmer stance against rising inflation and heightened bond market volatility. Powell said the recent surge in Treasury yields caught his attention but that the central bank would be patient before changing policy even if inflation were to tick higher. Over the last few weeks, investors have increasingly rotated away from the high-growth names that led the markets higher in 2020, given that a greater economic reopening appears imminent and apt to lift stocks badly beaten down last year. Bank stocks have outperformed, and the S&P 500 financials sector has been among the top performers over the year-to-date, given that bank profits tend to benefit from higher-rate environments. Energy has also been a leader following the upside momentum in oil prices. Oil prices rose Friday after members of the OPEC+ alliance agreed to leave crude production unchanged. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index dipped -65 points to 28,864, the Shanghai Index slipped 1 point to 3,501 and the Hang Seng Index dropped -138 points to 20,098. In Europe, the German DAX is down about 85 points to 13,971, while the FTSE 100 rises to 6,665. The Senate, meanwhile, began debating President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index slumped -51.25 points, or 1.34%, to 3,768.47

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -345.95 points, or 1.11%, to 30,924.14

·     The Nasdaq Composite dropped -274.28 points, or 2.11%, to 12,723.47

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -60.87 points, or 2.76% to 2,146.92

 

Events Calendar for Today

·     8:30 AM EST      Nonfarm Payrolls for Feb…est. 182K

·     8:30 AM EST      Private Payrolls for Feb…est. 210K

·     8:30 AM EST      Manufacturing Payrolls for Feb…est. 18K

·     8:30 AM EST      Unemployment Rate for Feb…est. 6.3%

·     8:30 AM EST      Average Hourly Earnings for Feb…est. 0.2%

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

·     3:00 PM EST       Consumer Credit for January…est. $12.0B

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: BIG, HIBB, RUTH, SUP

 

Other Key Events:

·     BMO Capital Global Metals & Mining Conference (virtual), 3/1-3/5

·     Cowen Annual Healthcare Conference (virtual), 3/1-3/4

·     China Trade Balance, Import and Export data for February

 

 

Macro

Up/Down

Last

Nymex

1.54

65.37

Brent

1.74

68.48

Gold

-2.85

1,694.50

EUR/USD

-0.0043

1.1926

JPY/USD

0.56

108.54

10-Year Note

-0.003

1.547%

 

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Costco (COST) Q2 EPS $2.14 vs. est. $2.45; Q2 revenue $43.89B (up 14.7%) vs. est. $43.78B; quarterly adj total company comparable sales up 12.9% and quarterly e-commerce adj comparable sales up 74.8%

·     Gap Stores (GPS) Q4 EPS 61c vs. est. 18c; Q4 revenue $4.42B vs. est. $4.66B; recorded $56M impairment charge in Q4 related to Intermix; Comparable sales were flat in the quarter, including a 49% increase in online sales; Total net sales down 5% due to store closures and COVID impacts; Q4 Old Navy Global: Net sales increased 5%, with comparable sales up 7%; Gap Global: Net sales were down 19% and comparable sales were down 6%; Athleta: Net sales increased 29% with comp sales up 26%; sees FY21 EPS $1.20-$1.35 vs. est. $1.28

·     Bally’s Corporation (BALY) announces the formation of a multiyear strategic partnership designating Bally’s as an “Authorized Sports Betting Operator” of the National Basketball Association.

·     Fiesta restaurant (FRGI) 4Q adj EPS $0.07 vs. est. $0.06 on revs $148.9Mm vs. est. $148.1Mm; guides FY21 comps positive, sees FY21 CAPEX $33-38Mm

·     IMAX Corp. (IMAX) Q4 adj EPS loss (36c) vs. est. loss (20c); Q4 revenue $56M vs. est. $46.81M; ended quarter with $317 mln of cash and cash equivalents; says remain confident and optimistic that global film industry is poised for a strong and sustainable recovery in second half of 2021

·     Smith & Wesson (SWBI) 3Q adj EPS $1.12 vs. est. $0.77 on sales $257.6Mm vs. est. $236.7Mm

·     Turtle Beach (HEAR) Q4 adj EPS 84c vs. est. 47c; Q4 sales $132.9M vs. est. $104.9M; sees Q1 revs about $88M vs. est. $54.6M; sees 2021 EPS $1.35 vs. est. $1.41 and revs about $370M vs. est. $365.2M

·     Big Lots (BIG) Q4 adj EPS $2.59 vs. est. $2.50; Q4 revenue $1.74B, in-line with ests; , consensus $1.74B; sees Q1 adj EPS $1.30-$1.45 vs. est. $1.33; sees Q1 comparable sales up low-single digits; declined to provide guidance for the full year, citing uncertainty over the course of the coronavirus pandemic

·     Chuy’s (CHUY) Q4 EPS 19c vs. est. 14c; Q4 revenue $78.7M vs. est. $76.85M; Q4 comparable restaurant sales decreased (-18.3%), as sales were negatively impacted by closures of dining rooms

·     Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) commenced an underwritten public offering of 47.6 mln ordinary shares of company

·     Quanex (NX) Q1 adj EPS 27c vs. est. 6c; Q1 revenue $230.15M vs. est. $201.37M ; raises FY21 revenue view to $945M-$965M from $900M-$920M (est. $907.23M)

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Ameresco (AMRC) 3.2M share Spot Secondary priced at $44.00

·     Chevron Corporation (CVX) acquires the remaining shares of Noble Midstream (NBLX) not already owned by the company and its affiliates in an all-stock transaction, where NBLX holders receive 0.1393 of a share of common stock of Chevron

·     Daqo New Energy (DQ) signs a three-year high-purity polysilicon supply agreement with Wuxi Shangji Automation

 

Financials

·     CoStar Group (CSGP) announced that it has withdrawn its bid to acquire CoreLogic (CLGX) and terminate any further acquisition discussions. CoStar Group believes rising interest rates will negatively impact the outlook for the mortgage refinancing market

·     Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (MARA), one of the largest enterprise Bitcoin self-mining companies in North America, announced that the Company’s mining fleet will produce approximately 1.4 EH/s (exahash per second) by the end of March).

 

Healthcare

·     Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) 4Q adj EPS ($2.50) vs. est. ($1.48) on revs $38.2Mm vs. est. $34Mm; sees FY21 revs $75-85Mm vs. est. $64.5Mm, sees FY adj op exp $130-140Mm

·     Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS) said that it would no longer pursue the clinical development of C3 inhibitor APL-9 for the treatment of severe COVID-19 after finding no meaningful reduction in the overall mortality rate.

·     Cooper Companies (COO) Q1 EPS $3.17 vs. est. $2.78; Q1 revenue $680.5M vs. est. $660.67M; CooperVision (CVI) revenue up 4% to $507.0 million, and CooperSurgical (CSI) revenue up 8% to $173.5 million; Operating margin of 20% compared with 17% in last year’s first quarter; sees FY21 EPS $12.90-$13.10 vs. est. $12.54 and sees FY21 revenue $2.8B-$2.85B vs. est. $2.76B.

·     Fulgent Genetics (FLGT) Q4 EPS $6.20 vs. est. $4.05; Q4 revenue $294.98M vs. est. $199.44M; sees FY21 EPS $12.50 vs. est. $11.55; sees FY21 revenue $800M, vs. est. $600.24M (notes of the $800M anticipates $70M in revenue from NGS testing)

·     Senseonics Holdings (SENS) 4Q reported EPS ($0.41) vs. est. ($0.09), may not be comparable, on revs $3.9Mm vs. est. $3.1Mm; guides FY21 revs $12-15Mm vs. est. $13.15Mm

·     SmileDirectClub (SDC) 4Q EPS ($0.09) vs. est. ($0.10) on revs $185Mm vs. est. $181.1Mm; guides 1Q revs +5-7% sequentially; Q4 Adjusted EBITDA of $7 million, up 137% over the third quarter; Q4 unique aligner shipments of 101,794 and average aligner gross sales price of $1,820 for Q4

·     ViewRay (VRAY) 4Q EPS ($0.18) vs. est. ($0.18) on revs $18.5Mm vs. est. $16Mm, not providing guidance

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) Q1 adj EPS $6.61 vs. est. $6.55; Q1 revenue $6.66B vs. est. $6.61B; sees Q2 revenue guidance of approximately $6.5B, an expected increase of 13% from prior year period (est. $6.3b) and sees Q2 adj Ebitda guidance of approximately 59% of projected revenue

·     Guidewire (GWRE) Q2 adj EPS 11c vs. est. loss (1c); Q2 revenue $180.1M vs. est. $170.29M; narrows FY21 revenue view to $725M-$733M from $723M-$733M; sees Q3 revenue $155M-$159M vs. est. $166.68M; sees Q3 adjusted operating income ($29M)-($25M)

·     Jamf Holding (JAMF) Q4 EPS loss (8c) vs. est. 1c; Q4 revenue $76.43M vs. est. $70.55M; Q4 ARR increased 37% YoY to $285.3M as of December 31, 2020; sees Q1 revs $76M-$77M vs. est. $72.4M

·     Medallia Inc. (MDLA) 4Q adj EPS ($0.01) vs. est. ($0.01) on revs $128Mm vs. est. $124.6Mm; guides 1Q revs $126-128Mm vs. est. $128.5Mm; guides FY revs $563-567Mm vs. est. $554.8Mm; to acquire Decibel for $160M in cash

·     NXPI Semiconductor (NXPI) raises quarterly dividend 50% to 56c and adds $2B to its existing $640M share repurchase program

·     On Semiconductor (ON) estimates incurring costs between $58 mln and $62 mln during h1 2021 in connection with employment separations; restructuring may not result in a material reduction in company’s future operating expenses

·     Veritone (VERI) Q4 adj EPS loss (14c) vs. est. loss (15c); Q4 revenue $16.8M vs. est. $16.21M; sees Q1 revenue $17M-$17.5M vs. est. $15.41M; sees Q1 adjusted net income ($4.4M)-($3.9M); sees FY21 revenue $76M-$81M vs. est. $68.3M

·     Oracle (ORCL) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

·     Velodyne (VLDR) says its founder David Hall resigned as a director of the company on Tuesday, days after he was removed as chairman

_________________________________________________________________

Market commentary provided by Hammerstone Markets, Inc, a firm separate from and not affiliated with Regal Securities. Regal Securities has not participated in the creation of the content, and does not explicitly or implicitly endorse the content.

Live Trading

Open an Account

Paper Trading

Register