Early Look

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	-62.00	0.19%	32,788
S&P 500	-0.25	0.01%	3,957
Nasdaq	61.50	0.47%	13,130

 

 

U.S. futures are looking mixed a day after new all-time highs for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials, Dow Transports, all closing at the highs on Monday ahead of a 2-day FOMC meeting that is expected to see more additional “dovish” comments from the rate setting committee. A very busy morning of economic data coming up with Retail Sales for February and Import Prices both at 8:30 AM, followed by Industrial Production at 9:15 and Business Inventories at 10:00 AM. Oil prices are looking lower with WTI crude and Brent both down roughly 1.5% after slipping on Monday. Strength overseas, as in Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 154 points to 29,921, the Shanghai Index gained 26 points to 3,446 and the Hang Seng Index advanced 193 points to 29,027. In Europe, the German DAX is up over 80 points to 14,550, while the FTSE 100 is higher by about 35 points to 6,785. Markets exhibiting no fear with the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) closing at 52-week highs around the 20-level yesterday despite reports that President Biden is planning the first major federal tax hike since 1993 to help pay for the long-term economic program designed as a follow-up to the $1.9T coronavirus relief package. The Dow Jones looks to make it an 8^th straight session of gains (led along the way by industrial and energy stocks). Investors have been keeping a close eye on rising Treasury yields with many believing inflation will move higher following the signing of a new $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. The 10-year Treasury traded at 1.597% early Tuesday. The Fed meeting will likely discuss the recent uptick in inflationary prices but note many Fed speakers have been saying that price hikes are due to an economic recovery.

 

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index jumped 25.60 points, or 0.65%, to 3,968.94

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.82 points, or 0.53%, to 32,953.46

·     The Nasdaq Composite surged 139.84 points, or 1.05%, to 13,459.71

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 7.38 points, or 0.31% to 2,360.17

 

Events Calendar for Today

·     7:45 AM ET         ICSC Weekly Retail Sales

·     8:30 AM EST      Import Prices MoM for Feb…est. 1.2%

·     8:30 AM EST      Export Prices MoM for Feb…est. 0.9%

·     8:30 AM EST      Advance Retail Sales MoM for Feb…est. (-0.5%)

·     8:30 AM EST      Retail Sales – Less Autos MoM for Feb…est. (-0.1%)

·     8:55 AM ET         Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales

·     9:15 AM EST      Industrial Production MoM for Feb…est. 0.3%

·     9:15 AM EST      Capacity Utilization for Feb…est. 75.5%

·     10:00 AM EST    Business Inventories MoM for January…est. 0.3%

·     10:00 AM EST    NAHB Housing Market Index…est. 83

·     4:30 PM ET         API Weekly Inventory Data

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: CTRN, DBI, FCEL, FREE, JBL, JILL, NBEV, XGN

·     Earnings After the Close: ASPU, CAL, CALA, COUP, CRIS, CRWD, ETON, HIL, IDN, INFI, KIN, KODK, LEN, MOTS, ORGO, PFMT, REI, RMED, SMAR, VOLT, YTEN

 

Other Key Events:

·     Citigroup Communications Services Conference (virtual), 3/16-3/19

·     JPMorgan Industrials Conference (virtual), 3/15-3/17

·     Mizuho Annual Energy Summit (virtual), 3/15-3/16

·     Morgan Stanley Healthcare Corporate Access Virtual Day

·     Oppenheimer Healthcare Conference (virtual), 3/16-3/18

·     Roth Capital Virtual Conference, 3/15-3/17

·     UBS Energy Conference (virtual), 3/16-3/18

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	-1.01	64.38
Brent	-1.09	67.79
Gold	0.50	1,732.25
EUR/USD	0.0014	1.1943
JPY/USD	0.02	109.15
10-Year Note	-0.01	1.597%

 

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Nikola (NKLA) files $100M common stock offering

·     Tesla (TSLA): The U.S. auto safety agency said on Monday it is investigating a crash in Detroit on Thursday involving a Tesla that became wedged underneath a tractor-trailer and left a passenger in critical condition.

·     Par Technology (PAR) 4Q adj EPS ($0.37) vs. est. ($0.23) on revs $58.5Mm vs. est. $57.7Mm

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     NOV Inc. (NOV) forecasts consolidated Q1 revenues will be between $1.20B-$1.25B (below est. $1.36B) with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $15M-$25M; announced that it expects operational disruptions and softer-than-anticipated customer orders will cause Q1 of FY21 operating results to fall below prior guidance

·     Goldman Sachs raises PT on Chevron (CVX) to $117 from $115, cuts PT on Exxon (XOM) to $65 from $66 following a review of the companies’ 10-K filings as now sees 11% and 10% return to XOM and CVX share prices, respectively, on revised PTs; sees both XOM and CVX having leverage to a continued commodity price recovery

·     CleanSpark (CLSK) 9.09M share Spot Secondary priced at $22.00

·     Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) and SolarWorX, a Berlin based off-grid solar pioneer, announced today that they entered into a strategic partnership in which Canadian Solar will invest in SolarWorX as part of the start-up’s series A investment round

·     GFL Environmental (GFL) agreed to acquire Terrapure Environmental’s solid waste and environmental solutions business and its subsidiaries for C$927.5M (~US$743.3M)

 

Healthcare

·     ICAD Inc. (ICAD) shares up 14%; said the U.S. FDA had cleared a new version of its artificial intelligence software for 3-D mammography or breast imaging; ProFound AI Version 3.0 offers up to 10% improvement in specificity performance and up to 1% improvement in sensitivity

·     Enzo Biochem (ENZ) shares up 36%; said it hired an investment bank to evaluate various strategic options as its chief executive plans to step down from the job; said CEO Dr. Elazar Rabbani will step down as its top leader but remain a director on the board and take a scientific role when Enzo hires a successor.

·     Biohaven Pharmaceutical (BHVN) 2.69M share Spot Secondary priced at $76.00

·     AcelRX Pharma (ACRX) 4Q EPS ($0.10) vs. est. ($0.10) on revs $700K vs. est. $1.73Mm

·     Fulgent Genetics (FLGT) awarded contract from CDC to study variants of covid-19 virus; under agreement, co will sequence genomes of random samples that have tested positive for sars-cov-2, virus that causes covid-19

·     AbbVie (ABBV) is in discussions to sell a $5B portfolio of women’s drugs it acquired last year through its purchase of Allergan, Reuters reported

·     Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX) Q4 EPS 11c vs. est. 9c; Q4 revenue $31M vs. est. $30.35M

·     HealthEquity (HQY) 4Q adj EPS $0.42 vs. est. $0.40 on revs $188.2Mm vs. est. $185.4Mm; guides FY22 adj EPS $1.37-1.42 vs. est. $1.70, sees FY revs $750-760Mm vs. est. $757.4Mm

·     Option Care Health (OPCH) 12M share Spot Secondary priced at $20.00

·     Rubius Therapeutics (RUBY) announces $150M offering of common stock

·     Solid Biosciences (SLDB) files to sell 24.3M shares of common stock for holders

·     Sotera Health (SHC) offers to sell 25M shares of common stock for holders

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Microsoft Corp (MSFT) said it was rolling back a recent change to its authentication system after the update caused an access issue that affected thousands of users of its services, including workplace messaging app Teams.

·     Maxar Technologies (MAXR) files automatic mixed securities shelf

·     Nokia (NOK) plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs over an 18–24-month period, and is planning other changes like investing in R&D and future capabilities including 5G, cloud and digital infrastructure.