Morning Preview: March 29, 2022

Auto PostDaily Market Report

Early Look

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Futures

Up/Down

%

Last

Dow

148.00

0.42%

35,001

S&P 500

18.25

0.40%

4,586

Nasdaq

50.50

0.34%

15,035

 

 

U.S. futures are moving higher in anticipation of hopes of a cease-fire in Ukraine-Russia as talks between both sides begin today in Turkey, which has bolstered global equities overnight. Global equities are up on the day so far, yields are a bit higher (10-yr above 2.5%) and energy prices are firmer. Stocks got another late day surge Monday in what has been an overly impressive recovery off the March lows, helped on reports that Russia no longer demanding Ukraine be ‘denazified’ in ceasefire talks’; Russia appears to be willing let Kiev join the EU as long at remains non-aligned militarily. The positive market reaction and upward momentum continued (S&P now up 8 of the last 10-days) to start the new week and heading into end of month/quarter as U.S. stocks erased early Monday losses to close at the highs, topping key technical levels once again in the process as investors continue to climb the proverbial “wall of worry.” High inflation, aggressive Fed tightening expectations, rising long/short term rates, commodity shortages, war, trade sanctions – a deluge of negative news over the last month…but global markets have seen a “V” shaped recovery off lows the last 2-weeks as nothing has dented optimism, and as the VIX falls to late January lows back below the 20 level. Bitcoin broke above $48,000 on Monday, moving to its highest levels of 2022, but has pared recent gains this morning. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 1.1% or 300 points to 28,252, the Shanghai Index slipped-0.33% to 3,203, and the Hang Seng Index rose 1.1% or 242 points to 21,927. In Europe, the German DAX is surging about 2% to 14,700, while the FTSE 100 gains over 100 points to 7,575. U.S. economic data today includes the CoreLogic data for January, Conference Board’s measure of Consumer Confidence for March and February JOLTS. In China, Covid related lockdowns remain in place as cases surge.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index jumped 32.43 points, or 0.71%, to 4,575.49

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.65 points, or 0.27%, to 34,955.89

·     The Nasdaq Composite surged 185.60 points, or 1.31%, to 14,354.90

·     The Russell 2000 Index was little changed points, or 0.00% to 2,078.06

 

Economic Calendar for Today

·     7:45 AM ET          ICSC Weekly Retail Sales

·     8:55 AM ET          Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales

·     9:00 AM ET          CaseShiller 20 City for January

·     9:00 AM ET          Monthly Home Price Index for January

·     10:00 AM ET        JOLTs Job Openings for February

·     10:00 AM ET        Consumer Confidence for March

·     4:30 PM ET           API Weekly Inventory Data

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: ASO, BKYI, CONN, DTC, KALA, LOVE, MKC, SCYX

·     Earnings After the Close: CALM, CHWY, CNXC, CWBR, HLTH, MLKN, MU, PRGS, PVH, RANI, RH, SLGC, TCDA, UGRO, VRNT, ZVO

 

Other Key Events:

·     Barclay’s Crypto and Blockchain Summit 2022 (virtual), 3/29-3/30

·     Maxim 2022 Growth Conference (virtual), 3/28-3/29

·     Shoptalk 2022, 3/27-3/30, in Las Vegas

·     Truist Gaming Bus Tour, 3/28-3/30

 

 

Macro

Up/Down

Last

Nymex

0.93

106.89

Brent

1.46

113.94

Gold

-26.30

1,913.50

EUR/USD

0.0058

1.1043

JPY/USD

-0.33

123.53

10-Year Note

+0.028

2.505%

 

 

World News

·     In Germany, the GfK institute said its consumer sentiment index, based on a survey of around 2,000 people, dropped to -15.5 points heading into April from a revised -8.5 points a month earlier and the lowest since February 2021 (ests to drop to -14.0.)

·     In France, the INSEE official statistics agency said its consumer confidence index fell to 91 points from 97 in February, falling short of economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll for 94 and the worst headline figure since February 2021.

·     Australian February retail sales rising 1.8% (MoM), double expectations of a +0.9% (MoM) rise, assisted by an easing of government restrictions while elevated commodity prices were also cited.

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Conn’s (CONN) Q4 non-GAAP EPS $0.33 vs. est. $0.46; Q4 revs $402.48M vs. est. $409.12M; Q4 same store sales increased 6.2% from last year

·     Dave & Buster’s (PLAY) Q4 EPS $0.52 vs. est. $0.60; Q4 revs $343.1M vs. est. $364.5M; Q4 comp store sales down (-2.6%); said business strengthened through the first 8-weeks of Q1, during which comparable store sales increased 5.4% compared with the same period in 2019

·     FGI Industries (FGI) 4Q adj EPS $0.10 vs est. $0.17 on revs $52.2Mm vs est. $45Mm; guides FY revs $182-189Mm vs est. $181.5Mm and op Inc $6.5-7.5Mm vs est. $9.31Mm

·     Lightning eMotors (ZEV) announced GM partnership to strengthen our chassis supply; said Q4 revs rose 13% y/y to $4.2M and sees Q1 revs $5M-$6M

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     FedEx Corporation (FDX) said Raj Subramaniam to become President and CEO; Frederick W. Smith to serve as Executive Chairman

·     Southwest Gas (SWX) announces $400M common stock offering

·     Oil demand in China is suffering from a fresh bout of high-profile virus clampdowns, with a staggered eight-day lockdown spanning its top financial hub weighing on consumption

 

Financials

·     Jefferies Financial (JEF) Q1 net revenues of $1.73B in Q1 beat the $1.55B consensus but dipped from $2.48B in the same period a year ago in a backdrop of market volatility, tighter monetary policy and geopolitical uncertainty; Investment banking and capital markets net revenues were $1.48B in Q1, down from $1.98B in Q1 2021; authorizes buyback of up to $250M in stock

 

Healthcare

·     Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH) 4Q adj EPS $0.10 vs est. $0.11 on revs $414.1Mm vs est. $423Mm; guides FY revs $1.89-1.92B vs est. $2.02B

·     CVS Health (CVS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank

·     Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA) 4Q adj EBITDA $1Mm vs est. ($32Mm) on revs $148Mm vs est. $94.8Mm; sees FY revs $325-340Mm vs est. $305.8Mm

·     NeoGenomics (NEO) announces CEO departure and begins CEO search; sees Q1 below guidance and withdraws guidance for 2022

·     FDA has approved the 2 mg dosage strength for Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) once weekly type 2 diabetes injection Ozempic (semaglutide)

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Pinterest (PINS) downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley at Morgan Stanley amid challenging user trends and cuts tgt to $30 from $53

·     Fortinet (FTNT) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays and up tgt to $395 from $364

·     SentinelOne (S) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays with an unchanged target of $37

·     Aeye Inc. (LIDR) 4Q adj EPS ($0.13) vs est. ($0.11) on revs $1.8Mm vs est. $600K; guides FY revs $4.0-6.0Mm vs est. $12.2Mm

_________________________________________________________________

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