Early Look

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	6.00	0.02%	35,123
S&P 500	5.25	0.12%	4,601
Nasdaq	55.50	0.36%	15,126

 

 

U.S. futures are looking steady, with the S&P trading in a narrow range overnight (less than 20-points), currently flat holding around the 4,600-level heading into the last trading day of the month and quarter. Crude oil prices slide over 5% after reports the Biden administration is weighing a plan to release around 180M barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), with the headlines coming just a few hours ahead of today’s OPEC+ meeting in Vienna. Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the southeast region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said as the situation in Ukraine does not appear to be improving despite peace talks earlier this week. Markets are also bracing for another busy day of economic data with weekly jobless claims, personal income/spending, PCE inflation data and manufacturing data all expected later this morning. U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, with a bout of profit taking in place after a massive 2-week rally brough the S&P less than 5% of its all-time highs. U.S. stocks ended Wednesday’s trading with modest losses, as investors booked some profits after the dramatic upswing that marked the previous couple weeks. The dip followed a recent run up, as stocks recovered from the substantial losses seen earlier in the year. On Tuesday, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached their highest closing levels since mid-January. Nine of the 11 S&P sectors finished lower, led by Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology. Energy and Utilities ended higher. In Asian markets overnight, The Nikkei Index falls -205 points to 27,821, the Shanghai Index slipped -0.44% to 3,252, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -235 points to 21,996. In Europe, the German DAX is down -0.25% to 14,565, while the FTSE 100 fall s-0.25% to 7,560.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index slipped -29.11 points, or 0.63%, to 4,602.49

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -66.04 points, or 0.19%, to 35,228.15

·     The Nasdaq Composite dropped -177.36 points, or 1.21%, to 14,442.28

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -42.03 points, or 1.97% to 2,091.07

 

Economic Calendar for Today

·     7:30 AM ET         Challenger Layoffs for March

·     8:30 AM ET         Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 197K

·     8:30 AM EST       Continuing Claims…est. 1.35M

·     8:30 AM ET         Personal Income for February…est. +0.5%

·     8:30 AM ET         Personal Spending for February… prior +1.5%

·     8:30 AM ET         PCE Price Index m/m for February

·     8:30 AM ET         PCE Price Index y/y for February

·     8:30 AM ET         Core PCE Price Index m/m for Feb…est. +0.4%

·     8:30 AM ET         Core PCE Price Index y/y for Feb…est. +5.5%

·     9:45 AM ET         Chicago PMI for March…est. 57.0

·     10:30 AM ET       Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: LTRY, TSHA, WBA

·     Earnings After the Close: ADMP, AEHR, BIOC, BLND, CALA, DCT, GBOX, HIL, MARK, NCNO, PL, PLSE, REED, VERB

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	-6.54	101.37
Brent	-6.58	106.87
Gold	-9.50	1,929.50
EUR/USD	-0.0054	1.1103
JPY/USD	0.13	121.93
10-Year Note	+0.025	2.333%

 

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Tesla Inc (TSLA) is extending a production halt at its Shanghai factory and will not resume on April 2, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters. The factory is in the Pudong district east of the city’s Huangpu River

·     Motorsport Games (MSGM) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.60) vs. est. unchanged; Q4 revs $8.2M vs. est. $13.74M; notes expanded organically and through acquisitions and we launched new major NASCAR-branded gaming experiences

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Crude oil prices slide over 5% after reports the Biden administration is weighing a plan to release around 180M barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), in what be the largest release from stockpile since it was created in 1975.

·     Hess Midstream Partners (HESM) 8.9M share Secondary priced at $29.50

·     Arcadia Biosciences (RKDA) slides after Q4 sales fell to $2.2M from $7.1M a year earlier when co had recorded one-time license revenue from its deal with Bioceres; its net loss widened to $9.3M from $8.9M, hurt by impairment charges and higher costs

 

Financials

·     Brewin Dolphin shares jumped 61% after the Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) agreed to buy the U.K. firm for GBP1.6 billion ($2.1 billion), or 515 pence per share, in cash. RBC said the deal will give it a number-three position in the U.K. and Ireland for its wealth management business

·     Franklin Covey (FC) Q2 EPS $0.13 vs. est. $0.06; Q2 revs rose 18% to $56.6M vs. est. $57.1M; Q2 adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter increased 57% to $8.0M; sees FY22 sees FY22 adjusted EBITDA $38M-$39M

·     Howard Hughes (HHC) said it sold its stake in 110 North Wacker Drive, a 55-story Class-A office tower in Chicago, for $210M to Callahan Capital Partners and Oak Hill Advisors

 

Healthcare

·     Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (AMLX) said an advisory committee of the U.S. FDA voted against the approval of AMX0035, an investigational therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,

·     Clovis Oncology (CLVS) said it Rubraca treatment showed a benefit for some ovarian cancer patients and reached its primary endpoints in a Phase 3 trial

·     Masimo (MASI) shares slipped -9% after hours; guides prelim Q1 product revs $285M-$315M saying shortages of critical components in combination with other supply chain issues, including freight carrier delays, have led to lower-than-expected sales in the first quarter; backs year rev view of $1.35B, but is below est. $1.49B

·     Novavax Inc. (NVAX) said it has submitted a request for an expanded authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in the European Union for adolescents aged 12 to 17

·     Phreesia (PHR) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.90) vs. est. loss (-$0.85); Q4 revs $58M vs. est. $56.31M; expect to see operating leverage in early part of fiscal year 2024 and approach profitability in FY25; sees year revs $271M-$275M vs. est. $263.7M

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Apple (AAPL) is considering sourcing memory chips for its iPhones from China, following a production disruption out of Japan earlier this year, Bloomberg reported. The tech giant is testing NAND flash memory chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies, according to the report. Current suppliers Samsung and SK Hynix were expected to make up for the shortfall. A China company would add to a group that also includes Micron Technology (MU), but the sources said it was unclear if any deal would go through.

·     Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) downgraded to equal- weight from overweight at Barclays, saying that the growth story “needs a pause”

·     Datadog, Inc. (DDOG), the monitoring and security platform for cloud applications, today announced its status as a Microsoft partner within the Azure Cloud Adoption Framework

·     Flex Inc. (FLEX) said still sees FY adj EPS $1.85-$1.90, vs. est. $1.89; still sees FY rev. $25.4B-$25.8B vs. est. $25.65B; and reaffirms Q4 EPS view

·     UiPath (PATH) shares fell -20%; Q4 EPS $0.05 vs. est. $0.03; Q4 revs $289.7M vs. est. $283.6M; Q4 ARR rose 59% y/y to $925.3M; said Chris Weber is joining the Company’s executive team to become its first-ever Chief Business Officer; guides Q1 revs $223M-$225M vs. est. $243.1M

·     VNET Group (VNET) Q4 EPS loss (24c) vs. est. loss (22c); Q4 revs $273.9M vs. est. $275.93M; sees FY22 revenue RMB 7.45B-RMB 7.75B

·     Vipshop (VIPS) announces $1 billion share repurchase program