Equity Indexes Wrap: Health Care Lags as UnitedHealth Faces Probe
1 hr 54 min ago
The Dow
Boeing (BA) rose 2.8% as the Federal Aviation Administration said it had 90 days to develop a plan to address the agency’s safety concerns.
Disney (DIS) gained 1.3% after it reached an agreement with India’s Reliance Industries to merge the two companies’ streaming and TV assets into one $8.5 billion joint venture.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) fell 3% following a report that federal antitrust regulators were looking into the relationship between its insurance and health care services businesses.
Apple (AAPL) slipped 0.7% a day after gaining on news it would call off its efforts to develop an autonomous electric vehicle.
The S&P 500
Axon Enterprises (AXON) jumped 13.8% after the Taser maker reported better-than-expected earnings and forecast full-year sales and profit ahead of Wall Street estimates.
eBay Inc. (EBAY) climbed 7.9% after topping analyst’s estimates with its fourth-quarter earnings.
Agilent Technologies (A) rose 3.4% after also beating earnings estimates.
First Solar (FSLR) offered upbeat full-year guidance, sending its shares 2.9% higher.
Autozone (AZO) tacked on 1.9% after competitor Advance Auto Parts (AAP) forecast higher-than-expected 2024 earnings.
Viatris (VTRS) fell 7.1% after the generic drug manufacturer reported a net loss in the fourth quarter.
Health care stocks following Viatris and UnitedHealth lower. Insurer Humana (HUM) fell 3.2% and managed car provider Centene (CNC) slipped 2.5%.
The Nasdaq 100
Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG) was the best-performing stock in the index for a second consecutive day, rising 9.7% after yesterday forecasting much higher 2024 earnings than analysts were expecting.
Tesla (TSLA) ticked up 1.2% after Elon Musk said the company would release its second-generation Roadster sports car sometime next year.
Applied Materials (AMAT) fell 2.6% amid reports the company had been subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission for information about its shipments to Chinese companies.
Alphabet (GOOGL) slid 1.8% after 32 European publishers filed a $2.3 billion lawsuit taking aim at Google’s advertising technology and practices.
TJX Stock Hits All-Time High on Holiday Sales, Dividend, and Buyback
2 hr 49 min ago
TJX (TJX) shares reached an all-time high Wednesday as the off-price retailer posted strong holiday sales, raised its dividend, and boosted its stock buyback program as shoppers flocked to its locations looking for bargains.
The owner of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and Sierra stores reported a fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 adjusted profit of $1.12, in line with estimates. Revenue jumped 13% from a year ago to $16.41 billion, more than forecasts.
Same-store sales jumped 5%, ahead of expectations. TJX noted that the gain was entirely driven by a rise in customer transactions.
The company announced that it intends to increase its quarterly dividend to $0.375 from $0.3325, which is to be declared in April and payable in June. However, the move still needs board approval.
TJX shares, which were 1% higher at $101.53 Wednesday afternoon, have added close to one-third of their value in the past year.
TradingView
Beyond Meat Stock Takes Off on Promise of Cost Cuts, 2024 Profitability
4 hr 30 min ago
Shares of Beyond Meat (BYND) soared Wednesday after the fake meat company said it would slash costs to overcome sluggish demand and turn a profit this year.
Beyond Meat forecast full-year gross margin would be in the mid to high-teens range, a dramatic improvement from 2023’s gross margin of -24%. The company cut costs in 2023, reducing its operating expenses to $259 million from $319 million in 2022. But a commensurate drop in revenue—to $343 million from $419 million—left its annual operating loss effectively unchanged.
Beyond Meat expects to book operating expenses of between $170 million and $190 million this year, while revenue is expected to fall within a range of $315 million to $345 million, little changed from 2023.
The company’s full-year net loss was $338 million, or $5.26 per share, with a non-cash charge related to a strategic business review accounting for $85 million of that loss.
“In 2023, Beyond Meat undertook extensive initiatives to reset the business toward sustainable operations and, ultimately, profitable growth. Much of this reset is now coming into view,” said CEO Ethan Brown in the company’s earnings release.
Beyond Meat’s stock soared more than 40% in intraday trading Wednesday, putting it on track to have its best day since its initial public offering. Still, shares trading at $10.60 are worth a fraction of what they once were.
Beyond Meat went public in May 2019 at an IPO price of $25 per share. On their first day of trading, shares spiked and closed just under $66. They climbed in the next few months to an all-time high of $239.71 in July 2019. Since then, investors’ high hopes have been dashed by weak demand for the company’s plant-based meat products.
Agilent Technologies Stock Jumps as Earnings Top Estimates
5 hr 49 min ago
Shares in Agilent Technologies (A) gained nearly 5% in intraday trading Wednesday after the laboratory supplies maker topped analysts’ quarterly top- and bottom-line expectations, despite sales contracting from the prior year.
The Santa Clara, California-based company posted fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.29 on revenue of $1.66 billion. Wall Street had expected earnings of $1.22 on sales of $1.59 billion. The company said ongoing sequential stabilization in China and secular growth drivers globally in applied markets underpinned the better-than-expected quarterly results.
Despite the top line coming in ahead of the consensus view, it fell 5.6% from a year earlier as growth in services and consumables was offset by conservative capital equipment spending across most of Agilent’s end markets.
Source: TradingView.com.
Since the 50-day moving average crossed above the 200-day moving average in early January to generate a golden cross buy signal, the Agilent share price has traded mostly sideways on below-average volume.
Keep a close eye on the $141 level on Wednesday. This area on the chart may provide overhead resistance from a trendline linking the April and December swing highs. A convincing close above this region opens the door to a potential rally up to the next key level of resistance near a prior double top pattern around $160.
Tesla Plans to Release Roadster Next Year, Musk Says
6 hr 51 min ago
Tesla (TSLA) is planning to ship its long-delayed Roadster electric sports car next year, CEO Elon Musk said in a series of posts on social media platform X on Wednesday.
Musk said that the Roadster’s production design is complete and will be unveiled later this year, and that the new sports car will be a collaboration between Tesla and his rocket and satellite internet company SpaceX.
The second generation of the Roadster was announced in 2017 but its release has faced multiple delays, which the company has blamed on factors ranging from the pandemic shutdown to a global chip shortage.
Released in 2008, the Roadster was Tesla’s first automobile. The company sold about 2,500 units before ending production in January 2012.
Tesla shares were up 2.4% at $204.77 Wednesday afternoon but are down about 18% this year.
UnitedHealth Stock Slumps on Report of DOJ Probe
7 hr 22 min ago
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) shares tumbled in early trading Wednesday following reports the Department of Justice (DOJ) had launched an antitrust investigation into the health insurance giant.
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that federal investigators had questioned healthcare-industry representatives about possible issues arising from UnitedHealth’s ownership of both its UnitedHealthcare insurance business and its health services unit, Optum.
It is the second DOJ investigation of UnitedHealth in the last few years. In 2022, the department sued to block the company’s $13 billion acquisition of health tech firm Change Healthcare. That effort was struck down by a federal judge.
UnitedHealth shares were down 4.7% at $489 late Wednesday morning. With Wednesday’s losses, the stock has gained just 2% in the past 12 months.
First Solar Stock Shines on Q4 Earnings Beat and Full-Year Outlook
8 hr 7 min ago
First Solar (FSLR) shares climbed 8% in early trading on Wednesday after the company topped Wall Street’s fourth-quarter bottom-line forecast and issued better-than-expected full-year earnings guidance amid robust demand for its renewable energy products.
For the December quarter, the Tempe, Arizona-based solar panel manufacturer reported net income of $349 million, or $3.25 per share, ahead of the $3.19-a-share figure expected by analysts. Although revenue in the period grew from $801 million to $1.16 billion, it came in below the $1.3 billion consensus mark.
Looking ahead, the company sees 2024 earnings per share (EPS) of between $13 and $14, with the midpoint of that forecast topping Wall Street’s view of $13.26. It projects annual net sales of $4.4 billion to $4.6 billion compared to the $4.56 billion modeled by analysts.
Source: TradingView.com.
Since breaking below a Wyckoff distribution phase in mid-September last year, First Solar shares have mostly traded sideways on lackluster volume. If the stock has a follow-through earnings rally, monitor the $174 level—an area on the chart where the price may find a confluence of resistance from the distribution phase’s lower trendline and the falling 200-day moving average. A break above this important technical level could see bulls retest the stock’s 2023 high set in May at $232.
Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket
9 hr 5 min ago
Gains:
- First Solar Inc. (FSLR): Shares of the solar company climbed more than 6% after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and full-year guidance.
- Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN): Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange climbed more than 5%, following Bitcoin higher as it approached $60,000.
- eBay Inc. (EBAY): Shares of the online marketplace operator gained 5% after its fourth-quarter earnings topped Wall Street estimates.
Losses:
- Lemonade Inc. (LMND): Shares of the health insurer tumbled more than 20% after its full-year revenue forecast fell short of analyst estimates. It also warned that investments in its business would weigh on near-term earnings.
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT): Shares of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker slipped about 2% amid reports the SEC had subpoenaed the company as it looks into its Chinese business.
- UnitedHealth Group (UNH): Shares fell more than 1% following reports the Justice Department had launched an antitrust investigation of the health insurance giant.
Stock Futures Dip Premarket
9 hr 47 min ago
Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.3% lower in premarket trading on Wednesday.
S&P 500 futures dropped 0.4%.
Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.5% a little more than an hour before markets opened.
