Thursday, September 23, 2021
Futures Up/Down % Last
Dow 162.00 0.47% 34,291
S&P 500 23.25 0.53% 4,407
Nasdaq 83.50 0.55% 15,247
U.S. stocks are looking at another move higher following strong gains on Wednesday despite the FOMC taking a more “hawkish” stance on both rates and the timeline on asset purchase tapering during yesterday’s meeting. Stocks jumped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cleared the way to ease monthly bond purchases “soon” and signaled interest rate increases may follow more quickly than expected. Stocks pared gains late as Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke at his press conference but still closed up solidly. Fed officials indicated that they see interest rates seen rising to 1% in 2023, faster than projected by the Fed in its projections in June, and then to 1.8% in 2024. Nine of eleven major S&P 500 sectors ended the day higher. However, of note, all 11 groups retreated from the moments before Powell’s press conference began, into the close.
The Dow Transport index slid to 6-month lows following weakness from Fed-Ex (FDX) earnings results and guidance the night prior.
In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index was closed, the Shanghai Index rose 13 points to 3,642 and the Hang Seng Index gained 289 points to 24,510. In Europe, the German DAX is up over 130 points (0.89%) to 15,645, while the FTSE 100 rises about 20-points to move above 7,100. Oil prices are slipping but still holds near two-month high with global stockpiles tightening. In China news, the WSJ reported China is preparing for the “demise” of Evergrande, signaling Beijing’s reluctance to get involved and bail out the company.
Events Calendar for Today
8:30 AM ET Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 320K
8:30 AM EST Continuing Claims…est. 2.65M
9:45 AM ET Markit Manufacturing PMI, Sept-F…est. 61.5
9:45 AM ET Markit Services PMI, Sept-F…est. 55.0
9:45 AM ET Markit Composite PMI-Sept-F
10:00 AM ET Leading Index MoM for Aug…est. +0.7%
10:30 AM ET Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data
11:00 AM ET Kansas City Fed Manufacturing for Sept…prior 22
Earnings Calendar:
Earnings Before the Open: DRI, DYNT, IWSY, RAD
Earnings After the Close: AEHR, AGTC, AIR, CAMP, $COST, MTN, $NKE, PRGS, $RSSS
Other Key Events:
Credit Suisse 7th Annual Oil & Gas Non-Bus Tour (virtual), 9/21-9/23
DA Davidson Diversified Industrials & Services Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23
Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference (virtual), 9/21-9/23
JPMorgan 12th Annual U.S. All Stars Conference (virtual), 9/21-9/23
Oppenheimer Fall Healthcare Life Sciences & MedTech Summit (virtual), 9/20-9/23
Roth Capital 8th Annual Solar Symposium (virtual), 9/20-9/23
Sidoti Fall Small Cap Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23
Wells Fargo 4th Annual Consumer Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23
Market Closing Prices Yesterday
The S&P 500 Index gained 41.45 points, or 0.95%, to 4,395.64
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 338.48 points, or 1.00%, to 34,258.32
The Nasdaq Composite jumped 150.45 points, or 1.02%, to 14896.85
The Russell 2000 Index advanced 32.38 points, or 1.48% to 2,218.56
Macro Up/Down Last
Nymex -0.32 71.91
Brent -0.27 75.92
Gold 3.80 1,772.00
EUR/USD 0.0028 1.1715
JPY/USD 0.11 109.89
10-Year Note +0.003 1.335%
World News
China is preparing for the “demise” of Evergrande, signaling Beijing’s reluctance to get involved and bail out the company (the gov’t will only step in should the company’s failure turn disorderly) – WSJ https://on.wsj.com/3i2x8WH
Sector News Breakdown
Consumer
Steelcase ($SCS) 2Q EPS $0.21 vs est. $0.23 on revs $724.8Mm vs est. $761.3Mm; guides 3Q revs $755-785Mm vs est. $713Mm, sees 3Q EPS $0.07-0.11 vs est. $0.09
Funko ($FNKO) entered into a new credit agreement for a term loan facility of $180M and a revolving credit facility of $100M that mature September 17, 2026
Brilliant Earth ($BRLT)33M share IPO priced at $12.00
Hyatt ($H) 7M share Secondary priced at $74.50
Sovos Brands ($SOVO)3M share IPO priced at $12.00
Energy, Industrials & Materials
HB Fuller (FUL) 3Q adj EPS $0.79 vs est. $0.79 on revs $827Mm vs est. $797.6Mm; guides FY revs +17-18% vs est. +14.4%, sees FY adj EBITDA abut $460-470Mm vs est. $463Mm
KB Homes (KBH) 3Q EPS $1.60 vs est. $1.62 on revs $1.47B vs est. $1.57B; qtrly homes delivered +35% to $3,425, ending backlog value +89% to $4.84B; inventory +19% to $4.66B as of Aug. 31; repurchased 4.7Mm shares for $188.2Mm
Northrop Grumman ($NOC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs with a $350 price target and General Dynamics (GD) also upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs with a $176 price target in the defense sector; L3Harris Technologies (LHX) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs with a $207 price target, Lockheed Martin (LMT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy with $402 tgt and Woodward ($WWD) downgraded to Sell from Neutral with $102 tgt
Loop Capital started Regal Beloit Corp (RBC) with a Buy rating and $180 price target and Timken (TKR) with a Hold rating and $72 price target
Grinrod Shipping ($GRIN)842M share Spot Secondary priced at $13.50
Syncrude Canada, majority-owned by Suncor Energy ($SU), cut September supplies due to a mechanical disruption at its Alberta oil sands site, Bloomberg reported
Financials
Chinese Estates (Holdings) Ltd. is planning to sell all of its shares in China Evergrande Group, as the property investment company is worried about the recent stock-price volatility and financial condition of debt-laden Evergrande. Chinese Estates, which currently holds 751.09 million shares or a 5.66% stake in Evergrande, expects to record a realized loss on the stake of about 1.38 billion Hong Kong dollars ($177.2 million) for the year ending December
Remitly Global (RELY)16M share IPO priced at $43.00
The9 ($NCTY), Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform, and Protocol Labs, a major contributor of open-source projects are forming an ecosystem collaboration on NCTY’s Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform NFTSTAR and GameFi Play-to-Earn projects
Safehold (S$AFE)2M share Secondary priced at $76.00
Willis Towers Watson ($WLTW) raises share buyback program by $4B
Raymond James Financials ($RJF) posts Private Client Group assets in fee-based accounts of $643.5B grew 33% Y/Y, thanks to the net addition of financial advisers; record client assets under administration of $1.21T rose from $945.2B in the year ago period and $1.18T in the prior month.
Healthcare
The FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization for a booster dose of Pfizer ($PFE)/BioNTech’s ($BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine for those 65 and older, those who work in healthcare settings, and adults at high risk of severe COVID-19. The authorization includes people whose “frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19.”
Sterling Check (STER)285M share IPO priced at $23.00
Eargo, Inc. (EAR) shares fell -50% on reports it is the target of a criminal investigation by U.S. DOJ related to insurance reimbursement claims submitted on behalf of customers covered by federal employee health plans; the co is withdrawing its financial guidance for fiscal year ending December 31, 2021
Spectrum Pharma (SPPI) Journal of Clinical Oncology Abstract listing for co.’s ‘poziotinib for patients with HER2 exon 20 mutant non–small-cell lung cancer
Cigna Corp (CI) named Eric Palmer as president and chief executive officer of Evernorth, its health services unit that mainly houses its pharmacy benefit management business; also announced several other leadership changes
Medirom Healthcare (MRM) rises 39%; after saying that it will buy Japanese private hair salon operator Zacc Kabushiki Kaisha in an all-cash deal of 370.0 mln yen ($3.36M)
Thorne HealthTech (THRN) 7M share IPO priced at $10.00
Stifel initiated Buy ratings on Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX) with a $202 price target, Kinnate Biopharma (KNTE) with a $32 price target, and Repare Therapeutics (RPTX) with a $48 price target; Hold ratings on Ideaya Biosciences (IDYA) and Revolution Medicines (RVMD)
Needham started SAGE Therapeutics (SAGE) at a Buy and added it to its Conviction List; also initiated Buy ratings on Intra-Cellular Therapeutics (ITCI), Avadel Pharmaceuticals (AVDL), Jazz Pharmaceuticals ($JAZZ), Biogen ($BIIB), Harmony Biosciences ($HRMY), and Hold ratings on Neurocrine Biosciences ($NBIX) and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD)
Technology, Media & Telecom
Blackberry ($BB) shares rose 8% after earnings; Q2 EPS ($0.06) vs est. ($0.07) on revenue $175M vs est. $163.5M
Facebook ($FB) chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer said in a Facebook post: “After 13 amazing years at Facebook, I have made the decision to step down as Chief Technology Officer and transition to a new part time role as Facebook’s first Senior Fellow at the company sometime in 2022
EngageSmart ($ESMT)55M share IPO priced at $26.00
Roku ($ROKU) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim
