Early Look

Friday, December 12, 2025

U.S. stock markets starting where they left off last night, with weakness in technology as Broadcom (AVGO) reported a strong quarter and guidance but concerns about backlog and margins are weighing on shares this morning, falling over 6%. However, the Dow Jones Industrials and Russell 2000 are looking higher, extending record highs as this weeks FOMC rate cut and dovish commentary boosts market sentiment. On Thursday, record high closes for the S&P 500 index, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 in what has been a massive bounce off the 2-week November decline, with markets on the rise for 3 straight weeks as investors enjoy the Fed cutting rates for a third straight meeting this past Wednesday. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index surged 687 points to 50,836, the Shanghai Index rose 16 points to 3,889, and the Hang Seng Index jumped 446 points to 25,976. Asian stocks climbed, buoyed by a rally in Japanese equities on bets the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates next week. In Europe, the German DAX is up 66 points to 24,360, while the FTSE 100 is up 31 points to 9,734. February gold prices jump 1.37% of $59 to $4,371 an ounce (7-week high) as Precious metals extend weekly gains, while oil prices extend weekly declines. U.S. stocks remain on track for another weekly advance. Three central bank speakers today with the Fed’s Paulson, Hammack and Goolsbee speak 2 days after the Fed rate cut.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 646.26 points, or 1.34%, to 48,704.01
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped -60.30 points, or 0.26%, to 23,593.86
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 31.01 points, or 1.21% to 2,290.61

• President Trump signed an executive order titled Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence. This ordered the establishment of task forces to focus on any state laws on AI seen as hindering US “leadership” in AI.
• The Indiana Senate on Thursday voted down a Republican bill to redistrict congressional districts, in a major blow to President Donald Trump. Trump had successfully pushed partisan gerrymanders in statehouses across the country as the GOP tries to hold on to its razor-thin House majority. The new map, passed by the Indiana House, could have netted Republicans two additional seats in the House. – CNBC.

• Lululemon (LULU) announces CEO succession plan as Calvin McDonald to step down as CEO and board chair Marti Morfitt appointed executive chair; Board of Directors authorizes $1.0B increase in its stock repurchase program; reported Q3 revs $2.6B vs. est. $2.48B and Q3 Americas comp sales ex-FX -5%, vs. est. -3.62%; raises FY EPS to $12.92-$13.02, from prior $12.77-$12.97 and boosts Fy rev outlook to $10.96B-$11.05B, from prior $10.85B-$11B.
• RH Corp. (RH) Q3 adj EPS $1.71 vs. est. $2.16 and revs $884M vs. est. $883.65M; sees FY25 revenue growth 9.0%-9.2% from $3.18B in FY24; ees FY25 adjusted operating margin of 11.6%-11.9% and adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.6%-18.0%
• Shoe Carnival (SCVL) approves a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share to be paid on January 26, 2026; authorizes a new share repurchase program for up to $50M of its outstanding common stock.
• Tesla’s (TSLA) U.S. sales have dropped to a close to four-year low in November, Reuters reported. Total sales fell about 23% to 39,800 vehicles from 51,513 a year prior.
• Uber Technologies (UBER) expects to offer robotaxi services in more than 10 markets by the end of next year, as it seeks to become a dominant force in an industry it estimates will eventually be worth at least $1 trillion – Bloomberg
• Host Hotels (HST) announces special dividend of $0.15 per share on common stock.

• Edison International (EIX) raises quarterly dividend to 87.75c per share from 82.75c.
• Quanex Building Products (NX) Q4 adj EPS $0.83 vs. est. $0.53; Q4 sales $489.8M vs. est. $472.6M; Q4 adj Ebitda $70.9M; cash provided by operating activities increased 86% y/y; said balance sheet remains healthy, and our liquidity improved further during
• TechnipFMC (FTI) awarded significant contract for Subsea 2.0® production systems for chevron’s gorgon Stage 3 project; says awarded significant contract by Chevron (CVX); for TechnipFMC, a “significant” contract is between $75M and $250M.

• Lincoln National Corp (LNC) files for mixed shelf offering.

• The Senate failed to pass Democrat & Republican health care plans; US healthcare costs set to rise after the subsidies expiry.
• Bristol Myers (BMY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim
• Olema Pharmaceuticals (OLMA) sales agreement prospectus covering offering of up to $200M common stock that may be issued from time to time.
• Tenaya Therapeutics (TNYA) announced that it has received official notification from the FDA that the clinical hold on the MyPEAK-1 Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of TN-201 has been removed. All concerns raised by the FDA related to the clinical hold have been addressed. Tenaya Therapeutics also announced 50M share Spot Secondary priced at $1.20.

• Intel (INTC) tested chipmaking tools from ACM Research (ACMR), a toolmaker with ties to China and two overseas units that were targeted by U.S. sanctions, Reuters reports. ACM’s wet etch tools were tested for possible use in Intel’s 14A, its most advanced chipmaking process
• Netskope (NTSK) Q3 EPS loss (-$0.10) and revs +33% y/y to $184.2M; Q3 ARR grew 34% y/y to $754M; guides  FY26 EPS loss (53c)-(51c) on revs $701M-$703M vs. est. $689.8M; sees FY26 free cash flow $5M-$8M.
• Comtech Telecom (CMTL) Q1 EPS loss (-$0.67) vs. loss of (-$5.29) last year and revs $111M vs $115.8M y/y; Q1 gross of $9.6M, or 8.7%; Q1 net bookings of $101.9M, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 0.92x.
• Roblox (RBLX) downgraded to neutral from overweight at JP Morgan, seeing the stock taking a breather next year due to headwinds around user engagement and bookings.
• T-Mobile (TMUS) announces $14.6B shareholder return program.