Early Look
Monday, April 1, 2024
Futures |
Up/Down |
% |
Last |
Dow |
120.00 |
0.30% |
40,296, |
S&P 500 |
20.50 |
0.39% |
5,329 |
Nasdaq |
102.50 |
0.55% |
18,577 |
Another day, another record for U.S. markets as futures are pointing to a higher open (overnight high 5,333.50 – a new intraday record) following PCE data this weekend that failed to raise any investor concerns. Data occurred on Friday morning while U.S. stock and bond markets were closed, as the PCE inflation readings showed Feb overall PCE price index +0.3% vs. est. +0.4% and vs. January upwardly revised +0.4% (prev +0.3%) while on a Y/Y basis, PCE rose +2.5%, in-line with consensus and up from +2.4% prior. The Core PCE index M/M rose +0.3%, in-line with consensus and down from an upwardly revised +0.5% (from +0.4%), while on a Y/Y basis, core PCE rose +2.8%, in-line with consensus and down from an upwardly revised +2.9% in January. Feb personal saving rate 3.6% dropping from January 4.1%. Personal Spending for February rose +0.8% M/M, above consensus +0.5% and above January +0.2% while the Personal income M/M rose +0.3% vs. consensus +0.4% and prior +1.0%. Feb real consumer spending +0.4% vs Jan -0.2%. The report bolstered rate-cut bets, with money markets pricing in a 66% chance of at least a 25-basis point cut in June, compared with 55% a day before the data was released, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index fell -566 points to 39.803, the Shanghai Index rose 36 points to 3,077 after better PMI data and the Hang Seng Index was closed. In Europe, both the German DAX and FTSE 100 were closed.
Stocks posted strong results in q1 as the S&P 500 gained 10.16% for the quarter, the Nasdaq climbed 9.11%, and the Dow climbed 5.62%, another astounding quarter of returns on rate cut hopes in 2024 by the Fed. SMCI top S&P gainer for quarter (though just added a few weeks ago) +255%, followed by NVDA +82%, CEG +58% and DECK +40%. Meanwhile, DIS was the top Dow Jones component gained in Q1 rising +35%, CAT +23.9%, AXP +21.5%, and MRK +21% while the top Dow decliners for Q1 were BA -26%, NKE -13.4%, INTC, -12% and AAPL -11%.
Market Closing Prices Yesterday
- The S&P 500 Index gained 5.86 points, or 0.11%, to 5,254.35.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.29 points, or 0.12%, to 39,807.37.
- The Nasdaq Composite dipped -20.06 points, or 0.12%, to 16,379.46.
- The Russell 2000 Index advanced 10.20 points, or 0.48% to 2,124.55.
Economic Calendar for Today
- 9:45 AM ET S&P Global Manufacturing March-Final…prior 52.5
- 10:00 AM ET Construction Spending M/M for February…est. +0.6%
- 10:00 AM ET ISM Manufacturing PMI for March…est. 48.4
Earnings Calendar:
- Earnings Before the Open: CASI LASE LLAP ONDS VERO XTNT
- Earnings After the Close: ACOR DUOT GOEV IDEX IZEA MVST NGS PPSI PVH VTSI
Macro |
Up/Down |
Last |
Nymex |
-0.26 |
92.91 |
Brent |
-0.32 |
86.68 |
Gold |
34.10 |
2,251.20 |
EUR/USD |
-0.001 |
1.0782 |
JPY/USD |
0.02 |
151.37 |
10-Year Note |
+0.016 |
4.21% |
World News
- China Caixin/ S&P global march manufacturing PMI at 51.1 (vs 50.9 in February), a 13-month high and above the expansion 50 level now for 5-straight months.
- Gold rose to a record as indications the Federal Reserve is getting closer to cutting interest rates added impetus to a rally that’s also been driven by geopolitical tensions and robust Chinese demand.
Sector News Breakdown
Consumer
- Tesla (TSLA) raised prices for all Model Y cars in the United States by $1,000 as the Model Y base variant will now cost $44,990, while the long range and performance variants are priced at $49,990 and $53,490, respectively, according to the Tesla website.
- Li Auto Inc. (LI) delivered 28,984 vehicles in March 2024, increasing by 39.2% year over year. This brought the Company’s first-quarter deliveries to 80,400, up 52.9% year over year. The cumulative deliveries of Li Auto vehicles reached 713,764 as of the end of March 2024.
- NIO Inc. (NIO) delivered 11,866 vehicles in March 2024, increasing by 14.3% year-over-year; NIO delivered 30,053 vehicles in the three months ended March 2024; Cumulative deliveries of NIO vehicles reached 479,647 as of March 31, 2024.
- XPeng Inc. (XPEV) said they delivered 9,026 Smart EVs in March, representing a 99% increase over the prior month and 29% increase year-over-year. The XPENG X9 maintained its position as the top-selling all-electric MPV in China, with 3,946 units delivered in March and nearly 8,000 units delivered since its launch. Overall, XPENG delivered 21,821 Smart EVs in the first quarter of 2024, a 20% increase from last year.
- Oxford Industries (OXM) Q4 adj EPS $1.90 vs est. $1.95 on sales $404Mm vs est. $408.18Mm; sees FY revs $1.63-1.67B vs est. $1.616B and adj EPS $9.30-9.70 vs est. $10.26.
- Torrid Holdings (CURV) Q4 adj EBITDA $16.4Mm vs est. $10.9Mm on revs $293.539Mm vs est. $274.83Mm; sees Q1 net sales $277-282Mm vs est. $296.44Mm; sees FY net sales $1.135-1.155B vs est. $1.169B.
Energy, Industrials and Materials
- Constellation Energy (CEG), Vistra (VST), and Talen Energy (TLNE) mentioned positively in Barron’s noting all are each up more than 90% in the past year and there’s a good chance they’ll go still higher as “AI” is giving nuclear power a big lift. Notes data centers being built to run AI systems require lots of power. Nuclear power is exceptionally well suited to meeting such enormous demands.
- Planet Labs (PL) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.11) vs. est. loss (-$0.06); Q4 revs rose 11% y/y to $58.9M vs. est. $58.19M; End of Period customer count increased 15% year-over-year to 1,018 customers; Q4 gross margin was 55%, compared to 55% y/y; Ended the quarter with $298.9 million in cash/cash equivalents; forecasts Q1 adj. EBITDA loss $9M to $11M, vs. est. loss $9.92M.
Financials
- CME Croup (CME) mentioned cautiously in Barron’s saying trading volumes grew a remarkable 36% in the December quarter. But now the end of the rate hike cycle is coming into view, so investors must think about where those volumes will go after the rate peak. In past interest-rate cycles, when rates ebbed, so did CME volumes, its profit growth, and its stock price. – Barron’s.
Healthcare
- Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) announced analysis of results from the first of two induction studies in the Phase 3 YELLOWSTONE clinical trial program evaluating Zeposia (ozanimod) in adult patients with moderate to severe active Crohn’s disease. The study did not meet its primary endpoint of clinical remission at Week 12.
- Liquidia (LQDA) with court win in patent dispute with United Therapeutics (UTHR), late Friday.
- P3 Health Partners (PIII) Q4 EPS ($0.22) vs est. ($0.11) on revs $346.9Mm vs est. $302.97Mm; sees FY revs $1.45-1.55B vs est. $1.424B, adj EBITDA $20-40Mm vs est. $21.27MM.
- Sanofi (SNY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) Dupixent (dupiliumab), already a blockbuster drug approved for several indications, including asthma and eosinophilic esophagitis, is poised for further gains as it is likely to gain approval for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Dupixent sales could reach $21.4B worldwide by 2029, projects GlobalData. The therapy brought in global sales of ~$11.6B in 2023.
Technology, Media & Telecom
- AT&T (T) disclosed that personal data from millions of account holders was leaked on the dark web about two weeks ago. AT&T has launched an investigation and has begun notifying customers whose personal information was compromised. It also has reset the passcodes of current users. AT&T said its analysis found that the data set "appears to be from 2019 or earlier, impacting approximately 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and approximately 65.4 million former account holders."
- Microsoft (MSFT) will sell its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally, the U.S. tech giant said on Monday, six months after it unbundled the two products in Europe in a bid to avert a possible EU antitrust fine.
- Semtech (SMTC) Q4 adj EPS loss (-$0.06) vs. est. loss (-$0.03); Q4 revs $192.9M vs. est. $196.49M; sees Q1 adj EPS loss (-$0.04 to +$0.04) vs. est. $0.01 and revs $195M-$205M vs. est. $200.5M; Q1 gross margin 48.5-50.5%, and adj EBITDA $24.8-30.8Mm vs est. $26Mm.
- Meta Platforms (META) cannot delay the U.S. Federal Trade Commission from reopening a probe into alleged privacy failures by its Facebook unit while the company pursues a lawsuit challenging the agency’s authority, a U.S. court ruled Friday – Reuters.
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.