Early Look

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

U.S. futures looking mixed with the Dow and S&P looking flat to up slightly while the tech heavy Nasdaq is pointing to a lower open amid weakness in semiconductors after reports that the U.S. is considering new curbs on AI chip exports to China. Shares of NVDA and AMD are among the early decliners following the WSJ report. Markets will be keeping an eye on Sintra in Portugal, where the European Central Bank is holding its annual forum on central banking, including at 9:30 AM ET a panel containing Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, alongside the heads of the U.K., eurozone and Japan central banks. Meanwhile tonight at 4:30 PM, the Fed releases Stress Test results for the banks. U.S. stocks jumped on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 scoring its best daily gain in almost two weeks as technology shares climbed and housing data pointed to continued resilience in the U.S. economy, despite the Federal Reserve’s sharply higher interest rates. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.7% pacing the gains as the technology, communications, and consumer discretionary sectors led yet again. Stocks appear poised to resume a tech-fueled rally that has the S&P 500 up 14% on the year so far and the Nasdaq about 29.5% higher. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index surged 655 points to 33,193, the Shanghai Index was unchanged at 3,189, and the Hang Seng Index rose 23 points to 19,172. In Europe, the German DAX rises 131 points to 15,978, while the FTSE 100 is up 50 points to 7,512.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index jumped 49.59 points, or 1.15%, to 4,378.41.

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 212.03 points, or 0.63%, to 33,926.74.

·     The Nasdaq Composite surged 219.90 points, or 1.65%, to 13,555.67.

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 26.67 points, or 1.46% to 1,843.91.

Economic Calendar for Today

·     7:00 AM ET                  MBA Mortgage Applications Data

·     8:30 AM ET                  Advance Goods Trade Balance for May

·     8:30 AM ET                  Wholesale Inventories for May

·     9:30 AM ET                  Fed’s Powell, ECB’s Lagarde, BOJ’s Ueda, BOE’s Bailey speak.

·     10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data

·     1:00 PM ET                   US Treasury to sell $35B in 7-year notes.

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: GIS UNF

·     Earnings After the Close: AEMD AOUT CNXC FC FUL MU WOR

Other Key Events:

·     Goldman Sachs Berlin Disruptive Technology Symposium, 6/27-6/28, in Berlin

World News

·     China ratings affirmed at ‘a+/a-1’; outlook stable; S&P said China’s economy is rebounding from covid lockdowns in 2022, but weak global demand and overhang in its property sector are dampening recovery. S&P says outlook on China’s long-term ratings remains stable, reflecting view that economic recovery will continue, albeit at a slower pace.

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     GEN Restaurant Group (GENK) 3.6M share IPO priced at $12.00.

·     Kaixin Auto Holdings (KXIN) files $300M mixed shelf.

·     Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank America.

·     Overstock.com (OSTK) shares rise 5% after a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved the company’s $21.5M purchase of troubled retailer Bed Bath & Beyond’s brand name, intellectual property, and ecommerce platform.

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     AeroVironment (AVAV) Q4 adj EPS $0.99 vs. est. $1.01; Q4 revs $186M vs. est. $164.12M; guides FY24 EPS $ $2.30-$2.60 vs. consensus $2.04 and revs $630M-$660M vs. est. $600.24M; said record funded backlog of $424.1m as of April 30, 2023.

·     AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) 12.5M share Spot Secondary priced at $4.75.

·     Astrotech Corporation (ASTC) confirmed that it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from BML Investment Partners, L.P. to acquire all the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company for cash consideration of $17.25 per share.

·     Boise Cascade (BCC) and Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) both upgraded to Buy from Hold at Truist.

·     Private equity firm Arcline Investment Management proposes to acquire Circor International (CIR) for $57 per share in an all-cash deal, which represents a premium of ~12% to the $51 per share offered by KKR & Co.

Financials

·     Jefferies (JEF) raises share buyback authorization to $250M; 2Q EPS $0.05 vs est. $0.27 on revs $1.037B vs est. $1.04B; says uncharacteristically low volumes of capital markets issuances and M&A activity was evident this qtr.

Healthcare

·     Pfizer (PFE) and OPKO Health (OPK) said the U.S. FDA has approved NGENLA, a once-weekly, human growth hormone analog indicated for treatment of pediatric patients aged three years and older who have growth failure due to inadequate secretion of endogenous growth hormone.

·     Eton Pharmaceuticals (ETON) announced that the U.S. FDA issued a Complete Response Letter in response to its New Drug Application for dehydrated alcohol injection for the treatment of methanol poisoning.

·     Reata Pharmaceuticals’ (RETA) said it received regulatory approval from the FDA to offer its drug for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia, Skyclarys, in the U.S.

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) shares fell overnight following a report that the Biden administration is considering a new ban on sales of AI chips to China, the WSJ reported. The restrictions come as concerns rise over the power of the technology in the hands of U.S. rivals, according to people familiar with the situation. https://tinyurl.com/ycxc7bkj

·     Pinterest (PINS) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo.

·     Veeva Systems (VEEV) downgraded to underweight at Morgan Stanley citing on risks to its core customer relationship management (CRM) business within life sciences.