Early Look

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

S&P futures are edging lower, looking to snap a 2-day winning streak ahead of a busy day of economic data (industrial production, housing starts, and import prices) and as Wall Street awaits several central bank policy meetings, including the FOMC on Wednesday. The S&P 500 index (SPX) slid in the final minutes of trading last night, paring gains to a +0.64% daily advance, and posting its first back-to-back gains in roughly a month (2/18-2/19) heading into the FOMC policy meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The Fed will release a new policy statement at 2 p.m. et on Wednesday and though the central bank is expected to leave its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25%-4.50% range, it will also issue new economic projections from policymakers that will give an idea of how they feel President Donald Trump’s policies will affect economic growth, inflation and unemployment, and how interest rates may need to change as a result.

In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index jumped 448 points to 37,845, the Shanghai Index edged higher 3 points to 3,429, and the Hang Seng Index surged 595 points to 24,740. In Europe, the German DAX is higher by 245 points to 23,399, while the FTSE 100 gains 25 points to 8,705. Germany’s lower house of parliament is set to vote today on a massive surge in borrowing (want to create a $500B euro fund) that could boost Europe’s largest economy and stimulate growth across the region. U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in an attempt to convince his counterpart to accept a ceasefire in Russia’s war with Ukraine and move toward a more permanent end to the three-year conflict. In corporate news, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang is expected on Tuesday to reveal fresh details about the company’s newest artificial intelligence chip at its annual software developer conference; Nvidia’s Rubin AI chip to include GPU, CPU and networking chips; Nvidia faces delay with the current Blackwell chip due to design flaws.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 353.44 points, or 0.85%, to 41,841.63
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 54.58 points, or 0.31%, to 17,808.66
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 24.24 points, or 1.19% to 2,028.33

• 8:30 AM ET                  Housing Starts M/M for February…est. 1.38M (prior 1.366M)
• 8:30 AM ET                  Building Permits M/M for February…est. 1.45M (prior 1.473M)
• 8:30 AM ET                  Import Prices M/M for February…est. (-0.1%)
• 8:55 AM ET                  Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 9:15 AM ET                  Industrial Production M/M for February…est. +0.2%
• 9:15 AM ET                  Capacity Utilization for February…est. 77.8%
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $16B in 20-year notes
• 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: ATER BETR HQY INO MRVI STNE ZTO

• Oppenheimer 35th Annual Healthcare MedTech & Services Conference, 3/17-3/20
• Piper 25th Annual Energy Conference, 3/17-3/19, in Las Vegas, NV
• 37th Annual Roth Conference, 3/17-3/18, in Dana Point, CA

• Masterbrand (MBC) announces an additional $50M share repurchase authorization.
• Nio (NIO) announced its partnership with CATL to establish a battery swapping network for cars. CATL will support Nio in developing the battery swapping network while the battery giant’s Choco-Swap technical standards and network will be introduced to Firefly-branded newly developed models.
• Toronto is no longer providing financial incentives for Tesla (TSLA) vehicles purchased as taxis or ride shares due to trade tensions with the United States.
• Volkswagen’s (VWAGY) premium Audi brand is weighing whether to pass on the costs of U.S. import tariffs to customers via price increases, it said.
• Xiaomi Corp. (XIACY) hiked its 2025 delivery target for electric vehicles to 350,000 units after posting its fastest revenue growth since 2021, reflecting inroads into the Chinese EV market; reports 48% rise in Q4 revs, which totalled 109 billion yuan ($15.09 billion), beating the 103.94-billion-yuan average.

• European defense companies are rising ahead of a parliamentary vote in Germany on historic debt reforms that could boost defense spending; shares of Germany’s Renk, Hensoldt, Rheinmetall and BAE among those higher.
• Hallador Energy (HNRG) Q4 adj EBITDA $6.2Mm vs est. $4.811Mm on revs $94.8Mm vs est. $95.45Mm.
• Natural Gas Services (NGS) Q4 EPS $0.23 vs est. $0.26, adj EBITDA $18.0Mm vs est. $16.72Mm on revs $38.2Mm vs est. $40.84Mm; guides 2025 rented horsepower to increase by approx 90,000 horsepower (approx +18%), heavily weighted to 2H25 and into Q126; sees FY25 adj EBITDA $74-78Mm vs est. $77.17Mm.
• Steel Dynamic (STLD) guides Q1 EPS $1.36-$1.40 vs. est. $1.47; says Q1 profitability from the company’s steel operations is expected to be stronger than sequential fourth quarter results, based on increased shipments more than offsetting some metal margin compression, as contractual steel pricing lagged recent spot price improvements, which will be realized in the coming months.

• Incyte (INCY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.
• Quanterix Corp. (QTRX) Q4 EPS ($0.30) vs est. ($0.26) on revs $20.49Mm vs est. $34.44Mm; guides FY revs $140-146Mm vs est. $155.11Mm.
• Sangamo Therapeuctics (SGMO) Q4 EPS loss (-$0.11) vs. ests loss (-$0.09) on revs $7.6M, vs consensus $11.7M $13.6M; Q4 adj operating expenses $29M and sees FY25 operating expenses $135M-$155M.

• Baidu (BIDU) shares looking to extend prior day gains on reports Tesla (TSLA) is planning full roll-out of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) service in China this year and is working with Baidu to improve system’s performance, Chinese tech giant says. Adds free trial of FSD in China scheduled from March 17-April 16.
• Getty Images (GETY) Q4 EPS $0.06 vs est. $0.04, adj EBITDA $80.6Mm vs est. $74.04Mm; guides FY25 revs $918-955Mm vs est. $954.67Mm.
• Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for around $30B, according to people familiar with the matter the WSJ reported late yesterday. A deal could come together soon, granted the talks don’t hit any last-minute snags. Alphabet had been close to a roughly $23B deal for Wiz last summer, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.