Early Look

Friday, November 12, 2021

Futures	Up/Down	%	Last
Dow	80.00	0.23%	35,913
S&P 500	11.00	0.23%	4,653
Nasdaq	40.50	0.25%	16,063

 

 

U.S. futures are edging higher, looking to add to the gains from Thursday, but major averages remain on track to snap their 5-week winning streak after a sharp pullback Wednesday off all-time highs due to rising inflation fears renewed concerns the economy is going to quick too fast and the Fed may need to “pump the brakes” sooner than later with interest rate hikes (fed fund futures now pointing to a June ’22 star). The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended higher on Thursday, boosted by chipmakers after high inflation numbers dampened investor sentiment and put the brakes on a streak of record closing highs. U.S. Treasury bond yields remain calm after reopening (closed yesterday for Veteran’s Day), with the 10-year yield still under 1.6%. European stocks were steady with U.S. futures, while Asian shares rose at the end of a volatile week. Meanwhile, U.S. officials have warned European Union counterparts that Russia may be weighing a potential invasion of Ukraine, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 1.1% to 29,609, the Shanghai Index gained +0.18% to 3,539, and the Hang Seng Index gained about 0.32% to settle at 25,327. In Europe, the German DAX is up about +0.2% to 16,110, while the FTSE 100 is down roughly-0.4% at 7,350.

 

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index gained 2.56 points, or 0.06%, to 4,649.27

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -158.71 points, or 0.44%, to 35,921.23

·     The Nasdaq Composite jumped 81.58 points, or 0.52%, to 15,704.28

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 19.56 points, or 0.82% to 2,409.14

 

Events Calendar for Today

·     10:00 AM ET      University of Michigan Confidence, Nov-P

·     10:00 AM ET      JOLTs Job Openings for September

·     1:00 PM EST       Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: BKKT, EMAN, HYZN, MOTS, MRAM, NXTD, PLXP, ROLL, SOHO, SPB, TH, VIVO

 

Other Key Events:

·     American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Meeting, 11/12-11/15 (virtual)

·     American Academy of Ophthalmology 2021 Conference, 11/12-11/15, New Orleans

·     Baird 51st Annual Global Industrial Conference, 11/9-11/12 (virtual)

·     Jefferies 2nd Annual Global Interactive Entertainment Conference, 11/11-11/12 (virtual)

·     Morgan Stanley Global Chemicals, Agriculture & Packaging Conference, 11/10-11/12 (virtual)

·     REITWorld 2021 Annual Conference, 11/9-11/12 (virtual)

·     Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, 11/10-11/14, in Washington D.C.

 

 

Macro	Up/Down	Last
Nymex	-1.62	79.95
Brent	-1.50	81.36
Gold	-13.30	1,853.00
EUR/USD	-0.0008	1.1444
JPY/USD	0.04	114.10
10-Year Note	+0.019	1.577%

 

 

World News

·     The U.S. has warned that Russian forces are amassing near the Ukrainian border. The U.S. has sounded the alarm, warned EU allies that Moscow may be planning to invade Ukraine, though Russia said the military deployments are on its territory and denies any aggressive intentions

·     Eurozone Sept Industrial Production beat: -0.2% m/m vs -0.5% consensus, 5.2% y/y vs 4.1% consensus

·     German Oct Wholesale Prices higher: 1.6% m/m vs 0.8% previous, 15.2% y/y vs 13.2% previous

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Blink Charging (BLNK) 3Q EPS ($0.36) vs est. ($0.29) on revs $6.4Mm vs est. $4.7Mm, says 3,016 charging stations contracted or sold in 3Q +351% YoY

·     Gan Ltd (GAN) 3Q EPS ($0.19) vs est. ($0.13) on revs $32.3Mm vs est. $31.9Mm; guides FY revs $125-135Mm vs est. $130.6Mm

·     Flowers Foods (FLO) Q3 adj EPS $0.30 vs. est. $0.25; Q3 revs $1.028B vs. est. $1.01B; raises FY21 EPS view to $1.22-$1.26 from $1.17-$1.22 and boosts FY21 revenue view to $4.3B-$4.344B from $4.26B-$4.30B

·     Fiesta Restaurant (FRGI) Q3 adj EPS loss (-$0.09) on revs rising 13.7% to $88.6M; Q3 comp restaurant sales at Pollo Tropical increased 13.8%; said compared to the same fiscal period in 2019, comparable restaurant sales for Pollo Tropical increased 0.9%

·     Kura Sushi (KRUS) Q4 adj EPS loss (-$0.15) vs. est. loss (-$0.42); Q4 revs $27.9M vs. est. $25.05M; sees FY22 revs $130M-$140M vs. est. $119.52M; sees general and admin expenses as a percentage of sales of approximately 17%

·     Lordstown Motors (RIDE) Q3 EPS ($0.54) vs est. ($0.59); now expect commercial production and deliveries of its Endurance pickup truck will begin in Q3 of 2022

·     Mister Car Wash (MCW) 3Q adj EPS $0.11 vs est. $0.10 on revs $194.3Mm vs est. $188.2Mm, comps +21.3%; guides FY revs $751-756Mm vs est. $746.4Mm, sees comps +31-33% and adj EPS $0.40-0.44 vs est. $0.41

·     Shift Technologies (SFT) Q3 EPS ($0.48) vs est. ($0.52) on revenue that tripled to $180M vs est. $165.4M, units sold doubled to 8,111 with e-commerce units sold +120%; sees Q4 revs $180M-$188M vs est. $166.45M, raised FY revenue range to $621M-$629M from $575M-$595M

·     Xponential Fitness, Inc. (XPOF) 3Q EPS ($0.38) vs est. ($0.12) on revs $40.9Mm vs est. $34Mm; guides FY +230-250 new studios vs prior +215-235, sees NA system-wide sales $690-700Mm, sees revs $147-148.5Mm vs est. 137.8Mm with adj EBITDA $25-26Mm vs prior $22-23Mm and est. $21.9Mm

·     Spectrum Brands (SPB) Q4 EPS $0.38 vs. est. $0.57; Q4 revs $1.16B vs. est. $959.13M; sees mid to high single-digit reported net sales growth in fiscal 2022

·     Volkswagen AG (VWAGY) reports October global sales slumped 33.5% to 600,900 vehicles; YTD global sales up 2% to 7.55M vehicles; China sales slipped 37.2% to 236,500 vehicles for the month.

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Array Technologies (ARRY) 3Q EPS ($0.24) vs est. ($0.05) on revs $192.1Mm vs est. $203.5Mm; says will acquire STI Norlan for Eur 351 cash and 13.9Mm shares of ARRY common, says expected to be significantly accretive to margins and EPS before synergies

·     Astra Space, Inc., (ASTR) Q3 EPS (6c) vs est. (16c), adj EBITDA ($32.9M) vs est. ($33.5M); preparing to perform a test launch for the SpaceForce in coming week or so, subject to readiness of launch conditions; sees Q4 adj EBITDA ($44M)-($40M) vs est. ($33.7M)

·     Hydrofarm Holdings Group (HYFM) 3Q EPS $0.37 vs est. $0.25 on revs $123.8Mm vs est. $122.9Mm; reaffirms recently updated FY outlook, sees FY sales +37-43% vs est. +42%

·     Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) agrees to buy 100% of Arcola Energy, a UK-based systems engineering company specializing in hydrogen fuel cell powertrain and vehicle systems integration for total upfront and earn-out cash and share consideration of up to $40M

·     Sundial Growers (SNDL) rises after the Canadian cannabis producer announced a $100m share buyback alongside quarterly results

 

Healthcare

·     Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) plans to split into two companies, according to the WSJ. The company’s consumer division, which includes Band-Aid and Tylenol, will be separated from the pharmaceutical and medical-devices businesses under the plan, according to the report. J&J will shed its consumer division in 18 to 24 months https://on.wsj.com/3CadVtl 

·     Biogen Inc’s (BIIB) said late-stage studies found that its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm significantly lowered blood levels of an abnormal form of the protein tau. Tau forms toxic tangles of nerve fibers associated with the mind-wasting disease and is a target of experimental Alzheimer’s drugs

·     AstraZeneca (AZN) Q3 core Ebit of $2.28 billion was 14% below consensus, reflecting a lower gross margin while sales were 1% below consensus, with many key growth drivers shy of expectations

·     Novo Nordisk (NVO) gets EMA positive recommendation for Ozempic label extension

·     Acutus Medical, Inc. (AFIB) 3Q adj EPS ($0.87) vs est. ($0.87) on revs $4.6Mm vs est. $5.7Mm; guides FY sales $17-17.5Mm vs est. $22.6Mm; says initiates CE mark study for focal pulsed field ablation therapy to treat atrial fibrillation

·     BioLife Solutions (BLFS) 3Q adj EPS ($0.19) vs est. ($0.09) on revs $33.8Mm vs est. $31.6Mm; guides FY revs $115-119Mm vs est. $114.4Mm

·     Co-Diagnostics (CODX) Q3 EPS $0.38 vs. est. $0.21; Q3 revs $30.1M vs. est. $24.32M; guides FY21 EPS $1.07-$1.16 vs. est. $0.98; sees FY21 revenue $96.0M-$100.0M vs. est. $95.21M.

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Unity Software (U) files automatic mixed securities shelf

·     Millicom International (TIGO) said it had signed an agreement to gain full control of Tigo Guatemala by acquiring the remaining 45% stake from its local joint venture partner in an $2.2 billion all-cash deal.

·     Toshiba Corp. (TOSYY) said it planned to split into three by March 2024 in response to shareholder pressure for a more focused structure, following a similar path taken by fellow industrial conglomerate General Electric Co. (GE) – WSJ https://on.wsj.com/30h1fUU (recall a report in the Nikkei on Nov 8th suggested Toshiba would split into three companies)

·     AEye Inc. (LIDR) Q3 EPS ($0.15) vs est. ($0.05) on revenue $100k vs et. $600k

·     Jamf Holding (JAMF) Q3 EPS loss (-$0.26) vs. est. $0.01; Q3 revs $95.6M vs. est. $93.74M; or Q3 posted 47% total ARR growth and 37% organic ARR growth; sees Q4 revs $99M-$101M vs. est. $98.73M

·     Luminar Technologies Inc. (LAZR) 3Q adj EPS ($0.10) vs est. ($0.10) on revs $8Mm vs est. $8.9Mm; Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities were $544.9M as of September 30, 2021, putting the company on track to meet its goal of ending the year with more cash than starting cash of $485.7M

·     Phunware (PHUN) 3Q EPS $0.01 vs est. ($0.04) on revs $2.2Mm vs est. $2.3Mm; says raised more than $65Mm and now holds approx 129 Bitcoin, committed to growing and digital currency holdings in future; says expect to add decentralized finance (defi) to corporate treasury activities

·     WM Technology, Inc. (MAPS) Q3 EPS 2c vs est. 1c on revenue $50.9M vs est. $51.7M; sees Q4 revenue $50M-$52M vs est. $59.4M, adj EBITDA $3M-$5M vs est. $18.2M