Wake Up Call
- Hello ! US equity futures were little changed Wednesday as traders stayed on the sidelines ahead of the release of Federal Reserve minutes, and quarterly earnings from chipmaker NVIDIA.
- Can Nvidia Live Up To The Hype ? Analyst says Q1 earnings anticipation 'like that of A Taylor Swift concert' as Wall Street keeps hopes Sky-High. Investors will be looking for whether the company can keep that momentum going. Nvidia's results are tied to the capital investments of major cloud-computing companies implementing AI features, but analysts are unsure on when that investment cycle will peak.
- ON TAP - Existing home sales, due for release at 3pm UK, are seen rising to a 4.21 million annualized rate in April from 4.19 million in the preceding month. The policy-setting FOMC is scheduled to release the minutes from its most recent meeting at 7pm UK.
- EQUITY MARKET CLOSURES :
- Monday, May 27th : US closed (Memorial Day)
Wall Street Movers
- ANALOG DEVICES +5.5% Q3 adj EPS 4cst $1.40 to $1.60 ($1.35 exp) / rev $2.26bn to $2.28bn ($2.17bn exp) / Q2 Adj EPS $1.40 ($1.27 exp) / Rev $1.40 ($1.27 exp) despite continued macro and inventory headwinds.
- LULULEMON -3.7% after it announced organizational changes, including the departure of chief product officer Sun Choe. Raymond James said Choe leaving the company added to the “wall of worry” in the near term, while Jefferies noted that the adjustments could indicate future issues with top-line growth.
- MODINE -10% FY25 adj EPS $3.55 to $3.85, midpoint at $3.7 ($3.80 exp) / Q4 Net sales $603.5mn ($605.6mn exp) resulting from the impact of Performance Technologies divestitures and other planned reductions.
- SHOPIFY +3.20% upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- TARGET -7.6% Sees Q2 adj EPS $1.95 to $2.35 ($2.19 exp) /Sees 0 to 2% increase in Q2 comp sales / Maintains FY25 adj EPS 4cst $8.60 to $9.60 ($9.44 exp) / Q1 Comparable sales -3.7 (-3.68% exp) / Ebit $1.33bn ($1.30 bn exp). CEO said "Shoppers continue to consume more services, which eats into their spending on other purchases; “we’ve seen a meaningful improvement in discretionary spending. That gives us some optimism."
- TJX +1.7% Q1 net sales $12.48bn ($12.46bn exp) driven by customer transactions / EPS 93c ($0.86 exp) / Boosts FY25 EPS 4cst $4.03 to $4.09, $3.94 to $4.02 / Sees comparable sales +2% to +3% (+3.06% exp)
- URBAN OUTFITTERS +2.9% Q1 net sales $1.20bn (est $1.18bn) / adj EPS 69c (est 51c) / Comparable retail segment sales +4.6% (est +2.85)
At A Glance
- ALPHABET analysts are positive about the Google parent in the wake of its Marketing Live event, which reinforced optimism about the company’s position with AI.
- APPLE hired a new diversity chief for the fourth time in recent years as the iPhone maker seeks to make its workforce more inclusive.
- BENTLEY SYSTEMS Schneider Electric says talks with the software firm regarding a potential strategic transaction have been mutually terminated. No transaction was agreed upon.
- BIOGEN Bolsters late-stage pipeline and expands immunology portfolio with agreement to acquire Human Immunology Biosciences and will make a payment of $1.15bn
- BLACKSTONE is launching an equity-linked incentive program that touches roughly 18,000 employees at climate technology company Copeland.
- CBOE said Interactive Brokers has joined as a participant on the company’s fast-growing European derivatives exchange.
- CITIGROUP was fined almost £62mn by UK regulators for failures after a London trader caused a flash crash in European stocks in 2022. Its systems were poorly designed and its real-time monitoring was “ineffective,” allowing the errant trade to go through, the Financial Conduct Authority said.
- DOCUSIGN head said it wants to stay public, following reports of PE takeover interest, according to CNBC.
- EDWARDS LIFE upgraded to buy from neutral at Citi.
- KKR and TPG are exploring options including a buyout of Southeast Asian online real estate platform PropertyGuru ($723mn market cap).
- KRAFT HEINZ upgraded to overweight from neutral at Piper Sandler.
- SNOWFLAKE ’s talks to acquire startup Reka AI for more than $1bn have broken down. Reka makes large language models — artificial intelligence software trained on massive swaths of the internet that can be used for a range of tasks.
- TOLL BROTHERS Q2 earnings beat exp + boosted deliveries guidance for the full year. Evercore analysts also took note of the magnitude of company share buybacks.
- UNITEDHEALTH claims that it had made progress fixing some systems in the weeks after a crippling cyberattack frustrated state health officials who said they were still having problems.
- WALMART will add telehealth services for pets as a new benefit for Walmart+ users this year.
- WILLIAMS-SONOMA Q1 adj operating margin 19.5% (13.7% exp) / Net rev $1.66bn ($1.66bn exp) / Comparable sales -4.9% (-6.17% exp) / Expect annual interest income to be approximately $40mn.
- X is teaming up with PGA Tour to bring real-time highlights and videos from the golfing event to users of the social media platform.
Key Events
Wednesday
14:40 Fed's Goolsbee Gives Opening Remarks
15:00 US Existing Home Sales
19:00 FOMC Meeting Minutes
Thursday
13:30 Initial Jobless Claims
14:45 S&P Global US Manufacturing & Services & Composites PMI
15:00 US New Home Sales
20:00 Fed's Bostic Participates in Student Q&A
Friday
13:30 US Durable Goods Orders, Cap Goods Orders & Ship Nondef Ex Air
14:35 Fed's Waller Gives Keynote Address on R*
15:00 U. of Mich. Sentiment
Game Of Corporate Actions
DIV EX DATE
- Today : Discover FInancial ($0.70); SBA ($0.98); Walmart ($0.40)
- Tomorrow : 3M ($0.7); CDW ($0.62); Cummins ($1.68); Equifax ($0.39); International Paper ($0.4625); Jacobs Solutions ($0.29); Marriott International ($0.63); Masco ($0.29); Robert Half ($0.53); TE Connectivity ($0.65); Viatris ($0.12); Vulcan Materials ($0.46)
TODAY EARNINGS
- Results aft mkt : NVIDIA ; Synospsys
TOMORROW
Results bef mkt : Medtronic ; Ralph Lauren
Results aft mkt : Ross Stores ; Workday ; Intuit ; Deckers Outdoor