Equity Indexes Wrap: Uber, Tech Boost Major Indexes
16 minutes ago
The Dow
Salesforce (CRM) led the index, gaining 2.9%.
Intel (INTC) added 2.4% amid reports it was seeking $2 billion in equity to build a semiconductor factory in Ireland.
Cisco (CSCO) gained 1.3% ahead of its earnings report after the bell.
Boeing (BA) led the index’s laggards, falling 0.6%. It was trailed by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Apple (AAPL), both down 0.5%.
The S&P 500
Uber (UBER) soared 14.7% after announcing a $7 billion share buyback authorization, its first share repurchase program.
IQVIA (IQV) shares jumped 13.1% after its quarterly earnings topped analyst estimates. Shares of peers Charles River Laboratories (CRL) and Illumina (ILMN) gained 11.3% and 5.2%, respectively.
Most big tech stocks gained ground. Meta (META) added 2.9%, Tesla (TSLA) gained x%, and Amazon (AMZN) rose x%.
Nvidia (NVDA) added 2.3%, taking Alphabet’s (GOOGL) title as America’s third-most valuable company. Alphabet shares rose 0.6%
Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM) fell 8.2% after its quarterly results disappointed investors.
MGM Resorts (MGM) lost 6.2% after reporting margins contracted at its Las Vegas and Detroit operations amid higher employment costs.
The Nasdaq 100
CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) jumped 3.8% after analysts at HSBC and KeyBanc raised their price targets on the cybersecurity stock.
Kraft Heinz (KHC) fell 5.5% after reporting sales declined in the fourth quarter as consumers pulled back amid price increases.
Biogen (BIIB) slipped 2.6%, continuing to fall after yesterday’s disappointing earnings report.
Airbnb (ABNB) slipped 1.7% after topping Wall Street’s earnings expectations but warning of slowing growth.
MGM Resorts Leads S&P 500 Laggards Following Q4 Earnings
1 hr 3 min ago
MGM Resorts (MGM) was the S&P 500’s worst-performing stock on Wednesday despite reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and record net revenue at its Las Vegas properties.
MGM said net revenue increased 22% to $4.4 billion. Revenue was boosted by favorable comparisons after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in Macau and higher daily rates in Las Vegas. Operating income increased to $419 million from a loss of $2 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.06 exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.
However, higher expenses and labor disputes weighed on profitability. Adjusted property EBITDAR at MGM’s regional operations decreased 555 basis points to 26.7%, primarily due to lower revenue amid a union strike at its Detroit location. Adjusted EBITDAR at its Las Vegas properties decreased 173 basis points to 26.7% as higher compensation expenses offset slightly higher revenue.
MGM in December reached a 5-year deal covering 1,700 employees at its MGM Grand Detroit. The contract, the result of a 47-day strike, included an immediate $3/hr pay increase, locked in health plans at a set cost for employees for the duration of the contract, and established a $1,000 401k matching program.
The company narrowly avoided a strike at its Las Vegas properties in November when it negotiated a 5-year contract giving 25,000 employees “the largest wage increases ever negotiated in Culinary Union’s 88-year history,” according to the union.
Investors Have Piled Into ‘Magnificent Seven’ Stocks—Why That May Not Be Good
2 hr 18 min ago
Investors have been piling into the ‘Magnificent Seven‘—driving their stocks to sky-high valuations and major indexes to record highs—on expectations that artificial intelligence (AI)-related business growth will support continued gains.
But Mag Seven’s success isn’t without its risks.
“The Mag 7’s rise has left the S&P 500 at around its most concentrated in at least the last 100 years. Perhaps not since the bubble of 1929 have so few stocks had such high weightings to the overall market,” Deutsche Bank analysts led by Jim Reid wrote in a research note Tuesday. “In turn, their future performance will likely impact the majority of global assets to some, or to a great, degree going forward.”
Deustche Bank
Read more about what analysts think today’s market concentration does and doesn’t have in common with past bubbles.
Kraft Heinz Stock Slides as Higher Prices and Industry Headwinds Send Sales Tumbling
3 hr 6 min ago
Kraft Heinz (KHC) shares dropped over 6% Wednesday after the food giant reported higher prices and falling demand pulled down sales.
The maker of Heinz ketchup and Kraft macaroni and cheese reported fourth-quarter revenue declined 7.1% from a year ago to $6.86 billion, missing estimates. Earnings per share came in at 78 cents, slightly higher than expected.
Sales in North America were down 9.1% to $5.17 billion, and international sales fell 0.2% to $1.69 billion. Organic net sales slipped 0.7%, as the company raised prices to offset inflation. Kraft Heinz noted it was particularly impacted by cuts in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, which helps low-income Americans purchase food.
Kraft Heinz anticipates full-year organic net sales growth for 2024 to be flat to up 2%, slowing from a 3.4% gain in 2023. It projects adjusted gross profit margin to be up 25 to 75 basis points (bps), well below last year’s jump of 240 bps.
Kraft Heinz shares were down 6% at $33.98 Wednesday afternoon, their lowest level since November. They’ve lost more than 15% over the past year.
Uber Shares Surge After Unveiling $7 Billion Buyback in First For Ride-Hailing Firm
3 hr 51 min ago
Uber Technologies (UBER) shares surged Wednesday morning after the ride-hailing firm said it is planning to buy back up to $7 billion in shares in its first-ever buyback program.
Uber Chief Financial Officer Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah said in a statement that “the authorization of the company’s first-ever share repurchase program is a vote of confidence in the company’s strong financial momentum.”
Last week, the leading ride-hailing company reported its first annual net profit since going public in 2019. Along with the earnings release, the company said it planned to announce a plan to return capital to shareholders—opening the door to today’s buyback announcement. Uber said last week it had free cash flow of $3.4 billion in 2023, up from $390 million a year earlier.
Uber shares were up 11.8% at $77.13 early Wednesday afternoon. With today’s gains, the stock has risen more than 118% in the last year.
Bitcoin Puts Wind in the Sails of Crypto Stocks
4 hr 29 min ago
Shares of cryptocurrency-adjacent companies surged Wednesday as the price of Bitcoin soared past $51,000 to its highest level since December 2021.
Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) climbed more than 12% and 10%, respectively, on Wednesday. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) rose more than 11%. All three have risen more than 150% in the last year, outpacing Bitcoin itself, which is up about 120%.
Bitcoin has risen relatively steadily for the last week as inflows to new spot Bitcoin ETFs have picked up pace. Investors are also looking forward to an imminent halving, which is expected to happen sometime in April.
Lyft Stock Goes On Wild Ride After Q4 Earnings Beat and Error
5 hr 5 min ago
Lyft (LYFT) shares, which initially skyrocketed following a reporting error by the ride-hailing company, settled nearly 32% higher in intraday trading on Wednesday as fourth-quarter earnings and first-quarter bookings guidance surpassed analysts’ expectations.
The San Francisco-based company disclosed fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share, more than double the 8 cents a share Wall Street had forecast. Revenue in the period of $1.22 billion increased 4% from the prior year, sitting in line with analysts’ estimates.
Looking ahead, Lyft projects gross bookings in the current quarter to range between $3.5 billion and $3.6 billion, ahead of the $3.46 billion consensus. Moreover, the company sees 2024 adjusted profit margin as a percentage of bookings increasing 50 basis points (BPS) to 2.1%, up from 1.6% in 2023.
The company’s initial press release mistakenly projected annual margin expansion of 500 BPS, instead of 50 BPS, which Lyft’s chief financial officer, Erin Brewer, corrected on the earnings call.
Nvidia Overtakes Alphabet as Third-Largest Public U.S. Company
6 hr 12 min ago
Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose more than 2.5% in early trading Wednesday, launching it past Alphabet (GOOGL) into the position of America’s third-most valuable company.
Nvidia’s market cap surged to $1.821 trillion Wednesday, while Alphabet’s value ticked up $1.817 trillion.
It is the second time this week the chipmaker has leapfrogged a fellow tech giant to claim a new position among the country’s public behemoths. Nvidia’s market cap soared past Amazon’s (AMZN) on Monday.
Nvidia has been the largest beneficiary of the AI boom that has sent investors piling into the Magnificent Seven. Its stock has gained more than 220% in the past year alone.
Robinhood Stock Jumps as Trading Rebound Helps Drive Earnings Beat
6 hr 34 min ago
Shares in Robinhood Markets (HOOD) soared in early trading Wednesday after the commission-free brokerage firm reported a surprise profit in the December quarter amid higher-than-expected interest income on customer loans and a rebound in retail trading activity.
The online brokerage at the center of the pandemic-era meme stock trading frenzy posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 3 cents a share, whereas analysts had expected the company to report a 1 cent loss. Revenue of $471 million grew 24% year-over-year and also came in ahead of forecasts, which Wall Street had modeled at $455 million.
The company’s net interest revenue in the period grew 41% from a year earlier, driven by higher short-term borrowing rates, while its transaction-based revenue of $200 million improved 8% from the prior year, benefiting from increased trading activity across its cryptocurrency and equity offerings.
The online broker pointed to a 6% fourth-quarter sequential jump in its monthly active user count as a sign that retail traders were wading back into the markets.
Robinhood shares jumped more than 14% Wednesday, putting them on track to have their best day since June 2022.
Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket
7 hr 19 min ago
Gains:
- Lyft Inc. (LYFT): Shares of the ride-hailing company jumped 20% after it forecast better-than-expected bookings in the current quarter and said it would generate positive cash flow this year. The stock had gained more than 60% late Tuesday after it accidentally forecast margins would increase 500 basis points, rather than 50 basis points, this year.
- Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD): Shares of the trading platform surged 14% after it reported an unexpected profit in the fourth quarter.
- Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER): Shares of Lyft’s larger rival rose 8% after it announced a $7 billion share buyback authorization, its first initiative to return capital to shareholders following its first profitable year as a public company.
Losses:
- Instacart (CART): Shares of the grocery delivery company fell more than 5% after it reported fourth-quarter results that were roughly in line with expectations and announced it would lay off 250 employees, or about 7% of its staff.
- Airbnb Inc. (ABNB): Shares of the vacation rental company slipped about 4% despite reporting better-than-expected sales and offering upbeat guidance. The company reported a loss in the quarter due to one-time tax expenses.
- Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC): Shares of the packaged food giant fell more than 2% after its quarterly revenue of $6.86 billion fell short of analyst estimates.
Stock Futures Up as Indexes Rebound from CPI Sell-Off
7 hr 56 min ago
Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4% in premarket trading on Wednesday.
S&P 500 futures were 0.6% higher.
Nasdaq 100 futures gained nearly 0.8%.
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