Thursday’s Market Snapshot: Here’s What You Need To Know Right Now
The S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher in Thursday afternoon trading as a key speech from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell presented investors with a softer stance on inflation, which would help bring the economy back to full employment. The Dow Jones increased 0.9% and the S&P 500 was up 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2%.
Top gainer: Medical devices giant Abbott led gains on the S&P 500, jumping 8% after the US Food and Drug Administration issued Emergency Use Authorization for its BinaxNOW COVID-19 rapid test. Abbott (ABT) said that the portable test, which is the size of a credit card, provides results in just 15 minutes.
Top decliner: Cosmetics maker Coty lost almost 9% as sales in the fourth quarter ended June 30 plunged 56%. Demand for its beauty products stalled amid store and parlor closures tied to the coronavirus pandemic. On an adjusted basis, Coty posted a loss of 51 cents per share, larger than analysts’ estimates of 12 cents.
In auto tech news Veoneer shot up almost 16% as the company said it teamed up with Qualcomm to develop a software platform for its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
TikTok bid: Walmart shares are up more than 5% after the retail giant confirmed to CNBC that it’s joining hands with Microsoft in the bid to buy the US operations of the popular video-sharing app from parent company ByteDance. “The way TikTok has integrated e-commerce and advertising capabilities in other markets is a clear benefit to creators and users in those markets. We believe a potential relationship with TikTok US in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses,” Walmart said in a statement. Microsoft advanced 2.7%. Other bidders in the TikTok race include Oracle.
Earnings: NetApp is up almost 4%, after 1Q revenues climbed 4.8% to $1.3 billion year-over-year and surpassed analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Its adjusted EPS increased 12.3% to $0.73, beating Street estimates of $0.41.
Shares of cloud storage company Box climbed 8% as the pandemic-led shift to remote working boosted demand for its products. 2Q revenues increased 11% to $192.3 million year-on-year, beating the Street consensus of $189.6 million.
Dividend: Raven Industries rose 4.8% even as the company suspended its quarterly cash dividend. The specialty industrial machinery company said it will use the annual $20 million in saved funds to make investments in Raven Autonomy and Raven Composites. It will also provide the company with more flexibility to fund M&A and accelerated R&D investments.
After the bell large-cap stocks reporting earnings today include Dell, VMWare, Workday, Ulta Beauty, Marvell and Okta.
