Stock Market Futures Marginally Higher Ahead Of More Economic Data
Stock market futures are edging higher in the early morning on Friday as investors look to end the week on a positive note after the hot inflation report. On Thursday, the stock market was buoyed by a number of tech and electric vehicle stocks. Of course, the hotter-than-expected inflation number was one key concern for investors this week. For investors, the inflation print reinforced that the inflationary pressures were not ‘transitory’ as many had initially expected. Yet, many economists continue to believe that the inflationary pressures will fade away eventually.
“Big numbers get big headlines, and yes prices are higher, but you’ve also got wage increases that are just about to the same amount as inflation is. So inflation is definitely real, but the impact isn’t quite as severe as people think,”- Randy Frederick, Managing Director of trading and derivatives for the Schwab Center for Financial Research
On the economic front, investors will focus on the latest consumer sentiment numbers and job openings due before the opening bell. As of 6:58 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.32%, 0.24%, and 0.27% respectively.
Spotify Expands Into Audiobooks With Acquisition Of Findaway
In an effort to expand beyond music, Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) has announced plans to acquire Findaway, an audiobook services and distribution company. For those unfamiliar, Findaway operates a collection of brands and products led by its large audiobook distribution business. It connects content creators with reseller partners like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), just to name a few. The acquisition also makes Spotify both a commercial bookseller and a publisher of audiobooks. That’s a title the company has been hesitant to accept for its podcasting efforts.
“With this acquisition, we’re going to be able to accelerate the addition of an audiobook catalog onto the platform so that users can effectively get all of the audio content that they want all on one platform,” says Nir Zicherman, head of audiobooks at Spotify.
The company has signaled its interest in audiobooks ahead of Thursday’s announcement. In January, it began testing the format with a handful of classics, like “Frankenstein,” “Jane Eyre,” “Persuasion” and others, narrated by celebs. What’s more, the company also offered the first “Harry Potter” book with chapters narrated by Daniel Radcliffe. If anything, this week’s acquisition signals a new area of audio that Spotify is expanding into.
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Rivian Stock Moves Higher After Its IPO Debut, Lifting The EV Space
Electric-truck maker Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) stock popped 57% in the first two days of debut, giving the company a market cap of almost $105 billion. That’s around 17% more than General Motors (NYSE: GM) and 34% more than Ford (NYSE: F). The valuation is especially staggering since Rivian has yet to sell a single vehicle. It only expects to bring up to $1 million in revenue for the third quarter. Retrospectively, GM sells around 7 million vehicles per year and Ford sells around 4 million. If anything, Rivian’s debut shows that investors are confident to bet on companies that show promise and appear to have credible leadership.
In the stock market today, investors likely consider EV players such as Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Rivian to be high-growth tech companies with huge potential upside. Sure, Rivian’s valuation appears extremely stretched by any conventional measures. And that reminds us how investors have grappled with Tesla’s stratospheric valuation over the past decade. Many hedge funds and institutional investors who bet against Tesla have probably learnt some costly lessons. Now, the market seems to view Rivian as the next Tesla in the making.
There are many bullish investors who are excited about the company’s products. Its stock is also debuting at a time where inventors are still very hot on EV companies. But now that it is trading in the public market, Rivian will have a lot to prove. Many will be watching to see if it could scale up production and generate healthy returns for its believers. As for now, investors could expect some volatility taking place in Rivian stock.
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Blink Charging Stock Pops On Record Revenue
Electric vehicle charging stock Blink Charging (NASDAQ: BLNK) jumped nearly 10% in the extended trading. This came after the EV charging company reported quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street’s estimates. For the quarter, revenue came in at $6.4 million. That’s well ahead of the $4.7 million expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Since the passage of the infrastructure bill on Monday, many EV charging stocks have been on a good run. Like Pioneer Power Solutions (NASDAQ: PPSI), EVgo (NASDAQ: EVGO) and ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT), these EV charging stocks have been on a roll since the start of the week.
“Thus far in 2021, Blink has been awarded nearly $25 million in existing EV infrastructure grants, rebates and incentives. The passage of the federal infrastructure package brings us one step closer to achieving significant funding for the development and deployment of EV infrastructure, a critical component to unlocking mass EV adoption, curbing transportation-related emission and creating new jobs with this fast-growing industry.“- Michael Farkas, CEO and Founder of Blink Charging.
In the last week of October, Needham kept its “Buy” rating on BLNK stock. The firm takes the long view with more supply chain headwinds and margins pressure anticipated in the near term. However, in the long run, the increasing adoption of EVs could help EV charging companies scale up. For the time being however, BLNK stock investors appear to be breathing a sigh of relief.
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Notable Earnings To Watch In The Stock Market Today
With the closing of this week of the earnings season, investors remain as busy as ever. For those keen to catch companies reporting before the opening bell, there is no shortage of names to note. The list includes AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN), Hyzon (NASDAQ: HYZN), Sotherly Hotels (NASDAQ: SOHO), Target Hospitality (NASDAQ: TH), and New York City REIT (NYSE: NYC), just to name a few. Separately, Coupang (NYSE: CPNG) is moving its originally scheduled earnings announcement from yesterday evening to before the opening bell today.
By and large, it seems like investors can expect another interesting day of earnings ahead, to say the least. Whether it is digesting economic data or simply following a barrack of earnings, there is enough to keep you occupied as we wrap up the week.
