Stock Market Futures Dip On Incoming Fed Meeting And November’s Producer Price Index Data
Stock market futures are edging lower in early morning trading today, following yesterday’s sell-off. Even as investors may be looking to buy on the current dips, there is notable stock market news to consider today. For starters, the Federal Reserve is set to kick off its two-day policy-setting meeting, its last one for 2021, today. Here, most are expecting the Fed to signal towards accelerating the taper of its bond-buying program. Given the immense rise in inflationary factors and the economy seemingly bouncing back, this is understandable.
Speaking on this is Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) chief U.S. equity strategist, David Kostin. He said, “Both equity and fixed-income markets appear to be pricing the coming Fed tightening … Historical experience suggests equity valuations are typically flat around the first Fed hike.”
The firm projects that the Fed will double the pace of tapering after the meeting. All things considered, the bank seems to believe that investors still have time before any potential taper-based shifts take place in the market. Nonetheless, even if you are with Kostin on this or are looking to play things safe, one fact remains. There is plenty of news in the stock market today to keep investors on their toes. As of 6:36 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 0.06%, 0.26%, and 0.61% respectively.
Piper Sandler Sees McPlant Roll Out Between Beyond Meat And McDonald’s In Early 2022
Investors appear to be hungry for Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) in the stock market this week. Accordingly, this would be thanks to a recent report by Piper Sandler (NYSE: PIPR). The firm recently reported that its industry contacts are expecting a nationwide U.S. McPlant launch in early 2022. In detail, the McPlant is a vegan burger co-developed by Beyond Meat and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD).
Overall, such a move would serve to significantly expand the addressable market for Beyond Meat in the U.S. Because of this, analyst Michael Lavery says, “The expected MCD lift gives us better comfort in our target multiple.”
To elaborate, the firm hit BYND stock with a Neutral rating and boosted its price target from $61 to $64. Additionally, Lavery notes that the company’s McPlant sales could add up to a total of $75 million for the quarter, assuming a 5% share of burger sales. This is also based on a $4.00 per pound price point that is just shy of conventional meat prices. For the uninitiated, Beyond Meat has and continues to make waves in fast food and consumer staples markets. This is evident from its ongoing partnership with Yum! Brands’ (NYSE: YUM) Pizza Hut and Taco Bell as well. With the company hard at work extending its products to consumers, BYND stock could be worth watching now.
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Nike Dives Deeper Into NFT Space With RTFKT Acquisition
With the rise of blockchain tech, Nike (NYSE: NKE) seems to be doubling down. Yesterday, the company announced the acquisition of non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles studio RTFKT (pronounced as “artifact”). By and large, the acquisition makes sense in terms of how consumers approach its key product: sneakers. In essence, Nike’s wide array of sneakers is a major part of ‘hype culture’ among younger audiences. The same roughly applies to NFTs, hence, with its experience in similar consumer markets, Nike’s push towards the digital collectibles realm is not surprising.
Notably, this particular acquisition could, in theory, be a big win for Nike on the NFT front. To explain, RTFKT is currently working on a highly anticipated NFT project called CloneX. According to data from CryptoSlam, an NFT industry data aggregator, CloneX is already sitting on a $74 million transaction volume since its initial drop last month. In the larger scheme of things, Nike could be looking to cement its presence in the increasingly popular NFT trade. This could be the case with this and its recent metaverse collaboration with Roblox (NYSE: RBLX) in mind. Regardless of how you stand on NFTs, NKE stock may be worth keeping an eye on in the stock market today.
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MercadoLibre Acquires Payment Services Firm Redelcom
MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) could be another top stock to watch in the stock market today thanks to its latest move. Namely, as of today, the company is acquiring Redelcom, a Chilean payment services provider. Furthermore, Redelcom also specializes in offering point-of-sale (POS) terminals to retailers. Ideally, Redelcom and its services would sync well with MercadoLibre’s POS division, Mercado Pago. The likes of which already has a strong presence across the region with over a million terminals sold during the third quarter of 2021.
Commenting on all of this is Matías Spagui, Director of Mercado Pago. He said, “Redelcom has the best product in the market and, leveraging the expertise of the Mercado Libre ecosystem, we will continue to consolidate financial services in Chile. Redelcom is a company that is in tune with the purpose of democratizing commerce and achieving financial inclusion. 99% of its customers are SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs and they will continue to receive the same quality of service.” All in all, it seems like MercadoLibre is looking to expand its payments solutions to cater to upcoming merchant groups.
Walmart-Backed Robotics Firm Symbotic Going Public Through SoftBank SPAC Deal
In other news, Symbotic, a Walmart (NYSE: WMT)-supported robotics company is reportedly looking to go public. Through the help of a SoftBank Group blank-check firm, the company will be merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), SVF Investment Corp. 3 (NASDAQ: SVFC). Should things go as planned, after completing the reportedly $5.5 billion deal, Symbotic will be trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SYM”. According to the company, the merger will likely conclude by the first half of 2022.
Now, regarding Symbotic’s connection with Walmart, the duo have been working together since July 2021. For the most part, the mega-retailer is keen on expanding its robotics partnership with the company. As a result, Symbotic is currently set to supply robotics to 25 regional Walmart distribution centers across “several years”. Given the recent supply chain issues and worker shortages, this is, arguably, a strategic investment by Walmart.
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