Stock Market Futures Gain Following Dips Towards 2020 Lows.
U.S. stock futures are advancing in early morning trading as we approach the end of the trading week. Safe to say, this week gave investors a flurry of key data points across the retail and economic scenes to digest. As markets flirt with lows last seen in 2020, investor concerns would continue to grow. In fact, the S&P 500 saw its biggest drop since that time earlier this week. Between further interest rate increases from the Fed and mentions of a possible recession, all this is not that surprising.
Providing some further advice for investors is Ryan Belanger, the founder of Claro Advisors. Belanger writes, “Investors should become accustomed to significant downside and upside moves in stocks, which is common during times of tremendous uncertainty.” He continues, “We expect the stock market to trade near or in bear market territory for the coming months, creating a frustrating range-bound market that will test the will of many investors.” As investors consider their next move carefully, here’s how the major stock index futures are doing today. As of 4:48 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.93%, 1.17%, and 1.68% respectively.
Palo Alto Pops After Beating Quarterly Earnings Estimates; Raises Full-Year Outlook
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) seems to be front and center in the stock market today. For the most part, this seems to be thanks to the company reporting stellar figures in its latest quarterly financial update. According to the press release, PANW’s revenue for the quarter is $1.39 billion. Also, the company’s earnings per share is $1.79. For comparison, consensus figures on Wall Street are a revenue of $1.36 billion and earnings of $1.68 per share. Year-over-year, Palo Alto notes that its revenue is up by 29%. Additionally, the company’s total billings for the quarter is also up by 40% over the same period, totaling $1.8 billion. With results like this, it would make sense that investors are focusing on PANW stock today.
Speaking on PANW’s latest quarter is CEO Nikesh Arora. He says, “We saw strong top-line growth in Q3, which is a testament to our teams’ consistent execution in capitalizing on the strong cybersecurity demand trends.” Following that, Arora also adds that the company is raising its guidance for the current fiscal year. This is the case across PANW’s revenue, billings, and earnings per share forecasts, according to the earnings report. In detail, PANW is anticipating an adjusted earnings of between $7.43 to $7.46 per share on revenue of $5.481 billion to $5.501 billion. As it stands, the consensus from analysts from a Refinitiv poll is earnings of $7.29 and revenue of $5.46 billion.
Overall, it seems like PANW is firing on all cylinders going into the current quarter. With persisting strength across its core cybersecurity portfolio, the company appears keen to maintain its momentum. On that note, investors could likely be keeping an eye on PANW stock at today’s opening bell.
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Deckers Outdoor In Focus After Posting Record Figures In Latest Quarter
Another company making waves on the stock market earnings front today is Deckers Outdoor (NYSE: DECK). In brief, Deckers is a footwear designer and distributor. For consumers, the company’s Ugg boots would be among the more recognizable offerings from Deckers. Getting straight into it, DECK stock appears to be gaining traction in the stock market today following Deckers’ earnings call. After yesterday’s closing bell, the company posted overall solid figures for its first fiscal quarter update.
For starters, the company saw its total sales grow by 31.7% year-over-year, totaling $736 million. On top of that, the company’s direct-to-consumer sales are up by 22.2% over the same period as well. In the larger scheme of things, this latest quarter tops off a good fiscal year for Deckers, according to CEO Dave Powers. He highlights, “Fiscal year 2022 was another record year for Deckers, as we delivered both revenue and earnings per share growth above twenty percent.” Among the key growth drivers for the year would be Deckers’ Ugg boots. The likes of which raked in sales of about $2 billion, according to Deckers.
Furthermore, Powers adds, “Over the last two years, our portfolio of brands has added more than one billion dollars of revenue, while making progress towards key long-term strategies, and maintaining top-tier levels of profitability, despite navigating unprecedented disruption across the global supply chain. I am incredibly proud of our performance over the last couple of years, but with the power of our brands and our people, I am even more excited about the opportunities ahead.” After considering all this, DECK stock could be worth checking out in the stock market today.
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Shopify Expands Cryptocurrency Payments Options Via Crypto.com Collaboration
In other news, Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) is doubling down on the crypto side of its operations. Simply put, the e-commerce platform operator is introducing news payment solutions involving cryptocurrencies. Through a collaboration with Crypto.com, Shopify merchants can now employ Crypto.com Pay, allowing them to accept over 20 digital currencies. To point out, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Crypto.com coin (CRO) are among the major crypto names on the list. According to Shopify, this is mostly possible via integrations between its existing payment system and Crypto.com’s off-chain services.
Not to mention, Shopify sellers that employ Crypto.com Pay will be exempt from paying settlement fees for a month. Following the first month, settlement fees of 0.5% will begin. Weighing in on this strategic deal is Shopify’s lead of Blockchain Ecosystem, John Lee. He argues, “Our growing blockchain ecosystem demonstrates our commitment to supporting merchants with alternative payment methods on their storefronts, helping to further expand what’s possible in commerce.” As Shopify continues to cater to emerging consumer fintech trends, SHOP stock would also gain attention.
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ExxonMobil Reveals Sale Of Barnett Shale Operations
On the energy industry side of things, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) appears to be streamlining its operations. Namely, as of yesterday, the company is officially selling its non-operated gas assets in the Barnett shale basin. This would be the case following the signing of an agreement with the BKV Corporation. Also in the official press release, Exxon projects that the deal will close by the end of the current quarter.
Accordingly, this would be ExxonMobil following through with its initial plans to sell these assets from November 2021. At that time, sources from Reuters posited that ExxonMobil’s Barnett shale assets could be worth between $400 million to $500 million. This would be at a per-acre price of $2,472. However, in the current deal, the BKV sale is at a per-acre price of $4,121, with 182,000 acres sold. On the whole, this adds up to about over $750 million. It would go to show that even as demand for energy rises, industry leads like Exxon remain hard at work optimizing their businesses, nonetheless. As such, it would not surprise me to see XOM stock trending today.
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