Stock Market Futures Marginally Lower Following Tech-Led Sell-Off
U.S. stock futures are edging down following yesterday’s losses as we approach the mid-point of the current trading week. In general, this would further contribute to the series of volatile swings across the broader stock market now. In particular, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slid by over 2.3% towards November 2020 lows. This follows Snap (NYSE: SNAP) announcing that it will not be achieving its core financial targets due to macroeconomic headwinds.
Moreover, sales of new U.S. homes are steadily on the decline, hitting levels last seen almost nine years ago. As investors look ahead to tomorrow’s second estimates of first-quarter U.S. GDP from the White House, uncertainty persists. Also worth mentioning, data from FactSet (NYSE: FDS) suggests that supply chain issues are persisting across businesses. According to the firm, 338 of 460 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far have cited this as a core issue to operations. Amidst all this, there remains plenty of stock market news for investors to take in today as well. As of 5:45 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 0.07%, 0.04%, and 0.04% respectively.
Wendy’s On The Rise After Filings Reveal Largest Shareholder Considers Possible Deal
Shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ: WEN) are coming into focus at today’s stock market opening. On the whole, this follows the release of an official filing from its largest shareholder, Trian Partners. According to the document, Trian is looking into making a potential deal with Wendy’s. For starters, Trian, alongside its partners, currently owns a 19.4% stake in the fast-food chain. In the 13-D filing, Trian writes that is considering a deal to “enhance shareholder value.” Also, the firm adds that this could lead to an acquisition or business combination in the filing. As it stands, Trian notes that it is retaining advisors, evaluating strategic options, and is in discussions with Wendy’s board.
In response, Wendy’s states that it is constantly reviewing business opportunities as well. This would be with the goal of “maximizing value for all stockholders.” Because of this, the company highlights that it is properly reviewing the proposal from Trian. The likes of which already hold three seats on Wendy’s board of directors. The firm also adds that Wendy’s “lost its way after the passing of its founder Dave Thomas.” Seeing as the company’s shares are down by over 30% year-to-date, such a potential takeover would not be too surprising. With all this talk of deals, WEN stock would likely be front and center in the stock market today.
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Nordstrom In Focus After Increasing Full-Year Guidance and Topping Earnings Estimates
Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) is another name making headlines in the stock market today as well. Unlike Wendy’s, the company is making waves following its latest quarterly earnings update. Diving in, Nordstrom posted better-than-expected results in its first fiscal quarter financial report. According to the press release, the company’s total revenue for the quarter is $3.57 billion. For reference, the consensus on Wall Street is $3.28 billion. Despite reporting a slightly wider-than-expected loss per share of $0.06 versus the consensus of a $0.05 loss, JWS stock appears to be gaining traction.
For the most part, this is likely thanks to Nordstrom’s latest update on its full-year outlook. Also in the earnings release, the company is anticipating credit sales to rise by 6% to 8% in fiscal 2022. This would be in comparison to its prior range of 5% to 7%. Additionally, Nordstrom is also guiding for an annual earnings per share range of between $3.38 to $3.68. This would also be up from its previous range of $3.15 to $3.50, according to previous updates. All in all, Nordstrom’s upbeat outlook for the fiscal year ahead would make it stand out amidst its retailer peers.
Speaking on the company’s overall performance for the quarter is CEO Erik Nordstrom. He says, “In the first quarter, we drove strong topline growth with broad-based improvement across core categories and geographies. Importantly, we made progress on our strategic initiatives and continue to focus on increasing profitability on the path to achieving our financial targets.” The CEO adds that Nordstrom is keen to maintain its current momentum citing its Anniversary Sale as a key growth driver. As such, I could understand if investors are turning their radars towards JWN stock at today’s opening bell.
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Nvidia Earnings Preview: Things To Know
Speaking on earnings, semiconductor chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is set to report its first fiscal quarter results today. After the closing bell, the company will, arguably, be among the main focus of tech investors. Following a downbeat day for tech firms on Snap’s operational revision, this could be the case. Regardless, here is the general consensus among Wall Street analysts for Nvidia later today. Overall, Wall Street is anticipating an earnings per share of $1.30 on revenue of $8.1 billion from Nvidia. Should this be the case, it would add up to year-over-year gains of 42.8% and 42.1% respectively.
On top of that, another key part of Nvidia’s business to consider would be its data center offerings. The likes of which are currently expected to rake in revenue of $3.6 billion for the quarter, according to consensus analyst estimates. Notably, this would indicate a sizable increase in the section’s revenue from $2 billion in the same quarter last year. In fact, Nvidia’s data center business is among its fastest-growing divisions and the company continues to bolster its work on this front. Just yesterday, Nvidia announced new plans to reduce the energy cost of data centers. Namely, this would be in the form of its liquid-cooled graphics card, the A100. Safe to say, NVDA stock could be worth keeping an eye on in the stock market later today.
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Other Stock Market Earnings To Look Out For Today
Aside from Nvidia, there are numerous other notable firms hosting earnings calls today. In the pre-market, we have Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) and Express (NYSE: EXPR) on the retail side. Also, SuperGroup (NYSE: SGHC), Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), and Baxter International (NYSE: BAX) are on tap. On the flip side, we have a more tech-heavy lineup in today’s post-market hours. The likes of Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK), Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), and Box (NYSE: BOX) will be reporting earnings. Furthermore, Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) and EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) are also providing financial updates during this period. In the larger scheme of things, today could be sizing up to be another eventful day in the stock market.
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