Stock Market Futures Edged Higher Ahead Of Key Inflation Data
U.S. stock futures are ticking higher ahead of fresh inflation data. This week, investors have been rattled by a spike in COVID-19 infections and a wave of new restrictions. Admittedly, recent developments suggest that the Omicron variant may not cause as severe of infections as previously feared. Even though the stock market did take a breather on Thursday’s intraday trading, we are still on track for a positive return this week.
Investors will be looking for clues from the inflation data that’s due at 8.30 a.m. ET today. That could influence the Fed’s timeline for reducing stimulus measures. In fact, the Federal Reserve will be holding a monetary policy meeting next week. Also, the most recent weekly number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits tumbled to its lowest level since 1969. Considering the strength of the economy, many would be keen to see how that contributed to inflation. As of 8:02 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.22%, 0.31%, and 0.21% respectively.
Oracle (ORCL) Stock Gains After Sales Top Estimates On Cloud Performance
Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) stock surged more than 10% in the pre-market trading today. This came after the database giant reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat the top and bottom line estimates. For the quarter, revenue came in 6% higher year-over-year to $10.36 billion from its previous year quarter. All of this was made possible when the company pushed heavily into the cloud space in the past several years. And it is paying off handsomely and will remain the company’s growth driver for the foreseeable future.
“These strong results are being driven by the 22% growth of our infrastructure and applications cloud businesses, which are approaching $11 billion in annualized revenue,” Oracle Chief Executive Safra Catz said in a statement.
Additionally, Oracle’s board of directors increased the authorization for share repurchases by $10 billion. The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.32 per share, payable on January 19, 2022. Strong fundamentals aside, it is worth noting that the company, along with Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), was invited by the Department of Defense to bid on its Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability contract. Should Oracle be able to win the bid, there would likely be more room for ORCL stock to push higher.
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C3.ai Wins $500 Million Department Of Defense Contract
Leading Enterprise AI company C3.ai (NYSE: AI) is expected to make waves when the stock market opens this morning. That’s because the company has just established a new five-year Production-Other Transaction Agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense. If anything, this is testament to the company’s capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Not only will it be able to showcase C3.ai’s extensive solutions, the company could keep finding new ways to better serve the U.S. federal government.
Apart from the government, C3.ai has received recognition from the world’s largest tech companies. For example, it has partnered with Microsoft’s Azure and Alphabet’s Google Cloud. With governments and Big Techs relying on C3.ai’s infrastructure to deliver artificial intelligence technologies, investors might want to take a closer look at this company again. Despite its drastic fall this year, C3.ai’s potential is immense.
What’s more, JMP Securities analyst Patrick Walravens has maintained a ‘Buy’ rating earlier this morning, setting a price target of $96. This is nearly triple the stock’s closing price on Thursday. Sure, you might think the price target is a bit of a stretch. But if we take a step back and look how fast the AI industry is growing, you might even agree that the price target is fair. After all, if we consider its unique AI technology and how fast its customer base is growing, there are reasons to be bullish on AI stock.
Broadcom (AVGO) Stock Rallies On Strong Earnings, Dividend Hike & Buyback Plan
Semiconductor design giant Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) stock is ticking higher in early trading Friday. This comes after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter. For the quarter, the software company posted revenue of $7.41 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimates of $7.36 billion. More impressively, the company reported a 76% gain in chip sales to $5.63 billion from the year ago period.
“Enterprise is actually waking up big time and they are asking for products in a very, very urgent manner,” said Hock Tan, Broadcom president and chief executive, on the call with analysts. “And, so we’re seeing more — a lot more — shipments to OEMs who support those enterprises.”
Not only that, the company also provided strong guidance for its upcoming quarter, raised its dividend and announced a $10 billion share repurchase program. Hock Tan reiterated that Broadcom intends to make good on the buyback plan in the next year. Considering the company has not made any acquisition lately and has piled up a “ton of cash”, it makes sense for the company to not just sit on the cash, he added. After the solid quarter from Broadcom, investors could be looking for more strength in the upcoming quarters.
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Solid Power Ramps Up Solid-State Battery Race With Nasdaq Debut
Solid Power (NASDAQ: SLDP), the solid-state battery developer backed by Ford (NYSE: F) and BMW, made its public debut on Thursday. This is no doubt another big news for the EV industry, but also for investors looking for EV battery stocks to buy. To begin with, Solid Power’s batteries could potentially provide nearly 500 miles of distance on a single charge. This figure is easily 50% greater than any commercially available lithium-ion battery today, including the ones used by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Speaking about solid-state batteries, some investors may be wondering how Solid Power differs from current leader QuantumScape (NYSE: QS). Without going too much into the details, the most notable difference is the materials they use in their solid-state batteries. Solid Power is currently testing out sulfide, while QuantumScape is testing out ceramic.
To power up the next generation of EVs, Solid Power has been working hard to make its dream a reality. For instance, the company is expanding its Colorado factory footprint as it prepares production of its first batteries in 2022. With Ford and BMW as its major investors, it’s no surprise that they would be the first customers. CEO Doug Campbell said the company could provide to other companies, including large auto suppliers, but its focus right now is on producing for the two automakers.
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