Stock Market Futures Mixed Ahead Of More Retail Earnings
U.S. stock futures were mostly flat ahead as investors await more retail earnings reports from the likes of Target (NYSE: TGT) and Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW). Heading into the holiday season, consumer spending appears to be gaining momentum. This is evident as U.S. retail sales reportedly rose by 1.7% in October, faster than economists expected. Adding optimism is the strong quarterly results from Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD).
“US stocks rallied after an impressive retail sales report, solid industrial production data, and retail earnings showed the consumer is handling the current pricing increases. All signs are pointing to a very strong holiday season for retailers and that should help keep sending stocks higher,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.
Meanwhile, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) plans to stop accepting payments made via Visa (NYSE: V) credit cards issued in the UK due to high fees charged by the payment processor for transactions. As of 6:53 a.m. ET, the Dow and S&P 500 futures are trading lower by 0.10% and 0.06% respectively, while Nasdaq futures are rising by 0.08%.
Roblox Dips Into Game Development Via Education
Roblox (NYSE: RBLX) is an online entertainment platform that may be the closest thing to an existing social metaverse today. It’s no secret that the pandemic has acted as a tailwind for the company when many kids were forced to stay home. RBLX stock has risen by nearly 50% since its latest quarterly report earlier this month. Revenue for the quarter more than doubled to $509.3 million from its previous year quarter. Its bookings increased by 28% year-over-year to $637.8 million. Furthermore, its average daily active users (DAUs) increased by 31% year-over-year to 47.3 million with 11.2 billion in total hours engaged, rising by 28%.
For those unfamiliar, Roblox might seem like just a kids game to you. And its growth story might taper off when the economy reopened and kids went back to school. Investors were certainly concerned, to say the least. Fortunately, Roblox has just announced that it will be setting up a ‘Roblox Education” division. The new initiative aims to support 100 million students’ learnings on their platform by 2030. If anything, this new initiative could foster a more dynamic learning environment where students could learn more effectively.
In other words, it seems that Roblox might just be able to alleviate investors’ concern by taking advantage of another massive opportunity in the education sector. In addition to that, Roblox also announced it has invested $10 million to help develop three games for middle-school, high-school and college students. With Roblox’s growing investments on the metaverse, many couldn’t help but feel the excitement in this massive, fast-growing market.
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Nvidia Earnings On Tap After The Stock Market Closes Today
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is set to report its third-quarter fiscal after the closing bell today. Many investors are wondering if Nvidia’s stock price can continue to push higher after rising by 130% this year. This comes as its $40 billion takeover of Arm faces a UK national security probe. No doubt, this growth stock has beaten Wall Street’s consensus earnings estimate in at least the past five consecutive quarters. Not to mention, many are highly enthusiastic about the company’s potential to be a major player in the metaverse space.
That’s because the graphics specialist already has a solution, known as Omniverse. It could stimulate reality and potentially help companies with metaverse ambitions such as Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB). Considering the hype surrounding the metaverse space, some analysts believe that NVDA stock has gotten ahead of itself. Namely, Wedbush Securities analyst Matt Bryson downgraded the stock from ‘Outperform’ to ‘Neutral’, citing the sky-high valuation.
Nvidia’s valuation is one big concern for investors who believe its shares are priced to perfection. However, existing investors who’ve enjoyed massive gains over the past few years may not want to sell despite its rich valuation. That’s because of its strong track record of delivering outstanding growth quarter over quarter. Therefore, it would not be surprising to see investors keeping a close eye on NVDA stock today.
[Read More] 5 Metaverse Stocks To Watch In November 2021
Rivian’s & Lucid’s Valuations Are Accelerating Past Ford & General Motors
Electric vehicle start-up Rivian’s (NASDAQ: RIVN) valuation has overtaken General Motors (NYSE: GM), while rival start-up Lucid (NASDAQ: LCID) surpassed Ford (NYSE: F). This is generating shockwaves across the automotive industry. Shares of these largely pre-revenue EV stocks have been soaring following their recent stock market debut.
Dan Ives, an automotive and tech analyst at Wedbush, said investors have “a massive appetite for these EV stories, and Tesla surpassing $1tn market value has changed the valuation paradigm in the EV space.” “Ford, GM and VW are still being treated by investors as auto names, while Lucid is being anointed the next mini Tesla,” he added.
The recent rally in Rivian may be due to its expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in Georgia. Meanwhile, Lucid stock had another boost after its executives told investors that reservations for its first model had jumped. In addition to that, the company also mentioned that its production plans for 2022 were still on track. With so much positive news, it’s understandable why retail investors have been pouring into these electric vehicle stocks. According to data from Vanda Research, RIVN stock and LCID stock were among the most purchased EV stocks, surpassing even Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Earnings To Note In The Stock Market Today
Topping off all of that, we also have a solid line-up of companies reporting earnings today. In the pre-market hours, Target, Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), Lowe’s, TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX), and Bilibili (NASDAQ: BILI) are posting earnings.
Alternatively, for those eyeing the post-market, there are plenty of notable names reporting as well. From the tech space, Nvidia and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) could take center stage. Meanwhile, consumer names such as Sonos (NASDAQ: SONO), America’s Car-Mart (NASDAQ: CRMT), Bath & Body Works (NYSE: BBWI), and Victoria’s Secret (NASDAQ: VSCO) are also on tap. Whether it is the current momentum in earnings, or companies making moves, one fact remains. Investors have plenty of news to digest in the stock market today.
