Stock Market Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Earnings & Manufacturing Data
Stock market futures are taking a breather in early morning trading on Tuesday. Investors appear to be carefully considering their next play after news of President Biden’s renomination of Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair. In particular, bank stocks appear to be thriving. Given Powell’s track record throughout the current pandemic, many in the industry seem to believe this to be welcomed news.In fact, Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) chief executive of U.S. operations Christiana Riley said, “Chairman Powell has been a steadying force throughout the pandemic and I’m glad to see him continue in this role.”
According to Pimco managing director Erin Browne, this could mean continued momentum in the broader stock market. Browne said, “You may see a little bit of a rally on the back of this with the expectation that policy is going to remain in place and intact, and everything that’s been articulated already by the Fed is likely to continue into 2022 and beyond.” As of 7:37 a.m. ET, Dow futures are rising by 0.04%, while S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 0.06% and 0.24% respectively.
Uber Rolling Into The Blazing Hot Cannabis Market
Things appear to be heating up for ride-hailing giant Uber (NYSE: UBER) this week. Namely, the company is now making its entrance into the booming Canadian cannabis market. By and large, some would argue that it is high time that Uber got into this lucrative industry. With increasing mentions of federal legalization in the U.S., it could be a timely play by the company as well.
In detail, Uber users in Ontario, Canada, can now place orders for cannabis via the Uber Eats app. This is thanks to a collaboration with cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke, which is now on the company’s marketplace. Now, customers who order their cannabis via Uber Eats will have to pick up their order at Tokyo Smoke locations. According to Uber, the partnership will provide yet another key avenue for Canadian adults to safely purchase their recreational cannabis. Given that the illegal market still accounts for about 40% of all non-medical sales in the region, this is a plus point for Uber.
All in all, Uber appears to be testing out the waters in a market where the legalization of cannabis is more established. In time, should a similar legislative tailwind take place in the U.S., Uber could be more experienced on this front. This in turn could provide it with some leverage over the competition. As such, it would not surprise me to see investors eyeing UBER stock in the long term.
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Zoom Beat Estimates And Provides Better-Than-Expected Guidance
Work-from-home tech darling Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) is also in focus in the stock market today. This would be thanks to its latest quarterly earnings report. For the most part, most would assume that the need for Zoom’s services would drop as the economy reopens. However, with a resurgence in coronavirus cases over in Europe among other international markets, the growth story for Zoom could persist. Not to mention, Zoom would also be another notable player to consider in the current metaverse trade. Seeing as the concept continues to gain momentum, the post-pandemic uses for Zoom could be more than anticipated.
Diving right in, the company’s latest fiscal quarter financials also indicate that growth may not be slowing all that much. After yesterday’s closing bell, Zoom reported an earnings per share of $1.11 on revenue of $1.05 billion. This tops Wall Street’s projections of $1.09 and $1.02 billion respectively. Moreover, the company also saw its net income surge by 71% year-over-year, totaling $340.3 million. According to CFO Kelly Steckelberg, its Zoom Rooms software service continues to see solid growth. Steckelberg notes that it “has become even more important than it was pre-pandemic”.
At the same time, the company is also looking to launch its own proprietary cloud contact center software early next year. Given all of this, it would not surprise me to see investors considering ZM stock on its current weakness.
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Samsung Looking To Build $17 Billion Chip Plant In The U.S.
In other tech-related news, Samsung (OTCMKTS: SSNLF) is the latest global semiconductor titan to eye U.S. soil for its expansions. Notably, the chip giant is planning to build a $17 billion chip manufacturing plant in the U.S. According to the Wall Street Journal, a potential place of interest could be Taylor, Texas. The journal cites sources stating that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is set to make an “economic announcement” later today at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Should this be the case, Samsung would be setting up its second chip factory in Texas. The new plant would serve to help bolster Samsung’s manufacturing capabilities significantly. Even as the world’s largest memory chipmaker, Samsung remains hard at work addressing the global chip shortages. To highlight, the current plant will likely be set towards making advanced logic chips. The likes of which serve as active components in smartphones and autonomous vehicles among other key tech sectors.
Overall, the current move makes sense. Samsung, alongside rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), is pushing for more contract manufacturing in the U.S. Accordingly, this would be thanks to the Biden administration’s plans to invest billions towards the semiconductor chip industry. All things considered, you could say that semiconductor stocks should not be overlooked in the stock market now.
Stock Market Earnings To Know Today
Aside from all this, there is no shortage of companies reporting earnings today as well. In general, we have a fairly diverse array of names in both the pre-and post-market hours to consider. For starters, retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), and Burlington (NYSE: BURL) are on tap. Additionally, the likes of Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), and Analog Devices (NASDAQ: ADI) are also reporting.
Alternatively, Dell (NYSE: DELL) and HP (NYSE: HPQ) will be hosting their quarterly earnings calls during after-market hours. These key earnings would provide insight into consumer spending on work-from-home tech in the current market. Furthermore, we also have Gap (NYSE: GPS), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK), and Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) as well. From Federal Reserve news to corporate developments and earnings, there is certainly plenty to note in the stock market today.
