Equity Indexes💦 Wrap: Healthcare Leads Indexes Higher; Chip Stocks Lag

The Dow

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) led the index higher, rising 4.3%. 

Disney (DIS) added 🌺2.7% ahead of its earnings report tomorrow after the bell. 

Boeing (BA) rose 0.9% despite Federal Aviation Administration administrator Michael Whitaker telling Congress this morning that the agency would increase scrutin🙈y of the jet maker following last month's Alaska Air inci♚dent. 

Amgen (AMGN) fell 1.8% ahead of its earnings report after markets closed. 

The S&P 500

DuPont de Nemours (DD) gained 7.3% after the company’s board approved a $1 billion i🍃n stock buybacks and raised its dividend. 

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) advanced 7.2% after beating expectations wiꦚth its quarterly earnings.🦂 

United Parcel Service (UPS) rose 4.9% after UBS upgraded the stock to buy, cit🍒ing the benef𓂃it of cost-cutting measures. 

Linde Plc (LIN) rose 3.7% after the gas giaওnt’s quarterly earnings topped Wall Street estimates. 

FMC (FMC) tumbled 11.6% after reporting 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:soft sales, destocking, and droughꦓt in Brazil weighed on quarterly earnings.&♒nbsp;

Tyson Foods (TSN) fell 3.7% after gaining slightly yesterday following a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:bett✅er-than-expected earnings report. 

Amazon (AMZN) slid 0.7% as it announced it would lay off hundreds of employeeღs in its healthcare units. 

Eli Lilly (LLY) shares slipped 0.2% despite 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:beating quarterly earnings and sales estimates amid booming demand for its weight-loss drugs. 

The Nasdaq 100

GE HealthCare (GEHC) soared 11.7% after topping Wall Street’🌳s estimates with its quarterly sa🦋les and earnings. 

Doordash (DASH) added 3.9% after analysts at JMP Securities and UBS raised their price targets.🙈 The stock has risen more than 80% in the past year.

PayPal (PYPL) climbed 3.5% ahead of its earning𓄧s report tomorrow. 

Tesla (TSLA) added 2.2%, rebounding slightly from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:yesterday’s sell-off. 

Charter Communications (CHTR) fell 4.4%, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:continuing to slide af💜ter last week’s disappointing earnings report. ꦡ

Chip stocks lagged, with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) losing 3.6%, Micron (MU) slipping 2.7%, and Nvidia (NVDA) retreating 1.6%. 

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) fell 3% despite surpassi𒐪ng analyst estimates with its quarterly results. 

What You Need Too Know Ahead of Disney ಌEarnings Tomor♓row

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) is 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:expected to eke out modest revenue and net income gains year-over-year when it reports first-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings after markets close tomorrow. The media giant had a relatively lackluster 2023 holiday box office and cable cord-cutting continues to affect its legacy networks.

Disney is forecast to post 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:net income attributable to the company of $1.82 billion, up just a fraction of a percent compared with the prior-year quarter. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Earnings per share (EPS) is e💯xpected to come in at 84 cents, compared with 70 cents the same time last year🍨.

Analysts predict that Disney will report revenue of $23.72 billion, up less than 1% year-over-year. This would be the slowest pace of growth since the company returned to revenue gai🌸ns nearly three year🦩s ago.

While a general shift away from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:traditional cable services has weighed on some of Disney's legacy entertainment offerings, the company has made great strides with its direct-to-consumer segment, including 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:streaming offerings such as Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu.

Disney is forecast to report direct-to-consumer entertainment revenue of $5.45 billion for the most recent quarter, the highest figure from this category to date. This꧂ represents an increase of 13% year-over-year.

-澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Nathan Reiff

Weight-Loss Drugs Buoy Eli Lilly's Q4 Earnings and 2024 Outlook

Eli Lilly (LLY), the world's most valuable drugmaker, reported 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:strong fourth-quarter earnings driven by demand for its weight-loss drugs, and projected sales could rise over 20% this year.

Eli Lilly forecast 2024 sales of $40.4 billion to $41.6 billion, topping analysts' expectations, and up from $34.12 billion in 2023.

The pharmaceutical giant reported fourth-quarter 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:earnings per share of $2.49, up 13% from a year ago, and a 28% surge in revenue on the back of sales of weight-loss treat🔯ments Zepbound and Mounjaro.

Zepbound, which Eli Lilly 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:began selling in November and has the saꦆme ingredients as Mounjaro, broug🀅ht in $175.8 million during the fourth quarter.

Eli Lilly said, however, that ཧdue to the time it will take to bring production fully online, demand for its diabetes and obesity drugs will likely outpace supply this year.

Eli Lilly shares were 0.8% lower at $700.47 Tuesday afternoon. Still, they have more than doubled in value over the past year amﷺid the buzz surrounding its weight-loss drugs.

-澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Kevin George

GE HealthCare Leads S&P 500 Af🔴ter Earnings B🌸eat

Shares of GE HealthCare (GEHC) jumped Tuesday after the company posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales an🧜d earnings. 

GE HealthCare, which was spun off of General Electric (GE) in January 2023, reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $403 million, or 88 cents per share, on revenue of $5.2 billion. Both sales and earnings were lower than a year ago but exceeded analysts’ expectations nonetheless.

Revenue at the company’s imaging unit, its largest, grew 4% to $2.8 billion while margins widened by 10 basis points to 11.9%. Sꦇales at its high margin (24.4%) pharmaceutical diagnostics unit🀅 rose 25% to $591 million.

The company also forecast adjuste🍎d earnings per share of between $4.20 and $4.35 i🌼n 2024, representing a 7% to 11% increase from 2023. 

“We bolstered our market position with strategic acquisitions, while at the same time paying down $1 billion in debt, setting a solid foundation for continued growth,” CEO Peter Arduini said of the 20💖23 results. “We’re confident heading into 2024 amid the backdrop of an improved capital equipment landscape.”

Shares of GE HealthCare were up 12.5% at $82.6🤪0, a six-month high, Tuesday afternoon. They have gai🌠ned about 15% in the last year.

FM꧒C Stock Plunges as Weak Sales, Destocking Hit Earnings

Shares in FMC Corp. (FMC) tumbled more than 10% Tuesday after the agriculture chemical manufacturer issued weak first-quarter 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:earnings guidance as the company continues to grapple with low sales vol🎉umes and destocking challengꦡes in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The maker of insecticides and harvest aids said it expects current-quarter adjusted earnings to range between 21 and 43 cents per share, less than half the $1-a-share figure analysts had forecast. For the three-month period ending December 31, the company posted 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.07, compared with $2.37 a year earlier, while revenue of $1.15 billion declined 29% from the prior year’s corresponding quarter.

FMC said that destocking presented ongoing challenges in all of its geographic regions. During the pandemic, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:supply chain bottlenecks led many distributors to stockpile crop chemicals, resulting in excess inventory levels that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:customers are still working through.

The chemical maker also said drought conditions in Brazil had weighed on earnings. In the December quarter, FMC’s Latin American business, which accounts for roughly a third of total rev෴enue, pos𒈔ted a 38% decline in sales.

Since dropping below the key $50 level in late October on the back of a disappointing third-quarter update, FMC's share price somewhat stabilized and even managed to claw back above the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:50-day moving average.

If earnings-driven selling intensifies in upcoming trading sessions, keep a close eye if buyers can defend the $50 level. A successful hold of this area could help shift investor sentiment, while a convincing 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:breakdown may lead to♏ a resumpt🅷ion of the long-term downtrend.

-澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Timothy Smith

DocuSign Stock Falls Amid Third Round of Layoffs

Shares of DocuSign (DOCU) tumbled in eꦕarly trading Tuesday after the e-signature software maker said it would cut 6% of its workforce. 

DocuSign said the majority of the cuts would hit its sales and marketing departments. It also estimated that it would incur $28 million to $32 million in one-time restructuring charges, the majority of which would be booked in the first quarter of its 2025 fiscal year. 

The layoff announcement comes just one day after Reuters reported that takeover talks with private equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman had stalled. 

The layoffs announced Tuesday are DocuSign’s third round in the past year and a half. The company cut 9% of its workforce🍸 in September 2022 as growth slowed after a pandemic boom. Then in February 2023 it announced it would lay off an additional 10% of employees to further cut costs. 

Tech companies of all sizes went on a hiring spree during the pandemic as lockdowns boosted demand for digital products and services. And they’ve spent the last two years attempting to “right-size” by laying off staff in the thousands, even as enthusiasm about AI has boosted optimism. PayPal (PYPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Microsoft (MSFT) are among tܫhe firms that have already cut jobs thꦅis year.

DocuSign shares w♚ere down 4% at $51.30 midday Tuesday.

Pal🀅antir Stock Skyrockets as AI Platforms Fuel Q4 Sales Growth—Key Price Levels to Watch

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) shares jumped nearly 30% in early trading Tuesday after the big data analytics software maker topped Wall Street’s sales forecast amid ongoing demand for its 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:artificial intelligence (AI) platforms

The company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $608.4 million, up 20% from the year-ago quarter and ahead of the $602.4 million figure analysts had expected. Meanwhile, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:adjusted earnings for the period came in at 8 cents per share, in line with the consensus forecast. The results were bolstered by the company’s U.S. commercial division, which grew its customer count by 55% from last year’s corresponding quarter.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp said in a letter to shareholders late Monday that the company’s expansion and growth has never been greater, especially with "unrelenting" demand in the U.S. market for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:large language AI models. Karp added that the company’s AI technology pilots had in💯creased more than sixfold🍬 over the past year.

Palantir shares have traded within an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:ascending channel since early August, with the pattern’s lower 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:trendline roughly aligning with the 200-day moving average. Interestingly, the stock yesterday recorded its largest single day of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:share turnover since early November, with the price running into selling pressure near the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:50-day moving average.

If the stock continues to climb after Tuesday, keep an eye on the channel’s top trendline, currently around $22.80, as an area of potential chart resistance.

-澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Timothy Smith

Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket

Gains:

• Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR): Shares of the data analytics software company soared 20% after it beat earnings expectations amid booming demand for its AI products. 
• Spotify Technology SA (SPOT): The music streaming company’s stock rose 8% after it topped Wall Street estimates with its quarterly results, reporting its second-largest fourth-quarter subscriber increase. 
• BP Plc (BP): Shares of the British oil giant rose 5% after it posted a smaller-than-expected decline in profit in the fourth quarter and said it would ramp up its share buybacks. 
  

Losses:

• FMC Corp. (FMC): Shares of the fertilizer company tumbled 13% after it missed quarterly earnings estimates and forecast lower-than-expected full-year sales and profit. 
• DocuSign Inc. (DOCU): Shares of the cloud software developer fell 7% after it said it would cut about 6% of jobs. It also took a hit from reports yesterday that takeover talks with two private equity firms had stalled. 
• UBS Group (UBS): Shares of the Swiss bank fell 4% despite posting a narrower-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter and announcing it would restart stock buybacks with plans to spend $1 billion in the second half of the year.

Stock Futures Inch Higher

Futures contrac♊ts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down less than 0.1% in premarket trading on Tuesd🏅ay.

S&P 500 futures were up less than 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures ticked up nearly 0.2%.