The three major U.S. equity indexes closed lower Monday. The Dow Jones industrials ended the day down 0.63%, the S&P 500 closed 0.89% lower, and the Nasdaq retreated 1.12%. Ten of 11 sectors closed lower, with real estate (−2.65%) and consumer cyclicals (−1.71%) posting the biggest drops. Health care (0.03%) stood alone with a tiny pickup.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its producer price index (PPI) for October. Both PPI and core PPI rose by 0.2% month over month. That was a smaller increase than economists had expected. Core PPI came in at an annual rate of 5.4%, down from 5.6% in September and 6.2% in October of last year. The monthly report on retail sales is due Wednesday, while Thursday and Friday bring data related to new home construction and existing home sales in October. The weekly report on jobless claims is due Thursday.
The three major indexes traded higher in Tuesday’s premarket session, pushed up by the report on PPI and the solid earnings reports from two Dow stocks.
Before U.S. markets opened Tuesday morning, Walmart beat estimates on the top and bottom lines. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) exceeded the consensus estimate by 13.6%, and revenue was up nearly 9% year over year. Walmart expects year-over-year holiday quarter sales to decline by 3% to 5% while revenue will rise by 3%. The company also announced a new $20 billion share buyback program. Shares were up by more than 7% in premarket trading.
Home Depot beat analysts’ consensus estimates on the top and bottom lines. The company reaffirmed previous guidance for the fiscal year ending in January. Home Depot expects adjusted EPS growth in the mid-single digits, in line with current estimates, same-store sales growth of around 3%, and operating margin of around 15.4%. Shares traded down less than 1% in Tuesday’s premarket.
Tencent Music posted better-than-expected profit and revenue totals. Shares traded higher by more than 10%.
Lowe’s, Target, TJX Companies and Zim Integrated Shipping will report quarterly results first thing Wednesday morning.
Here is a look at two companies on deck to report results after markets close on Wednesday.
Cisco Systems
Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has posted a share price decline of nearly 22% over the past 12 months, including a drop of more than 27% for the year to date. As of Monday’s close, the tech sector is down 21.5% over the past 12 months, and the communications equipment industry, including Cisco, has dropped 16.7%.
One of the Dow stocks, Cisco’s strength (and perhaps its weakness) is a substantial backlog. On the one hand, that backlog can keep revenue flowing even if new orders lag in the current macro environment. On the other hand, backlog orders can be renegotiated or canceled.
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