The three major U.S. equity indexes closed higher Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrials ended the day up 0.17%, the S&P 500 closed 0.87% higher and the Nasdaq saw a gain of 1.45%. Nine of 11 sectors closed higher, with communications services up 1.78% and three others (consumer cyclicals, technology and real estate) adding 1.24%. Materials (−0.11%) and health care (−0.07%) lagged.
The monthly report on retail sales came in much hotter than expected, posting its largest gain since February. Overall sales rose 1.3% month over month and increased 0.9% excluding automobiles and gasoline. Thursday and Friday bring data related to new home construction and existing home sales in October. The weekly report on jobless claims is also due Thursday.
The three major indexes opened mixed on Wednesday. The Dow was up, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite were lower.
Before U.S. markets opened on Wednesday, Target missed consensus estimates for both earnings per share (EPS) and revenue. The company also lowered its fiscal 2022 outlook for both same-store sales and operating margin. Shares traded down about 14.5% in the first hour of regular trading Wednesday.
Lowe’s reported profit and revenue above consensus estimates. Third-quarter same-store sales were up 2.2% year over year and 3.0% in the United States. Lowe’s raised fiscal 2023 guidance above analysts’ consensus. Shares traded up about 4.3% early Wednesday.
TJX Companies reported mixed results, beating the EPS estimate but missing on revenue. EPS guidance was lowered from a prior range of $3.07 to $3.11 to a new range of $2.93 to $2.97. Shares traded up about 1% Wednesday morning.
Zim Integrated Shipping beat consensus estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Shares traded up 1.5% in Wednesday’s regular session.
Cisco Systems and Nvidia will post results after markets close Wednesday, and before they open again on Thursday, look for Alibaba, Kohl’s, Macy’s and NetEase to report earnings. On deck later on Thursday are Applied Materials, Gap, Palo Alto Networks and Ross Stores.
Here is a look at two companies expected to report results first thing Friday morning.
Foot Locker
Shares of Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) dropped by nearly 6% following the company’s decision to remove Kanye West’s Yeezy brand following the rapper’s antisemitic comments late last month. Adidas, which had a lucrative partnership deal with Ye, as West is now known, junked its partnership deal worth an estimated $1.5 billion. Foot Locker has had a tough year regardless, dropping nearly 44% from its share price. On Tuesday, the company announced that it is expanding its partnership with Puma, emphasizing basketball shoes and gear.
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