The three major U.S. equity indexes closed higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones industrials added 0.06%, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.23%, and the Nasdaq closed up 0.21%. Seven of 11 sectors ended the day higher, led by energy (up 2.7%). Real estate lagged (down 0.7%). Claims for jobless benefits were essentially flat week over week, as were continuing claims. The day’s big mover was Bed Bath & Beyond, falling nearly 20%, and by twice that amount in Friday’s premarket, after investor Ryan Cohen dumped all his stock in the company. All three indexes traded lower about half an hour after Friday’s opening bell.
After markets closed on Thursday, Applied Materials reported better-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) and revenue. Guidance was in line with consensus estimates. Shares traded down about 2.7% Friday morning.
Ross Stores beat the consensus EPS estimate and missed on revenue. The discount retailer guided earnings for the second half of the year lower, and the stock traded down about 1.2% Friday.
Before U.S. markets opened on Friday, Deere badly missed the consensus EPS estimate but surpassed revenue expectations. Shares traded down about 1.6% early Friday.
Foot Locker beat the EPS estimate and barely missed on revenue. New CEO Mary Dillon takes over on September 1. The stock traded up by around 21% Friday morning.
No notable earnings reports are expected either after markets close Friday or before they open on Monday. Palo Alto Networks and Zoom Video take their turns in the earnings spotlight late Monday.
First thing Tuesday morning, these four companies are set to release quarterly results.
JD.com
Beijing-based JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) is China’s second-largest e-commerce company. Shares have bounced back from a 52-week low set in March but remain about 15.8% lower for the past 12 months.
The stock got a bounce a couple of weeks ago following better-than-expected quarterly results from rival Alibaba. Yet, investors reacted negatively last week after Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater hedge fund dumped JD.com shares in the fund’s purge of Chinese stocks and again this week after Tencent Holdings sold its stake in food delivery company Meituan. If the company can beat modest expectations, investors will be wearing big smiles. If the company misses, doom and gloom will follow.
Of 38 analysts covering the stock, 36 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. At a recent share price of around $55.20, the stock’s implied upside based on a median price target of $79.44 is about 43.9%. At the high price target of $113.51, the upside potential is 58.3%.
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