Selasa, 11 Februari 2020

Under Armour shares tank on sales miss, sees $50 million to $60 million hit from coronavirus - CNBC

An Under Armour store front is seen on November 04, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Under Armour shares plummeted Monday morning after the company reported sales that missed analysts' estimates during the holiday quarter and issued a bleak outlook.

It said it is facing "ongoing demand challenges" for its athletic apparel and sneakers, and is calling for sales to be down a low-single digit percentage in fiscal 2020. That includes a high-single-digit drop in sales in North America, Under Armour said. Analysts had been calling for overall sales to be up 4.2% for the year.

Providing its 2020 outlook, Under Armour said it expects the coronavirus outbreak in China to lower sales by roughly $50 million to $60 million during the fiscal first quarter.

The company is also embarking on a restructuring plan, which among other things could entail not opening its New York City flagship location. It could take between $325 million and $425 million in estimated pretax charges this fiscal year tied to these efforts, it said, including about $225 million to $250 million related to not opening the store.

Under Armour shares sank as much as 17% in premarket trading on the news.

Here's how Under Armour did for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with what analysts were expecting, based on a poll by Refinitiv:

  • Earnings per share: 10 cents, adjusted, vs. 10 cents expected
  • Revenue: $1.44 billion vs. $1.47 billion expected

Under Armour reported a net loss of $15.3 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with net income of $4.2 million, or a penny a share, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Under Armour earned 10 cents a share during the fourth quarter, in line with analysts estimates, based on Refinitiv data.

Revenue grew slightly to $1.44 billion from $1.39 billion a year ago. But it was short of expectations for $1.47 billion.

Sales in North America were up 1.9% during the quarter and rose 9.8% in Asia-Pacific. Apparel sales were up 0.2% overall, while footwear revenue was up 10.3% and accessories sales grew 1.6%.

Under Armour has been struggling to grow sales for the past few years. The company reported its first quarterly loss in 2017, as momentum for the brand started to slow. It faces intense competition from the likes of Nike, Lululemon and Adidas in the U.S. It also is more reliant on wholesale partners, such as Kohl's, which analysts say has hurt Under Armour's business as those retailers have suffered.

Patrik Frisk notably took over as CEO from Under Armour founder Kevin Plank on Jan. 1. Plank remains executive chairman and brand chief.

As of Monday's market close, Under Armour's stock has fallen about 1.5% this year. The company has a market cap of about $9.2 billion.

Read the full earnings press release here.

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2020-02-11 12:10:00Z
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Viral chicken sandwiches aren't enough for Wall Street: Morning Brief - Yahoo Finance

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe

The general public isn’t the investing public

Make no mistake: Popeyes chicken sandwich is a runaway hit.

In the fourth quarter, same-store sales at Popeyes rose 34.4% and system-wide sales at Popeyes stores grew 42.3%.

As Jose Cil, CEO of Restaurant Brands (QSR) — Popeyes parent company — said on Monday, Popeyes chicken sandwich “has proven to be a game changer for the brand in every way.”

In a note to clients last week, analysts at Bank of America Global Research explored the 2019 phenomenon that became known as the chicken sandwich wars. Looking at trends on social media, BofA found that, “brand penetrations of ‘chicken sandwich’ Instagram posts and Tweets show that Popeyes has been able to take a meaningful share of conversations.”

This work led to BofA suggesting that fourth quarter comp sales growth at Popeyes would likely come in around 20%. Actual results, of course, were more than 50% better than this estimate.

Popeyes viral chicken sandwich is a marketing dream. And the results have backed up the hype.

But one viral sandwich still hasn’t been enough to get investors excited about the stock. And this episode serves as a great illustration of how the general public and the investing public look differently at brands, sales, and what makes a good investment.

The sustained buzz and hype surrounding the Popeyes chicken sandwich has very obviously led to strong sales. Following a Peter Lynch-style “invest in what you know” maxim might lead to you taking a position in the stock.

But during the fourth quarter, shares of Restaurant Brands fell over 9% during a quarter when the S&P 500 rose some 12%. For the full-year 2019, shares of Restaurant Brands rose about 19% against a gain of nearly 30% for the S&P 500.

And the story for Restaurant Brands is fairly simple: the success at Popeyes isn’t enough to paper over the struggles at its Tim Hortons brand.

Same-store sales at Tim Hortons fell 4.3% during the fourth quarter.

This Aug. 21, 2019, photo, shows Popeye's new chicken sandwich, the spicy version, in New Rochelle, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Rubin)
This Aug. 21, 2019, photo, shows Popeye's new chicken sandwich, the spicy version, in New Rochelle, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Rubin)

As Cil said: “At Tim Hortons, our performance did not reflect the incredible power of our brand and it is clear that we have a large opportunity to refocus on our founding values and what has made us famous with our guests over the years, which will be the basis for our plan in 2020.”

In the fourth quarter of 2018, system-wide sales at Tim Hortons totaled $1.73 billion against Popeyes sales of $934 million. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Tim Hortons sales fell to $1.68 billion with Popeyes totaling $1.33 billion during the same quarter. And so just a year after Tim Hortons had nearly double the quarterly sales of Popeyes, the brand saw quarterly revenues top those at its smaller family brand by just 30%.

These struggles are also more acute for the stock because Tim Hortons is a much larger part of the Restaurant Brands profit picture.

In the fourth quarter, adjusted EBITDA at Tim Hortons totaled $297 million, accounting for just under 48% of the company’s quarterly adjusted EBITDA. The fourth quarter of 2018, Tim Hortons recorded adjusted EBITDA of $297 million with that income accounting for more than half of the entire company’s quarterly adjusted profit.

Popeyes, in contrast, saw adjusted EBITDA rise more than 50% from the prior year, but still accounts for less than 10% of the company’s quarterly total.

Chicken sandwich virality hasn’t fundamentally changed the profit outlook for Restaurant Brands. At least not quite yet.

And while some readers might roll their eyes at being alerted to the fact that profits matter to investors, sentiment around the stock of Popeyes parent company seems divorced from consumer enthusiasm for their chicken sandwich.

To the general public, the Popeyes chicken sandwich is one of the most interesting business stories of the year. To the investing public, the chicken sandwich is just part of a profit picture that is under pressure.

By Myles Udland, reporter and co-anchor of The Final Round. Follow him at @MylesUdland

What to watch today

Economy

  • 6 a.m. ET: NFIB Small Business Optimism, January (103.5 expected, 102.7 in December)

  • 10 a.m. ET: JOLTS Job Openings, December (7000 expected, 6800 in November)

Earnings

Pre-market

  • 6:30 a.m. ET: Hasbro (HAS) is expected to report adjusted earnings of 88 cents per share on $1.44 billion in revenue

  • 6:55 a.m. ET: Under Armour (UAA) is expected to report adjusted earnings of 10 cents per share on $1.47 billion in revenue

Post-market

  • 4:05 p.m. ET: Lyft (LYFT) is expected to report an adjusted loss of 54 cents per share on $985.77 million in revenue

READ MORE

Top News

FILE - In this April 27, 2010 file photo, a woman using a cell phone walks past T-Mobile and Sprint stores in New York. Sprint and T-Mobile called off a potential merger, saying the companies couldn't come to an agreement that would benefit customers and shareholders. The two companies have been dancing around a possible merger for years, and were again in the news in recent weeks with talks of the two companies coming together after all. But in a joint statement Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, Sprint and T-Mobile said they are calling off merger negotiations for the foreseeable future. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
FILE - In this April 27, 2010 file photo, a woman using a cell phone walks past T-Mobile and Sprint stores in New York. Sprint and T-Mobile called off a potential merger, saying the companies couldn't come to an agreement that would benefit customers and shareholders. The two companies have been dancing around a possible merger for years, and were again in the news in recent weeks with talks of the two companies coming together after all. But in a joint statement Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, Sprint and T-Mobile said they are calling off merger negotiations for the foreseeable future. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

US district judge expected to rule in favor of Sprint-T-Mobile merger [Reuters]

UK economy flatlined ahead of the election [Yahoo Finance UK]

FAA says approaching 737 MAX test flight, awaits Boeing proposals [Reuters]

YAHOO FINANCE HIGHLIGHTS

Coronavirus not material enough of a risk to move rates, Fed officials say

How Bernie Sanders is helping Mike Bloomberg

Chinese manufacturer finds success in the U.S. by embracing local labor standards

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.

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2020-02-11 11:16:00Z
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Senators Slam Amazon Over 'Intolerable' Warehouse Conditions - HuffPost

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2020-02-11 10:42:00Z
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Reports: Judge to Rule in Favor of Dreaded T-Mobile and Sprint Merger - Gizmodo

Sprint’s Marcelo Claure, left, and T-Mobile’s John Legere, right, at a House Commerce subcommittee hearing in February 2019.
Photo: Jose Luis Magana (AP)

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero is set to allow the $26.5 billion T-Mobile and Sprint merger to go forward, clearing the path to merge the nation’s third and fourth-largest wireless carriers into a single behemoth that would rival Verizon and A&T, reports indicated on Monday night.

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal both wrote that Marrero is expected to rule against the attorneys general of 13 states and D.C. who are suing to block the merger on antitrust grounds, citing sources who have been briefed on the decision. That suit is the final legal obstacle between T-Mobile and the smaller, ailing Sprint finally being able to consummate their planned union, as antitrust officials at the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice have already signed off. Both papers reported that the verdict is expected to drop on Tuesday morning.

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Allowing the merger to go through would drop the number of major carriers competing in the U.S. from four to three, for years at the very least. Under the terms of a deal with the DOJ, T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom would be forced to sell off wireless spectrum to Dish, while Sprint would have to do the same with Boost Mobile. This supposedly would create a replacement contender to fill the fourth spot, though the viability of Dish’s plans to create a competitive national 5G network have drawn extensive scrutiny. It will launch with around nine million customers, mostly from Boost Mobile, according to the Journal. Meanwhile, the merged titan, doing business as T-Mobile, will have over 100 million customers.

Companies routinely claim that mergers will allow them to offer more competitive pricing with vague assurances of increased efficiency. But research has shown the exact opposite is much more likely to happen: price increases from increased market power. These kind of outcomes can be plainly observed in industries from medical care to pay TV. (A ProPublica investigation found that many academic proponents of mega-mergers often receive huge sums of money from companies that stand to benefit from friendly testimony in anticompetition lawsuits.) Sprint and T-Mobile have both promised not to raise prices and to build a 5G network, and T-Mobile has launched low-cost plans in an effort to assuage critics. However, fewer mobile network operators in a country is associated with much higher prices and the two firms were already planning on building 5G networks.

State attorneys general involved in the lawsuit argued that the Sprint/T-Mobile merger will cost subscribers of both companies up to $4.5 billion annually. The FCC and DOJ both argued in favor of it in the suit, according to Ars Technica, saying a victory for the plaintiffs could block “substantial, long-term, and procompetitive benefits for American consumers.”

What isn’t clear at this point is whether the ruling is a total win for Sprint and T-Mobile or Marrero has implemented further conditions on the deal. Those could ultimately have some impact on the ultimate outcome for consumers.

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As the Times noted, Sprint executive chairman Marcelo Claure and T-Mobile CEO John Legere built DC connections while lobbying for the deal. Claure hosted a fundraiser for Republican senator and net neutrality opponent Marsha Blackburn’s successful 2018 campaign, while Legere spent a suspicious amount of time and money ($195,000) at a D.C. hotel owned by Donald Trump.

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2020-02-11 04:45:00Z
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Senin, 10 Februari 2020

Judge Is Said to Rule for T-Mobile Merger With Sprint - The New York Times

The judge in a contentious lawsuit that tried to stop the long-in-the-works merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is planning to rule in favor of the deal, according to three people briefed on the matter.

The verdict, expected Tuesday, will come at the end of an unusual suit filed in June by attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia. The challenge came after federal regulators gave their blessing to the deal, which would combine the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers and create a new telecommunications giant to take on the two largest, AT&T and Verizon. The states argued that the combination of T-Mobile and Sprint would reduce competition in the telecommunications industry, lead to higher cellphone bills and place a financial burden on lower-income customers.

Judge Victor Marrero of United States District Court in Manhattan presided over the case. Final arguments took place last month.

None of the parties have read the ruling yet, the three people said, leaving open the possibility that the decision includes conditions or restrictions. Both companies are planning to make announcements on Tuesday, the people said. Shares in Sprint shot up more than 60 percent and T-Mobile stock rose about 10 percent in aftermarket trading.

The lawsuit was the final roadblock to the merger, which made steady progress through the approval process since it was announced in April 2018. If the judge’s ruling goes in favor of the two companies, the deal will create a new telecommunications giant, called T-Mobile, that will have more than 100 million customers.

T-Mobile and Sprint have long said the merger was crucial to their futures in an industry challenged by pricing wars that have undercut profits and stalled growth. By combining with Sprint, T-Mobile has said it would be able to accelerate its development of 5G, the next generation of cellular networks.

The deal is also important to Sprint, which has bled cash and subscribers in recent years. SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate the controls Sprint, has been looking to raise cash for its newest tech investing fund.

The new company will be led by Mike Sievert, a T-Mobile executive who will take over for John Legere, the face of the company whose contract is up in April.

Mr. Legere, the flamboyant, social-media-savvy chief executive of T-Mobile since 2012, helped drive the merger, which won the approval of the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission last year. To get the nod from the government, T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to sell off significant portions of their businesses to the pay-television operator Dish Network as part of a plan to create a potential new major wireless company.

Marcelo Claure, the executive chairman of Sprint, became a close ally of Mr. Legere’s throughout the campaign to secure approval for the deal. Mr. Legere made numerous visits to both the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department. Mr. Claure hosted a fund-raiser for Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican who was eventually elected to the Senate in November 2018.

Several lawmakers expressed misgivings over Mr. Legere’s Washington visits, noting the dozens of times that he and other T-Mobile executives stayed at the Trump International Hotel there. The companies have denied doing anything inappropriate to curry favor with federal officials.

The deal also represents a victory for Masayoshi Son, the billionaire entrepreneur and outspoken leader of SoftBank, which has recently come under pressure from the activist investor Elliott Management. SoftBank’s outsize investments in tech start-ups, including WeWork, have failed to deliver for investors, and Mr. Son has struggled to raise more cash for a new investment fund. He has been trying to unload Sprint for years.

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2020-02-10 23:28:00Z
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Trump budget would cut loan program for vehicle production used by Tesla, Ford - CNBC

President Trump speaks during an event at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020.

Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

President Donald Trump's proposed budget would reportedly kill a loan program that assisted automakers such as Ford Motor and Tesla in producing more environmental-friendly vehicles, including Tesla's all-electric Model S.

The proposed cut, according to the 2021 budget proposal, is to the U.S. Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which has distributed more than $8 billion in loans to companies to produce such vehicles, according to the program's website.

Most recently, electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors, which purchased GM's shuttered Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio, was in discussion with government leaders about a loan from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

Lordstown Motors, in an emailed statement on Monday to CNBC, said it had not yet applied for the loan. It said the company continues to evaluate its options for financing: "We are continuing conversations with government leaders as we explore our options, but we see it as one of our many options to consider. We will factor this new information into our decision making process, but our business model stands on its own without it."

A spokesperson for the federal program, which awarded its first loan in 2009, did not immediately respond for comment. The budget refers to the program and others as "costly, wasteful, or duplicative programs."

Previous loans, according to the program's website, have included $465 million to Tesla for production of the Model S in 2010; $5.9 billion to Ford to upgrade 13 facilities in six states for a variety of vehicles in 2009; and $1.45 billon for Nissan Motor for a new advanced battery manufacturing plant and facility upgrades for a plant in Tennessee for to produce the all-electric Nissan Leaf in 2010.

As of September 2017, both Tesla and Nissan had fully repaid their loans, according to the website. Ford, according to a company spokeswoman, is scheduled to repay its loan in September 2022.

As of 2016, the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program was authorized to loan more than $16 billion to continue "helping the auto industry grow local economies across the United States while increasing American economic competitiveness around the world," according to the website.

This isn't the first time Trump has wanted to cut funding for the auto industry. The White House last year proposed eliminating a tax credit worth up to $7,500 on the purchase of new electric vehicles, a move it said would save the U.S. government $2.5 billion over a decade. The credits were eventually saved.

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2020-02-10 22:14:00Z
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Stock market news live: S&P 500, Nasdaq see closing highs; Slack halted for coming news - Yahoo Finance

U.S. stocks kicked off the week slightly higher, shaking off earlier declines as the coronavirus death toll overtook that of the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak.

Later this week, investors will receive a myriad of corporate earnings results, January retail sales data and semi-annual congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

4:43 p.m. ET: Slack says IBM has been its largest customer for years, addressing earlier media reports

Slack, in an SEC filing late Monday, said IBM has been slowly expanding its usage of Slack and has been Slack’s largest customer for several years.

The filing was in response to a Business Insider article earlier Monday saying that IBM had purchased Slack’s software for its employees to use worldwide. After the report, Slack shares were up as much as 21% intraday before paring some gains.

Slack also added that it is not updating its financial guidance for the fourth quarter or full year of the fiscal year ending January 31.

Shares of Slack resumed trading after market close at 4:43 p.m. ET.

4:02 p.m. ET: Stocks close higher, S&P 500 and Nasdaq see closing highs

Here’s where the major indices were as of 4:02 p.m. ET:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): +0.73% or +24.42 points to 3,352.13

  • Dow (^DJI): +0.60% or +174.27 points to 29,276.78

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): +1.13% or +107.88 points to 9,628.39

  • Crude oil (CL=F): -1.57% or -0.79 to 49.53 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F+0.21% or +3.30 to 1,576.70 per ounce

3:49 p.m. ET: Slack stock halted

Slack (WORK) stock was halted at 3:49 p.m. ET, possibly ahead of an announcement, according to Bloomberg. The stock is up more than 15% so far on Monday.

Earlier Monday, reports suggested IBM (IBM) was going to have its more than 350,000 employees use Slack’s workplace communications technology, immediately unlocking a huge new user base and corporate customer for the newly public company.

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1:55 p.m. Earnings are topping expectations, but...

An electronic screen at the Nasdaq MarketSite shows the decline in the price of Apple shares, center, at the start of the trading day Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 in New York. Wall Street extended its huge decline Wednesday as an emergency interest rate cut failed to alleviate investors' fears that the paralysis in the credit markets will set off a global recession. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

All things considered, it’s been a banner earnings season as nearly70% of S&P 500 companies beat estimates, Refinitiv data showed — well above the long-term average.

Still, Blackrock thinks the bar is being set too high, and all but guarantees a letdown:

“Analysts currently expect U.S. earnings to grow about 9% in 2020, a hair lower than the typical range for the start of the year. Yet we see that as an ambitious goal given potential for rising wages and other cost increases to further compress corporate margins. Our analysis of U.S. corporate profit margins over the stages of the business cycle since 1965 showed that profit margins have tended to contract in late-cycle periods. High earnings expectations, combined with these late-cycle dynamics and more attractive valuations in other regions, set a high bar for sustained U.S. outperformance.”

 

Add in the upcoming U.S. general election and coronavirus, and companies need to brace for “the potential for a highly volatile and noisy nine months ahead [featuring] a wide range of potential policy outcomes,” the investment giant said:  

The bottom line: We stick to our view that global growth will edge higher in 2020 but expect the pickup to be delayed. U.S. equities could outperform on any further growth scares triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, given their quality bias and perceived resilience. But we remain neutral on U.S. equities, given elevated political uncertainties and the risk to margins. Overall, we stand by our moderate pro-risk stance, and expect an eventual growth pickup to support cyclical equity markets such as EM and Japan. Within U.S. equities we favor quality companies with above average return on equity, low leverage and strong cash flow.


12:20 p.m. ET: Retail shipments see ‘sharper-than-usual’ drop

The National Retail Federation, which tracks retail shipment volumes at major U.S. ports, warned on Monday that the coronavirus epidemic is adding to the typical slowness associated with Lunar New Year. That means a usual slump is “sharper-than-usual,” the organization says:


“February is historically a slow month for imports because of Lunar New Year and the lull between retailers’ holiday season and summer, but this is an unusual situation,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

“Many Chinese factories have already stayed closed longer than usual, and we don’t know how soon they will reopen. U.S. retailers were already beginning to shift some sourcing to other countries because of the trade war, but if shutdowns continue, we could see an impact on supply chains.”

Accordingly, trying to forecast container volumes “has become even more challenging” and it’s far from clear when the manufacturing sector will normalize, the NRF said.

11:20 a.m. ET: Investors unprepared for this ‘tectonic shift’

In this photograph taken on December 8, 2016, an automated robot works on an assembly line of Highly Electrical Appliances India Pvt. Ltd. at a company air-conditioner compressor plant at Matoda, some 20 kms. from Ahmedabad. / AFP / SAM PANTHAKY (Photo credit should read SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)

In a lengthy study published Monday, Bank of America put a new spin on a slowly unfolding story: Namely, that global supply chains are migrating to other countries like Southeast Asia, India and even North America.

According to a BofA study, “...much more surprising was that companies in about half of all global sectors in North America declared an intent to 'reshore'. This was particularly true for high-tech sectors and industries for which energy is a key input. If borne out, this could represent the first reversal in a multi-decade trend.”

In all, multinational companies worth $22 trillion in market cap are being impacted, and the bank warns that investors may not be ready. So what’s behind the shift? BofA noted there are several reasons, but among them are tariffs, narrowing tax advantages, and national security. And the kicker:

“In our view, these movements are ‘tectonic’: slow moving, persistent with major changes to the business environment for global companies.

“...We don't think investors are fully prepared for this tectonic shift. In our view, the US could be a significant beneficiary of this process, while Chinese firms are perhaps most at risk. Even more striking, our survey found almost universal intent to use automation.” 

As such, the bank recommends adding exposure in automation, industrials and banks stocks in the regions set to become beneficiaries of the shift.


11:00 a.m. ET: Stocks and the coronavirus outbreak

In the last couple of sessions, Wall Street has had a delayed reaction to coronavirus fears. Yet according to DataTrek, there are several reasons why stocks haven’t priced in more aggressive losses:

  • The illness is still largely contained to Mainland China, with 99% of the worldwide cases through today. Even if you do not trust the Chinese government numbers, the count outside the country is trustworthy.

  • China is addressing the outbreak aggressively, with mass quarantines and other measures enabled by its powerful authoritarian governance structure.

  • Markets know this means 1H global economic growth will slow, but they also assume a containment of the disease during this timeframe because of the steps outlined in the prior point.

  • The virus will make for a temporary truce in the US-China trade war that will extend for at least several more months. President Trump knows there is no point in pushing on the issue while the Chinese government is focused on this crisis.

  • ...A 2H 2020 re-acceleration in global growth (post the presumed containment of the virus) will serve President Trump well going into the November US general election. Markets see him as better for the US economy than current Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders.

  • Bond markets, in true on-brand form, see the economic effects of the coronavirus as modestly deflationary (more on this in a moment). Yields have therefore declined around the world, supporting equity valuations. And since central banks are fixated on deflation, the chance they will cut rates is rising.

All told, the firm points out that the stock market is more of a leading indicator, with investors pricing in where growth/earnings will end up in 6 months time. “Investors see the real possibility of a period of global economic catch-up” in the second half — and a Trump reelection bolstering next year and beyond.

10:34 a.m. ET: Stocks push higher, shaking off coronavirus fears

After opening slightly to the downside, the S&P 500 and Dow pushed into positive territory about an hour into the regular trading session.

Here were the main moves in markets, as of 10:35 a.m. ET:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): +0.36% or +11.85 points to 3,339.55

  • Dow (^DJI): +0.33% or +96.18 points to 29,198.69

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): +0.53% or +51.07 points to 9,571.58

  • Crude oil (CL=F): -0.74% or -0.37 to 49.95 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F+0.22% or +3.40 to 1,576.80 per ounce

10:32 a.m. ET: Tesla’s stock jumps again, extending incredible run

Tesla’s (TSLA) stock rose as much as much as 9.6% on Monday to $819.99 at the highs of the morning session, as shares of the electric car-maker continued to surge.

The stock received an apparent boost over the weekend after Chinese officials said Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory would resume production Monday, Feb. 10, with the government helping it work through the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

Tesla executives had said during their earnings call with investors late last month that the company would see a 1-1.5 week delay in ramping production at the Shanghai Gigafactory amid the coronavirus.

Shares of Tesla were up about 80% for the year to date through Friday’s close.

10:27 a.m. ET: U.S. economic growth could take a hit in Q1 as coronavirus impact spreads

U.S. real gross domestic product growth could slow well below 1% in the first quarter as the impact of the coronavirus takes hold, according to a note from UBS economist Seth Carpenter Monday. These effects, however, will likely reverse in the second and third quarters this year, he added.

We see the net effect on the US as being small, but the quarterly swings are likely to be measurable. For the US, we see the effect coming through three channels: tourism, exports, and a temporary disruption to manufacturing because of delayed imports. For Q1, we have trimmed our real GDP estimate by 0.2 [percentage points] to a 0.4% [quarter on quarter] annual rate. We assume that the hit in the US from the coronavirus is mostly reversed over the course of Q2 and Q3. There are significant risks to this forecast. Our forecast change is conditional on China reopening production next week and based on the China team’s assessment that production disruptions will be small.

UBS’s prediction for U.S. Q1 GDP is below that of the Atlanta Fed. The regional bank’s closely watched GDPNow model estimates real GDP growth of 2.7% in the first quarter.

10:20 a.m. ET: Chinese hackers charged with Equifax breach

Four Chinese military hackers have been charged in the 2017 breach of the Equifax credit reporting agency that affected nearly 150 million American citizens, Attorney General William Barr said Monday.


9:35 a.m. ET: U.S. stocks open little changed amid coronavirus outbreak

The Dow and S&P 500 opened slightly in the red Monday morning as fears over the coronavirus continued to mount. However, each index pared losses from the pre-market session.

Here were the main moves in markets, as of 9:35 a.m. ET:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): -0.05% or -1.6 points to 3,326.11

  • Dow (^DJI): -0.04% or -12.53 points to 29,089.98

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): +0.05% or +7.35 points to 9,529.66

  • Crude oil (CL=F): -0.97% or -0.49 to 49.83 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F+0.28% or +4.40 to 1,577.80 per ounce

7:47 a.m. ET: Stock futures mixed as coronavirus death toll rises

Contracts on the three major indices were mixed Monday morning, after falling for the first time in five sessions on Friday. Fears over the spread of the deadly coronavirus continued to be a focal point for global investors.

As of Sunday evening, the coronavirus had claimed the lives of 908 in mainland China, and total cases rose to 40,171, according to China’s National Health Commission. Ninety-seven people died from the disease on Sunday alone. More have now been killed by the coronavirus than during the SARS outbreak of 2002 to 2003, which killed 774 individuals.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, noted in a Twitter post Sunday that some coronavirus cases have begun to emerge even in individuals who did not travel to China.

In the UK, where there have so far been eight confirmed coronavirus cases, the country’s health secretary called the outbreak “a serious and imminent threat to public health.” Elsewhere, more than 3,000 people have been stuck on a cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, in a two-week quarantine, with dozens on board having tested positive for the coronavirus. Separately, home-rental services Airbnb has halted bookings of all listings in Beijing through the end of February in effort to contain the coronavirus.

Here were the main moves during the pre-market session, as of 7:47 a.m. ET:

  • S&P futures (ES=F): 3,324.75, down 0.75 points or 0.02%

  • Dow futures (YM=F): 29,025.00, down 19 points or 0.07%

  • Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 9,413.25, up points or 0.04%

  • Crude oil (CL=F): $50.18 per barrel, down $0.14 or 0.28%

  • Gold (GC=F): $1,575.10 per ounce, up $1.70 or 0.11%

A man wearing a protective face mask walks on an overpass in Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai on February 10, 2020. - The death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 900 in mainland China on February 10, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be stabilising. (Photo by NOEL CELIS / AFP) (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vZmluYW5jZS55YWhvby5jb20vbmV3cy9zdG9jay1tYXJrZXQtbmV3cy1saXZlLXVwZGF0ZXMtZmVicnVhcnktMTAtMjAyMC0xMjUwMTkzMTkuaHRtbNIBZWh0dHBzOi8vZmluYW5jZS55YWhvby5jb20vYW1waHRtbC9uZXdzL3N0b2NrLW1hcmtldC1uZXdzLWxpdmUtdXBkYXRlcy1mZWJydWFyeS0xMC0yMDIwLTEyNTAxOTMxOS5odG1s?oc=5

2020-02-10 21:43:00Z
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