On February 11, American stock exchanges finished trading mostly in the green zone. The S&P 500 index rose 0.17% to 3916 points, the NASDAQ added 0.38%, the Dow Jones fell by a purely symbolic 0.02%. There were no new drivers for the movement, so investors were guided by the already familiar factors. The tech sector recovered 1.1% after falling the day before. In contrast, the energy sector fell 1.53% as part of the correction after the rally.
Company news
Game developer Zynga (ZNGA: + 7.4%) exceeded expectations due to strong demand for gaming entertainment and increased ad revenue.
Home audio system maker Sonos (SONO: + 15.7%) posted strong quarterly results and strong forecasts.
Strong reporting from Zebra Technologies (ZBRA: + 10%) reflected a rebound in SME demand for the company’s solutions.
Today, world stock exchanges are showing mostly positive dynamics. The news background remains quite calm. Strong factors supporting optimism remain the prospects for fiscal stimulus adoption in late February or March, positive quarterly reporting, and strong corporate forecasts for 2021. At the same time, investors are worried about the overbought of some market segments, as well as the threat of the spread of new strains of coronavirus.
The Biden administration has ordered an additional 100 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech anticoid vaccine and another 100 million doses from Moderna. The vaccination campaign continues to accelerate. About 1.6 million vaccinations are made every day, although at the beginning of February the figure was at 1.3 million. At the current rate, it will take nine months to ensure immunity to 75% of the US population, but the vaccination procedure is accelerating. A poll of economists by the WSJ indicated an improvement in US GDP forecasts. Now, on average, the economy is expected to grow by 4.9% this year, which is 0.6% higher than the January estimates. Economists say the main reason for the positive revision of the forecast is the increase in the rate of vaccination.
Note that on Monday, the US stock exchanges will not work, so investors today may be inclined to partially close positions. Against this background, the continuation of lateral dynamics or a slight correction is most likely.
Technically, the S&P 500 is still in an uptrend. The broad market index is consolidating in a tight range after rising 4% last week. Resistance at the upper border of the uptrend is still a significant obstacle. The RSI indicator is forming a bearish divergence, which may lead to a short-term correction.
Today Top Movers
China Liberal Education Holdings (CLEU) share price jumped 79.26% to $7.26 during the early morning trading session on Friday after a 13G filing showed 4 Investors has stakes in the company totaling 57.17%.
2U Inc (TWOU) stock ascended 4.58% at $51.42 in the pre-market trading today after the company released financial and operating results for the full-year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020.
Denison Mines Corp (DNN) gained over 41.34% at $1.47 in pre-market trading on Friday. The company recently reported 2020 phoenix expansion drilling returns best results to date at Zone C.
Top Upgrades & Downgrades
Jefferies turned bullish on Prothena Corporation plc (PRTA), upgrading the stock to “Buy” and assigning a $30.0 price target, representing potential upside of 91.08% from Thursday’s close.
HubSpot Inc. (HUBS) has won the favor of Raymond James’s equity research team. The firm upgraded the shares from Outperform to Strong Buy and moved their price target to $725.0, suggesting 66.1% additional upside for the stock.
TransUnion (TRU) received an upgrade from analysts at Jefferies, who also set their one-year price target on the stock to $115. They changed their rating on TRU to Buy from Hold in a recently issued research note.
Earlier Friday DA Davidson reduced its rating on NIC Inc. (EGOV) stock to Neutral from Buy and assigned the price target to $34.0.
BofA analysts reduced their investment ratings, saying in research reports covered by the media that its rating for TreeHouse Foods Inc. (THS) has been changed to neutral from Buy and the new price target is set at $52.
Analysts at BofA downgraded PTC Therapeutics Inc. (PTCT)’s stock to Neutral from Buy Friday.
Latest Insider Activity
Allegro MicroSystems Inc. (ALGM) Brown Christopher announced the sale of shares taking place on Feb 09 at $29.16 for some 12,500 shares. The total came to more than $0.36 million.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW) CVP, Japan & Intercontinental WANG HUIMIN sold on Feb 11 a total 93,213 shares at $86.81 on average. The insider’s sale generated proceeds of almost $1.02 million.
DXC Technology Company (DXC) Director FERNANDEZ RAUL J declared the purchase of shares taking place on Feb 10 at $25.76 for some 1,943 shares. The transaction amount was around $50060.0.
Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives Inc. (IEA) Director Ares Management Corp bought on Feb 09 a total of 71,226 shares at $1000.00 on average. The purchase cost the insider an estimated $56.61 million.
Important Earnings
Top US earnings releases scheduled for today include ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN). It will announce its Dec 2020 financial results. The company is expected to report earnings of -$0.08 per share from revenues of $40.83M in the three-month period.
Analysts expect Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: NWL) to report a net income (adjusted) of $0.48 per share when the company releases its quarterly results shortly. Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Dec 2020 is predicted to come in at $2.63B.
Dominion Energy Inc. (D), due to announce earnings before the market opens today, is expected to report earnings of $0.8 per share from revenues of $4.24B recently concluded three-month period.
