Yesterday was a volatile day on Wall Street. The S&P 500 closed 0.13% lower but looking at the high and low price we see a volatility of 2.34%. The final closing price was 3,881 points. Nasdaq 100 closed 0.22% lower, but even had a movement of 3.78% intraday. The final closing price was 13,194 points. The oldest US index is known for lower volatility than the two above. The Dow rose 0.05% and had a volatility of 1.59% intraday. During the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at 31,537 points. The high volatility on the US stock exchange translated into lower Asian stock prices.
The chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, took the floor yesterday. According to the Fed, it is nowhere near the time to think about normalizing monetary policy. Powell also argues that higher yields in the bond market are a sign of confidence rather than fear of inflation. A period of high inflation is usually accompanied by a period of sharply rising commodity prices. The latter are now really on the rise. You only have to take the graphs of copper, soybeans, sugar, wood, cotton and so much more. All these commodities are quoted on the futures market, which is mainly used by producers for hedging and speculators.
Company News
The Tesla stock started the year at $720 and yesterday the stock closed below $700. So Tesla is currently with a negative return. It is becoming more and more clear that not only Tesla is on a conquest. German car manufacturers are recording increasingly higher sales figures for their electric car segment, and Chinese competitors Nio and Xpeng are also showing increasingly better figures. Non-carmakers like Apple are also venturing into electric cars, suggesting Tesla is flattening its first mover advantage. Tesla delivered nearly 500,000 cars in 2020. According to Elon Musk, sales would increase by 50% annually for the next two years. Whether Tesla can deliver on this outlook will largely depend on how the economy recovers from the corona crisis.
A second possible reason for the sharp fall in Tesla shares can be found in the pricing. Tesla lowered the prices of Model Y and Model 3 by about $2,000 last week. Investors now suspect that the price drops show that demand for Tesla is not as high as most expect.
Today Top Movers
Upwork Inc. (UPWK) stock soared 18.69% to $61.21 in the pre-market trading after UPWK reported adjusted fourth-quarter profit and sales. Upwork said it earned $900,000, or 1 cent a share, contrasting with a loss of $5.5 million, or 5 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Arlo Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ARLO) shares are trading up 25.45% at $8.38 at the time of writing. ARLO also reported Q4 Earnings, In a note Matthew McRae, CEO of ARLO told that company closed out the year with an 89.1% year over year paid account growth.
NIO Limited (NIO), an auto manufacturers company, rose about 1.71% at $49.95 in pre-market trading Wednesday. The share price of NIO fell in recent days, but the drop appears to have been driven by volatility leading up to the company’s earnings report, scheduled for March 1. NIO vehicles may soon be sold in the United States thanks to strong deliveries.
Big Rock Partners Acquisition Corp. (BRPA) grew over 49.05% at $65.0 in pre-market trading today. BRPA has signed an agreement to complete a business combination with Big Rock Partners Acquisition. Announcing that the Phase 2b/3 trial of ZYESAMI for the treatment of Respiratory Failure in Covid-19 critically ill patients.
Top Upgrades & Downgrades
Deutsche Bank turned bullish on McAfee Corp. (MCFE), upgrading the stock to “Buy” and assigning a $23.5 price target, representing a potential upside of 20.82% from Tuesday’s close.
BigCommerce Holdings, Inc. (BIGC) has won the favor of KeyBanc’s equity research team. The firm upgraded the shares from Sector Weight to Overweight and moved their price target to $75, suggesting 18.43% additional upside for the stock.
Bank of Montreal (BMO) received an upgrade from analysts at Credit Suisse, who also set their one-year price target on the stock to $108.0. They changed their rating on BMO to Outperform from Neutral in a recently issued research note.
Earlier Wednesday Deutsche Bank reduced its rating on InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) stock to Hold from Buy.
William Blair analysts reduced their investment ratings, saying in research reports covered by the media that it’s rating for Systemax Inc. (SYX) has been changed to Market Perform from Outperform.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Energizer Holdings Inc. (ENR)’s stock to Neutral from Buy Wednesday.
Latest Insider Activity
MGM Resorts International (MGM) Director JAMMET MARY CHRIS announced the sale of shares taking place on Feb 23 at $38.62 for some 6,626 shares. The total came to more than $0.26 million.
SunPower Corporation (SPWR) Principal Accounting Officer Heang Vichheka sold on Feb 22 a total 2,124 shares at $35.81 on average. The insider’s sale generated proceeds of almost $76060.
OPKO Health Inc. (OPK) CEO & Chairman FROST PHILLIP MD ET AL declared the purchase of shares taking place on Feb 19 at $4.77 for some 500,000 shares. The transaction amount was around $2.38 million.
Sonos Inc. (SONO) Director Volpi Michelangelo bought on Feb 19 a total 53,774 shares at $37.35 on average. The purchase cost the insider an estimated $2.0 million.
Important Earnings
Top US earnings releases scheduled for today include The TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX). It will announce its Jan 2021 financial results. The company is expected to report earnings of $0.62 per share from revenues of $11.48B in the three-month period.
Analysts expect ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC) to report a net income (adjusted) of $1.02 per share when the company releases its quarterly results shortly. Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Dec 2020 is predicted to come in at $6.88B.
Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (GTE), due to announce earnings after the market closes today, is expected to report revenues of $190.43M recently concluded three-month period.
