STOCK MARKET NEWS: Nasdaq leads for week, Dell dips, FTX hits Silvergate, Bitcoin
Stocks are heading for modest weekly gains after a choppy week of trading amid Fed comments, Bitcoin under pressure in FTX Silvergate fallout, Dell’s CFO departing and oil under pressure. FOX Business is providing real-time updates on the markets, commodities and all the most active stocks on the move.
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Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings of Silvergate Capital Corporation and its bank subsidiary Silvergate Bank.
The ratings downgrade is driven by the company's March 1 announcement that it is evaluating its ability to continue as a going concern and that it is unable to timely file its annual report.
The downgrade reflects Moody’s expectation that the company will continue to experience further declines in deposits forcing it to continue selling securities, potentially at further losses. In addition, particularly in the event of a winddown, it is uncertain the amount that the bank will realize on its loan portfolio and other assets.
'Ba3' and 'Caa1' ratings are both considered "junk" ratings.
All three of the major U.S. stock averages rose over 1% on Friday rounding out a winning week as investors balanced corporate earnings along with more speculation on the duration and size of future interest rate hikes. Bond yields rose for the sixth straight week with the 10-year Treasury ending at 3.962% and the 2-year 4.859%. In commodities, oil rose over 4% to $79.68 per barrel for the week.
Weekly Performance:
Nasdaq Composite: +2.6%
S&P 500: +1.9%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +1.8%
VW logo is seen in front of the main building of the Volkswagen brand at the Volkswagen headquarters during a media tour to present Volkswagen's so called "Blaue Fabrik" (Blue Factory) environmental program, in Wolfsburg, Germany May 19, 2017. (Reuters/Fabian Bimmer)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| VWAPY | $14.99 | 1.39 | 10.22 |
Volkswagen's off-road brand Scout Motors said on Friday it would build a $2 billion manufacturing plant near Columbia, South Carolina, for trucks and SUVs.
The investment could potentially create 4,000 or more permanent jobs and more than 200,000 Scout vehicles could be produced annually at the facility.
In May, VW said it would reintroduce the Scout off-road brand in the United States, offering new electric pickup and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs).
Groundbreaking is planned for mid-2023 and production is projected to begin by the end of 2026. Scout, an independent U.S. company owned by Volkswagen Group, is currently evaluating the potential for outside investment.
The news is the latest major auto announcement for South Carolina, which is home to BMW's U.S. operations and its largest plant by volume. The state also has over 500 automotive-related companies and 75,000 automotive industry employees.
BMW said in October it would invest $1.7 billion to build electric vehicles in South Carolina. The German automaker made a new $1 billion investment in its Spartanburg plant to prepare for EV production and is spending $700 million on a new high-voltage battery assembly facility in nearby Woodruff, South Carolina.
REUTERS/Yilei Sun
Shares of Tesla are rising on Friday after the company sold 74,402 China-made electric vehicles (EV) in February, up 31.65% from a year earlier, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data showed on Friday.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | $200.09 | 9.19 | 4.81 |
That was up 12.6% from January, when the U.S. electric car maker delivered 66,051 China-made Model 3 and Model Y electric cars.
Rival BYD with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and hybrids sold 191,664 vehicles last month, CPCA data showed.
The EV maker had planned to run its Shanghai plant at an average weekly output rate of 20,000 units in February and March after price cuts it made in early January stoked demand.
Tesla's market share in China's new energy vehicle sector, which includes both pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars, slid to 9% in February from 10% a year earlier, according to data from China Merchants Bank International.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| META | $185.71 | 11.18 | 6.40 |
Meta Platforms Inc cut the prices of its virtual reality headsets in hopes of stirring demand for its VR hardware, as its bold bets on the metaverse have struggled to make a big splash.
Its flagship Meta Quest Pro will retail for $999, down from its launch price of $1,499, and Quest 2 256 GB version for $429 from $499, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a broadcast on its social media platform Instagram on Friday.
The company called out lower Quest 2 sales as the reason behind a 17% drop in fourth-quarter revenue at its Reality Labs unit, which includes VR-related offerings.
The division lost $13.7 billion last year and over $10 billion in 2021.
Meta is facing heat from investors for pouring money into metaverse that has not reaped benefits as expected.
Late last year, the company launched Quest Pro, positioning it as its most-advanced VR headset with capabilities to push the use-cases further.
Quest Pro, with its outward-facing cameras that capture 3D livestream of the physical environment and allow novelties like the ability to hang virtual paintings on a real-world wall, was aimed at designers, architects and other creative professionals.
iStock
The U.S. stock averages are up on Friday as Wall Street traders look to extend the Nasdaq’s weekly gain.
The Dow Jones Industrial, S&P and Nasdaq are all in positive territory with the tech-heavy index on track for a winning week as shares of Meta, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft rise early.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| META | $178.09 | 3.56 | 2.04 |
| AAPL | $148.06 | 2.15 | 1.47 |
| AMZN | $93.01 | 0.88 | 0.96 |
| MSFT | $251.53 | 0.42 | 0.17 |
In commodities, oil is rising after starting the session in the red, moving approximately 1.84% higher to $76.90 a barrel as gold adds roughly 0.76% to $1,854.50 an ounce.
Meanwhile, silver is up, moving around 0.67% higher to $21.04 an ounce.
Amazon is making changes involving the expansion of its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
People visit the Verizon stand at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 27, 2023. (Reuters/Nacho Doce)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| VZ | $38.18 | -0.23 | -0.60 |
Verizon Communications Inc finance chief Matt Ellis will leave the wireless carrier in May, it said on Friday in a slew of senior leadership changes.
The move comes at a time when Verizon is facing tough competition from rivals T-Mobile US Inc and AT&T Inc for new customers and is investing heavily in new technologies such as 5G.Senior Vice President Tony Skiadas will replace Ellis, the company said while announcing new leaders to its key verticals.
Sowmyanarayan Sampath, who leads Verizon Business Group, will be executive vice president and chief executive of Verizon Consumer Group.
The business group will be led by Kyle Malady, currently head of Global Networks and Technology.
Verizon's consumer and business divisions include wireless and wireline operations focused at retail customers and enterprises, respectively.
CEO of Lufthansa AG Carsten Spohr and CFO of Lufthansa AG Remco Steenbergen pose for a picture during the annual results news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, Mar. 3, 2023. (Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLAKY | $11.06 | 0.65 | 6.24 |
Germany's Lufthansa on Friday delivered an "unprecedented" turnaround as it swung to a 1.51 billion euro profit in 2022 and expects a significant improvement in earnings this year, pushing its shares up to a three-year high as air travel rebounds.
Passenger numbers more than doubled and net revenue almost doubled from 2021, although the figures remain short of pre-pandemic levels.
"Lufthansa is back," CEO Carsten Spohr said in a statement. "In just one year, we have achieved an unprecedented financial turnaround ... Demand for air travel remains high in 2023," he added.
The company's full-year operating profit of 1.51 billion euros ($1.60 billion) came after a loss of 1.6 billion euros a year ago.
Fourth-quarter profit swung to 575 million euros from a loss of 42 million euros, in line with expectations.
The balance sheet also improved, with net debt falling to 6.9 billion euros from 9 billion euros.
Senators Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York are seeking to introduce to the Senate a "slimmed-down" but "stronger" iteration of their prior cryptocurrency legislation in April.
Bank of America logo is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, Jan. 30, 2019. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAC | $33.78 | 0.29 | 0.87 |
| C | $51.62 | 0.22 | 0.43 |
Bank of America and Citigroup have cut some investment banking jobs in Asia, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, joining global peers in paring headcount as China dealmaking slows.
Bank of America (BofA), which is shrinking its investment banking business globally, did away with around half a dozen Hong Kong-based jobs on Thursday, two people familiar with matter said.
Citi on Thursday trimmed four jobs from its China investment banking team, said one of the two people and a separate person. The Wall Street bank is laying off less than 1% of its workforce globally, people familiar with the matter have said.
BofA and Citi both declined to comment on layoffs involving investment bankers in Asia.
After record dealmaking activity in 2021, M&A volumes and stock floats globally tumbled last year as volatility in capital markets and geopolitical tensions took their toll.
China-related deals were particularly hard hit as harsh COVID-19 curbs, lifted only late in the year, hammered the economy.
Other major banks that have trimmed Asia headcount include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
CEO of the SoftBank Group Masayoshi Son speaks at a new conference in London, Britain July 18, 2016. (Reuters/Neil Hall)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| SFTBY | $20.60 | 0.48 | 2.39 |
Arm, the chip designer owned by Japan's SoftBank, said on Friday it would pursue a U.S.-only listing this year, dashing the British government's hopes that the tech giant would return to the London stock market.
The decision is a blow to London, where Arm was listed for 18 years until it was bought by SoftBank in 2016 in a $32 billion deal that received the minimum level of scrutiny by the government, leading to criticism that it had allowed Britain's biggest tech success to be bought by foreign investors.
“[F]or London, this comes as further confirmation that plans to rebrand the LSE [London Stock Exchange] as a high growth tech haven aren’t working,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, Lead Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “The UK’s inflation problem is stickier than the US and that’s likely to keep a lid on how attractive it will seem to companies looking to list for the first time.”
Arm did not completely rule out an eventual London listing, saying it intended to consider a subsequent IPO there in due course, without providing further details.
London worked hard to get the listing, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Arm Chief Executive Rene Haas meeting in Downing Street last month, according to reports. SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son said to have joined by video call.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Victoria's Secret 5th Avenue store, New York, N.Y. (Photo: Victoria's Secret)
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| VSCO | $37.75 | -0.80 | -2.08 |
Victoria's Secret & Co. on Thursday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $173 million.
On a per-share basis, the Reynoldsburg, Ohio-based company said it had net income of $2.10. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $2.47 per share.
The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.33 per share.
The retailer of lingerie, pajamas and beauty products posted revenue of $2.02 billion in the period, matching Street forecasts.
For the year, the company reported profit of $348.1 million, or $4.14 per share.
Revenue was reported as $6.34 billion.For the current quarter ending in April, Victoria's Secret expects its per-share earnings to range from 30 cents to 60 cents.
The company said it expects revenue in the range of $1.48 billion for the fiscal first quarter.
Victoria's Secret expects full-year revenue of $6.34 billion.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| DELL | $40.17 | -0.27 | -0.67 |
Dell Technologies Inc forecast current-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, hit by an ongoing demand slump in its PC business due to consumers and businesses delaying system upgrades.
Dell, which makes most of its revenue from PC sales, has seen demand wane off from pandemic highs in its enterprise and consumer businesses although that has somewhat been offset by strong storage and server demand.
Dell forecast first-quarter revenue to decline between 17% and 21%. Analysts on average were expecting it to be down by 17.4%, according to Refinitiv data.
The company also expects quarterly earnings per share of 80 cents, plus or minus 15 cents, below expectations of $1.25.
Separately, Dell said Chief Financial Officer Tom Sweet would retire by the end of its fiscal second quarter, and named company veteran Yvonne McGill as his successor.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| COST | $485.69 | 7.02 | 1.47 |
Costco Wholesale Corp missed second-quarter revenue estimates on Thursday, as consumers turned frugal on discretionary spending amid persistently high inflation.
In an post-earnings call, finance chief Richard Galanti added "most major departments in general were down, with fresh foods being down a little more than others."
The company's total revenue for the quarter rose 6.5% to $55.27 billion, but fell short of estimates of $55.54 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
The membership-only retail chain's mixed quarterly results "indicates that sales growth possibly hasn't kept pace with inflation and consumer traffic," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors.
Net income attributable to Costco rose to $1.47 billion, or $3.30 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 12, from $1.30 billion, or $2.92 per share, a year earlier.
Costco's quarterly revenue from memberships, priced between $60 and $120 per year and which account for most of its gross margin, rose to $1.03 billion from $967 million a year earlier.
| Symbol | Price | Change | %Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| JWN | $19.33 | 0.33 | 1.74 |
Nordstrom Inc. announced Thursday it is closing all of its Canadian stores and cutting 2,500 jobs as it winds down operations in the country.
The Seattle-based retailer has six Nordstrom and seven Nordstrom Rack stores in Canada, which will be shuttered by late June.
Its e-commerce business will cease operations Thursday.
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