Stock Market Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Non-Farm Labor Market Data
Stock market futures are mostly unchanged in early morning trading on Friday this week. While concerns regarding a government default are subsiding, investors appear to be playing things safe. This would be understandable as the U.S. Labor Department is set to release its monthly report today. Investors will be watching the report closely for an indication of the state of economic recovery. With Augusts’ disappointing figures of 200,000 jobs added back to the economy versus estimates of 700,000, these fears are not unwarranted. However, consensus economist estimates suggest that non-farm payrolls could soar by 500,000 in September, a significant month-over-month gain.
Explaining the relevance of all this, Julie Biel, portfolio manager of Kayne Anderson Rudnick had this to say, “I think people want to continue to see [payroll] gains. People are more fixated on the jobs created more than anything else. I think the wages are more important for people who are worried about inflation.” She added, “For us, seeing modest wage inflation is a positive because if you think about the U.S. economy, it’s primarily a consumer economy … so it is a positive for the economy longer-term.”
Even with the current uncertainty in the market, there is plenty of stock market news to digest today. As of 6:50 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.10%, 0.07%, and 0.02% respectively.
Microsoft Acquires Productivity Software Firm Ally.io
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) continues to find new ways to bolster its current enterprise software solutions. Just yesterday, news broke of the company’s latest acquisition, Ally.io. In brief, Ally.io is a tech start-up that develops and maintains productivity software. Through its services, enterprises can keep track of their progress on ongoing projects. This would be thanks to Ally.io’s array of dashboards and customizable tools. The likes of which can identify and evaluate goals using pre-built measurements. According to Microsoft, Ally.io will be integrated into its Viva software.
All in all, this move would, in theory, synergize well with the expansion of Microsoft’s Office 365 bundle this year. All the more so as it would further justify the company’s planned price increase of its offerings next year.
COO Kirk Koenigsbauer had this to say, “Over the next year, we’ll be investing to bring Ally.io into the Microsoft cloud, evolve the existing integrations with Microsoft Teams, and weave Ally.io into Viva, Office, Power BI, and the broader set of Microsoft 365 apps and services.” As a result, I could see investors eyeing MSFT stock yet again in the stock market today.
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Palantir Lands Second Deal With U.S. Army This Week
In other tech-related news, Palantir’s (NYSE: PLTR) ongoing partnership with the U.S. government is making headlines this week. For starters, the company won an $823 million contract to employ its Gotham artificial intelligence (AI) system for the Army’s defense decision-making needs.
Following that, Palantir announced another contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday. In detail, it is a $90 million four-year deal. To put things into perspective, Palantir is now looking at revenue of almost $900 million over the next few years from this week’s deals.
By and large, this would serve to further Palantir’s goal of becoming the “default operating system” of the U.S. government. Just this year, the company also secured deals with the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration and the Coast Guard. At the same time, Palantir’s services also cater to upcoming businesses in the tech world as well. This is evident from the introduction of its second cohort of “Foundry for Builders” earlier this week. With Palantir seemingly growing its market reach across the board, PLTR stock could be in focus now.
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Stellantis Expediting Its EV Operations In Indiana
Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), the fourth largest auto manufacturer in the world, is focusing on electric vehicles (EVs) now. As of yesterday, the company is planning to invest a total of $229 million in three production plants in Indiana. All of this, ideally, will serve to accelerate the company’s EV manufacturing plans.
This will also help the company reach its goal of achieving 40% low-emission vehicle sales in the U.S. by 2030. In essence, the move will see three of its Kokomo plants retooled to produce electrified, eight-speed transmission car components. This play is not surprising given the recent momentum in the EV industry now.
Notably, Stellantis is the result of a merger between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA. Regarding its long-term EV plans, the company is looking to invest over $34.6 billion through 2025. As with most traditional automakers, this would be a necessary step towards remaining relevant in a changing market. If anything, the company’s shares are already up by a whopping 210% since its pandemic-era low. Given the size and scale of Stellantis’ operations, STLA stock could be yet an EV name to note among the usual suspects now.
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Taiwan Semiconductor Sees Record Sales On Rising Global Chip Demands
The semiconductor chip industry continues to heat up amidst the current global shortages as well. Earlier today, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) posted record quarterly sales figures in its September revenue report.
Getting straight to it, TSM saw a total revenue of over $14.8 billion for the quarter, representing a year-over-year increase of nearly 22%. This would be according to the company’s monthly sales updates throughout the quarter. With the current momentum in TSM’s operations, TSM stock could be in the limelight now.
For the most part, these figures could be on account of two key factors in the stock market now. To begin with, the global chip shortage would contribute to the build-up of orders from TSM’s core end markets. Additionally, there is also the factor of the upcoming year-end holiday seasons to consider. New semiconductor-reliant gadgets like Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 13 and Sony’s (NYSE: SONY) PlayStation 5 continue to fly off shelves as well. Overall, it seems like TSM could be looking at busy times ahead. With TSM set to report its full third-quarter earnings next week, all eyes would be on TSM stock.
