Stock Market Today Mid-Morning Updates
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbles by another 210 points. This comes as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. Just in, a 40-mile long Russian convoy of armored vehicles and tanks is closing in on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. U.S. officials say that the sheer number of Putin’s troops could overcome Ukraine’s resistance. Satellite images show the massive convoy passing through the outskirts of Kyiv, as smoke rises from what appears to be burning homes left behind the convoy’s path. Ukraine is appealing for international aid and France has just allocated a further $111 million worth of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Today, Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) is up by more than 4% after the company gave upbeat guidance for fiscal year 2022. The retailer beat earnings expectations in the fourth quarter but missed the sales consensus estimates. AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) shares are also up by over 5% on today’s opening bell after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The company posted second-quarter earnings of $22.30 per share on revenue of $3.37 billion.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are up by 0.27% today while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is down by 0.33%. Meanwhile, 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Nike (NYSE: NKE) are trading lower on Tuesday. Among the Dow financial leaders, Visa (NYSE: V) is down by 1.39% while Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is down by 2.54%.
Shares of EV leader Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are down by 1.20% on Tuesday. Likewise, rival EV companies like Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) are also down by 6.82%. Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) is tumbled by 16.84% today after lowering production targets. Chinese EV leaders like Nio (NYSE: NIO) and Xpeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV) opened lower today.
Dow Jones Today: 10-year Treasury Yield Drops Below 1.8% While Oil Prices Continues To Soar
Following the stock market opening on Tuesday, the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq are trading lower by 0.33%, 0.62%, and 0.27% respectively. Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) is down by 0.08% while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY) is also down by 0.34% today.
The 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 1.76% today. U.S. U.S. oil prices soared by more than 4% today, with West Texas Intermediate crude topping $101 per barrel. This would be the highest since 2014, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. sanctions on Russia do not target oil shipments, where Russia exports some 4 to 5 million barrels of crude oil per day. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin also jumped today, up by 6% to above $44,000.
[Read More] Top Stock Market News For Today March 1, 2022
Target On The Rise After Posting Fourth-Quarter Earnings; Sees Momentum Persisting Post-Pandemic
In the retail scene today, Target (NYSE: TGT) seems to be the center of attention. Evidently, TGT stock is currently up by over 12% at today’s opening bell. By and large, the current upward momentum in the company’s shares follows its latest quarterly earnings update. Before today’s opening bell, Target posted earnings of $3.19 a share on revenue of $31 billion for the quarter. Regarding earnings per share, the company crushed Wall Street’s estimates of $2.86. However, revenue came in just shy of forecasts of $31.39 billion. Even so, investors appear to be more than eager to jump on this consumer staples titan now.
For one thing, this could be thanks to two key factors. Firstly, the company’s latest quarterly figures are in comparison to the holiday quarter of 2020. This would be when its clients were shopping with stimulus check money. Nevertheless, a highlight for Target would be the persisting strength in its online services. The likes of which include its Drive Up, curbside pickup, and home delivery solutions. In particular, its fiscal 2021 sales through same-day services are up by 45% year-over-year. Between labor shortages, soaring inflation, and the pandemic, Target’s latest performance is commendable.
Secondly, investors are likely flocking to Target now because of its long-term outlook for the current fiscal year and beyond. As it stands, the company is eyeing annual revenue growth in the mid-single-digits with earnings per share in the high single-digits. Additionally, Target is also looking to invest between $4 billion to $5 billion annually in capital expenditures. With all this in mind, I can understand the hype around TGT stock today.
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Workday Shares Gain Following Earnings Beats On Top And Bottom Lines; Raises Guidance
Another name making waves in the stock market now thanks to earnings is Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY). Before going into the details, Workday is essentially a cloud service provider for human resources (HR) departments. As more major firms like Apple and Microsoft extend or relax their return-to-office plans, demand for Workday’s services could persist. In fact, this appears to be increasingly apparent when you consider the company’s latest quarterly earnings update.
Diving in, Workday raked in a total revenue of $1.38 billion alongside earnings of $0.78 per share. For reference, this is in comparison to consensus expectations of $1.36 billion and $0.76 respectively. Providing some insight into Workday’s notable performance for the quarter is co-CEO Aneel Bhusri. He explains, “We continue to see increasing demand for our broad suite of finance and HR solutions, as we help some of the world’s largest organizations – and more than 60 million users – navigate the changing world of work.” Regarding its full-year performance, the company saw its total revenue jump by 19% compared to the previous fiscal year. Moreover, Workday’s subscription revenue backlog for the year is up by a solid 26.9% over the same period. This adds up to a whopping $12.81 billion.
If all that wasn’t enough, Workday is also raising its revenue outlook for the current fiscal year. Now, it is guiding for a total annual revenue of between $5.53 billion to $5.55 billion. According to CFO Barbara Larson, a strong environment for “finance and HR transformation initiatives,” is to thank for the boost. As a result of all this, WDAY stock is currently trading higher by over 8% today.
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