U.S. stock futures are edging lower early Wednesday. In theory, some would argue that the broader stock market is simply taking a breather after the recent rally. If you think about it, the current second-quarter earnings season saw numerous players exceed expectations. For the most part, businesses continue to see an uptick in demand for their services as the economy recovers. This would explain both the current solid performances among companies and the high valuations among stocks.
Now, how would this relate to the current slowdown in stocks? Well, with September historically being a lackluster month for stocks, I could understand if investors have their concerns now. Even with mentions of corrections, National Securities’ chief market strategist, Art Hogan, believes otherwise. He said, “I actually think we see a pick-up in economic activity in September, and I think that will ward off some of that negative sentiment that we typically get at or about the September month.” As of 6:35 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are down by 0.13%, 0.09%, and 0.07% respectively.
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GameStop Earnings On Tap After The Closing Bell
GameStop (NYSE: GME), the flagship name amongst meme stocks, is set to report its earnings during after-market hours today. Sure, with social media hype fuelling the meteoric rise of the company’s shares, some would not consider fundamentals with GameStop. However, the company has and continues to optimize its operations to keep up with the current times. This appears to be the case as GameStop works to build its fulfillment network, bolstering its e-commerce services.
As it stands, consensus estimates see GameStop reporting a net loss of $0.67 per share on revenue of about $1.23 billion. This would suggest substantial year-over-year increases of 60% and 30% respectively. Among other factors, the company’s change in management also seems to be driving the hype around GME stock now. Under activist investor and Chairman Ryan Cohen, GameStop has picked up former Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) executives, Matt Furlong and Mike Recupero. The pair is now serving as CEO and CFO of the company respectively.
Overall, the meme stock trade remains strong even amidst the current weakness in the market. In fact, GME stock is still holding on to monumental year-to-date gains of over 1,050%. Whether you are a believer in the current meme stock craze or not, all eyes will likely be on GameStop after today’s closing bell. As such, it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on GME stock today.
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Bitcoin (BTC) Tumbles Amidst El Salvador Nationwide Rollout
The leading cryptocurrency in the market, Bitcoin, continues to make headlines today. Namely, the digital currency tumbled by over 16% on Tuesday morning. This came as El Salvador officially adopted it as legal tender alongside the U.S. Dollar. While at face value the play would seem like a win for the crypto community, the opposite seems to be the case. Moreover, this marks a stark difference from its valuation the day prior where Bitcoin breached the $52,000 mark, its highest level since May 2021. Nevertheless, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele tweeted that the country bought another 150 bitcoins on the dip. That brings the country’s Bitcoin holding to 550 bitcoins.
Amidst all of this, Valkyrie Investments CEO, Leah Wald, weighed in on the matter, highlighting the possible benefits. She said, “What is most worth looking out for is whether or not neighboring countries in Latin America, or those elsewhere around the world, begin to adopt bitcoin as their national currency as well.” In the case that this occurs, Wald sees a “parabolic move higher” for the cryptocurrency as wider adoption tailwinds further build momentum for crypto investors to jump on. As with most major market news, the current Bitcoin price action has shaken several crypto-related stocks.
For instance, we could look at the likes of Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD). Both companies ended Tuesday’s intraday trading session down by over 2.8%. Indeed, while the crypto industry continues to go through volatile times, more large companies are opening up to the tech behind it. Namely, they include industry giants like Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) with its crypto wallet, Novi, and Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) selling NFTs.
Microsoft Picks Up Video Editing Start-Up Clipchamp
In other tech-related news, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Notably, the company revealed its latest acquisition of Clipchamp yesterday. In brief, Clipchamp is a start-up that focuses on developing video editing software. The move would see Microsoft having its own answer to Adobe’s (NASDAQ: ADBE) video design services. To highlight, the current move would synergize well with Microsoft’s industry-leading productivity software. Moreover, with recent plans for a price hike in its Office 365 subscription, Microsoft is looking to bring more value to its customers.
In detail, Chris Pratley, corporate VP for the Office Media Group at Microsoft said, “Clipchamp’s technical approach is to combine the simplicity of a web app with the ability to process video using the full computing power of a PC with graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration, something that was formerly limited to traditional video applications.”
Simply put, the company allows users to create digital content that is compatible with Facebook’s Instagram Stories and TikTok among other social media platforms. Safe to say, as Microsoft’s expansive portfolio continues to grow and address wider markets, investors could be eyeing MSFT stock today.
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Earnings To Note Today
Topping off all that, we also have several notable names reporting earnings today. Even as we approach the tail-end of this earnings season investor hype around potentially good quarters persists. On one hand, the likes of Affimed (NASDAQ: AFMD), Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), Genius Sports (NYSE: GENI), and Rev Group (NYSE: REVG) are posting results pre-market.
On the other hand, we have retail players like Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU), Restoration Hardware (NYSE: RH), and Copart (NASDAQ: CPRT) in the post-market earnings call group. From earnings and crypto price activity to new acquisitions, the stock market today remains as busy as ever.
