Stock Market Futures Move Lower Ahead Of February’s Consumer Price Index Report
U.S. stock futures are on the decline in early morning trading on Thursday this week. This could indicate that while the current surge in commodities is cooling off, investors remain cautious. After all, like it or not, we are still dealing with a red-hot economy and growing geopolitical tensions. Regarding the earlier, investors will likely be focusing on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) update today. As it stands, economists are already anticipating sky-high readings in the form of a 7.9% year-over-year rise. This would suggest a 40-year high for this measure of inflation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. banning the import of Russian oil would likely continue to weigh on national gas prices. Speaking on this is Victoria Greene, a founding partner at G-Squared Private Wealth. She notes that the current sanctions are likely to stick. In turn, Greene says, “The world is … angry at this situation. So let’s say miraculously we get a ceasefire tomorrow, I think the general shrinkage and the issues with supply chains are going to be a sticky situation for the rest of the year.” While yesterday’s recovery rally is notable, investors may not be entirely out of the woods yet. As of 6:09 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 0.95%, 0.91%, and 1.20% respectively.
Amazon To Go Forward With 20-For-1 Stock Split; Announces $10 Billion Share Repurchase
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is in the stock market spotlight today. For the most part, this is thanks to the company’s latest exciting announcement. Namely, Amazon now has the green light from its board of directors for a 20-for-1 stock split. As you can imagine, this would have investors across the board eager to jump on the e-commerce goliath’s shares now. This would mark Amazon’s first stock split since 1999 and its fourth since going public back in 1997. Taking AMZN stock’s price of about $2,785 into account, the value of each share would be about $139.25 following such a split. By doing this, Amazon would essentially be making its shares much more accessible to a larger group of investors.
Sure, a stock split may not impact a company’s fundamentals. However, it is what Amazon announced alongside this news that could draw investor attention. In detail, the Amazon board also authorized a $10 billion share buyback program as well. Overall, it seems that the company is confident in its ability to drive long-term shareholder value moving forward. For one thing, such a play is not all that surprising from Amazon. This would mirror its other FAANG stock peers like Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). As it stands, Amazon notes that AMZN stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis on June 6 later this year.
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Bitcoin Alongside Other Cryptocurrencies In Focus Following Crypto-Based Executive Order From White House
Elsewhere, things appear to be heating up in the crypto world now. In general, the current upswing in the prices of popular cryptocurrencies follows an announcement from President Joe Biden. Yesterday, the President signed an executive order into law that focuses on the benefits and risks surrounding cryptocurrencies. With this major regulatory win in the bag, you might be wondering, how does this benefit the crypto market exactly? Well, for starters, the bill covers six key topics in the crypto industry now. They are consumer protection, financial stability, illicit activity, U.S. competitiveness, financial inclusions, and responsible innovation.
All of which would serve to help provide a framework for the further development of cryptocurrencies in the U.S. Yesterday, Bitcoin (BTC) saw its value surge by as much as 8% to a high of $41,944. While the digital currency lost most of its gains by the end of the day, the overarching impacts of this bill persist. It seems that the U.S. government is getting more serious about crypto and what it can do for the country. So much so that the Biden administration is also considering working on a digital version of the U.S. dollar. It is worth mentioning that China is already ahead on this front with the implementation of its digital yuan. Whether or not all this will benefit cryptocurrencies in the long run remains to be seen.
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CrowdStrike Soaring High After Posting Record Quarterly Figures; Expects $2 Billion In Annual Sales For 2022
In other news, cybersecurity titan CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) is gaining traction in the stock market today. To highlight, the current movement in CRWD stock is likely due to the company’s impressive fourth fiscal quarter earnings report. In it, CrowdStrike posted earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $431 million for the quarter. Notably, this represents year-over-year jumps of 130% and 63% respectively, indicating CrowdStrike’s current momentum. To put things into perspective, the company also handily topped Wall Streets’ estimates of an earnings per share of $0.20 alongside revenue of $411 million.
Moreover, CrowdStrike also notes several key operational highlights for the quarter in its press release. Firstly, the company grew its net annual recurring revenue (ARR) by a record $217 million throughout the quarter. This would mark its second consecutive quarter doing so. All in all, CrowdStrike is ending the fiscal year with an ARR of $1.7 billion, a 65% year-over-year increase. On top of all that, the company also saw record operating and free cash flow during the quarter as well.
In the larger scheme of things, some would argue that CrowdStrike is firing on all cylinders now. Commenting on all this is CFO Burt Podbere. He says, “The robust top-line growth and exceptional leverage we generated this year demonstrates the efficiency in our model and enables us to step-up investments in new technologies and international geographies. Our durable platform model and powerful innovation engine have translated into a truly differentiated offering in the market and strong momentum heading into fiscal year 2023.” As a result of all this, CRWD stock is currently gaining by over 11% in pre-market trading today.
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Marqeta In Focus Following Overall Solid Fiscal Quarter Results; Provides Upbeat Revenue Guidance
Another company making waves in the earnings department today would be Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ). Before going into the details, here’s some background on the company. In essence, Marqeta primarily works as a card issuing platform, empowering its customers via innovative payment cards. Through the company’s services, clients can build “more configurable and flexible payment experiences.” At the same time, Marqeta’s open APIs provide developers with immediate access to highly scalable, cloud-based payment infrastructure.
Diving in, the fintech firm recorded a total revenue of $155 million for the quarter. Year-over-year, this adds up to a whopping 76% surge. Additionally, the company’s total processing volume (TPV) surged by the same amount year-over-year as well. For a sense of scale, Maqeta’s TPV for the quarter is currently at $33 billion. Not to mention, these results top off an overall solid fiscal year for the company. Marqeta saw annual revenue of $517 million alongside TPV of $111 billion. This marks sizable year-over-year leaps of 78% and 85% respectively. If all that wasn’t enough, the company also announced a new partnership with Citi (NYSE: C), offering comprehensive mobile wallet solutions. With all this in mind, investors could be tuning into MQ stock today.
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