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Breakfast News: Action Packed

November 8, 2024

Thursday's Markets
S&P 500
5,713 (+0.74%)
Nasdaq
18,180 (+1.51%)
Dow
41,795 (0.00%)
Bitcoin
67,729 (+0.4%)
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Source: Image created by Jester AI.

1) Busy News Day

Post-election momentum continued Thursday, with further all-time highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Nvidia (NVDA -0.02%) became the first company to surpass a $3.6 trillion market cap.
  • Powell sticks to the script: The U.S Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25%, with little reaction by the market given this was widely expected.
  • China back in focus: Investors were optimistic following this morning's announcement of a new Chinese $1.4 trillion stimulus package spread over five years.

2) Full Schedule

Airbnb (ABNB -0.37%) fell after the market closed, with revenue and EPS missing expectations, but flagged up a more optimistic outlook for Q4.
  • Standout performer: Upstart Holdings (UPST -1.71%) beat forecasts and is up almost 20% ahead of the open as the CEO noted the business is "back in growth mode."
  • Mixed fortunes: Toast (TOST -0.59%) surpassed expectations for revenue, and earnings per share; as did Pinterest (PINS -2.96%), but Q4 guidance was a little weaker than anticipated. In contrast, Block (SQ -1.06%) raised full-year guidance following improving margins, but posted a significant revenue miss.

3) Too-Great Expectations

Two stocks that have easily beaten the market over the last five years saw volatile moves after missing lofty analyst forecasts.
  • "Likely nothing more than the market looking at normal course-of-business stuff and correcting": MercadoLibre (MELI -1.82%) fell 16% following the company's Q3 results, though having soared around 75% year to date (YTD), Fool analyst Bill Mann believes it wasn't "for reasons that should concern long-term investors."
  • Suffering a similar fate: The Trade Desk (TTD 0.09%) posted beats on revenue and earnings but is down around 10% in pre-market trading, its near-90% rise YTD having priced in extremely high expectations for this quarterly report.

4) Guidance Dictating Moves

Reporting before the bell Thursday, Appian's (APPN -1.05%) profitability metrics all improved, while Walker & Dunlop (WD -0.15%) missed expectations on revenue. Elsewhere, Doximity (DOCS -0.86%) lifted full-year guidance as sales accelerated.
  • Tough boots to fill: Shares of Cloudflare (NET 1.79%) and Arista (ANET 0.19%) both fell after the closing bell. Cloudflare beat expectations but warned on future guidance, with Arista doing well but having a high bar to impress.
  • Improving outlooks: Unity (U -0.56%) posted an 18% fall in revenue but boosted full-year guidance. Datadog (DDOG 0.34%) also raised guidance as it beat forecasts for Q3.

5) Next Up: Earnings Flurry & Data

Before the market opens, Fulgent Genetics (FLGT -0.53%) will report. EPS is forecasted at -$0.48, compared to the loss of $0.43 from the same quarter last year.
  • Industrial conglomerate reports: Icahn Enterprises (IEP -2.03%) will post earnings, with revenue due at $2.32 billion and adjusted earnings expected at $0.21.
  • Pulse check on consumers: The Michigan Consumer Sentiment index for November is due, with the consensus reading being 71, improving from the 70.5 from last month

6) Foolish Fun

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