US FINANCIAL MARKET

• Wall St tumbles again as strong jobs growth fuels rate hike fears – Reuters, 5/6/2022
  • U.S. stock indexes extended losses for a second day at the open on Friday as elevated U.S. Treasury yields dragged growth shares after stronger-than-expected jobs data amplified investor fears of bigger interest rate hikes to tame surging prices.
  • The Labor Department’s report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 428,000 jobs in April, while economists polled by Reuters had expected 391,000 job additions.
  • Unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6% in the month, while average hourly earnings increased 0.3% against forecast of a 0.4% rise.
  • The data underscored the economy’s strong fundamentals despite a contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter.
  • The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 1.6%, adding to a near 5% drop in the previous session, as investors feared bigger rate hikes might be announced as inflation runs at a four-decade high.
  • The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 3.131%.
  • Traders see a 75% chance of a 75 basis point hike at the Fed’s June meeting, despite Fed chief Jerome Powell ruling it out.
  • The Cboe volatility index, a measure of investors’ anxiety, spiked 3.74 points to 34.94 as the three major averages looked to close out their fifth straight weekly decline.
  • Under Armour slumped 24.3% after the sportswear maker forecast downbeat full-year profit, as it grapples with higher transportation costs and a hit to its business from renewed COVID-19 curbs in China.
  • Shares of rival Nike slipped 5.4%.

  MercadoLibre says it is managing to offset costs through pricing – Reuters, 5/6/2022

  • MercadoLibre said it was so far managing to recoup higher costs by boosting its prices as the South American e-commerce giant reversed a year-ago loss, helped by growth in its financial services unit.
  • The company’s net revenue rose 67.4% in local currency to$2.2 billion as strong growth in its fintech unit Mercado Pago helped offset a post-pandemic slowdown in new clients at Mercadolibre’s core e-commerce business.
  • Its gross merchandise volume (GMV), a widely watched figure for the e-commerce industry’s performance, rose 26.5% from a year earlier to $7.7 billion.
  • The company, present in 18 countries including Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, said active users rose 15.7% rise over a year ago to 80.7 million, although that represented a slight drop from the end of December.
  • Mercado Pago reported a 72% jump in total payment volume to $25.3 billion. The unit, which operates in credit, insurance and investments, now accounts for 45% of the group’s revenues in Brazil, its main market.
  • Mercado Pago’s loan book reached $2.4 billion in the quarter, more than four times higher the same period from 2021.
  • The Nasdaq-listed Argentine company posted quarterly earnings of $65 million after a year-ago loss of $34 million, although the profit figure missed the Refinitiv analysts’ forecast.

  DoorDash Revenue Rose 35% Last Quarter as Consumers Continued to Order In – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • DoorDash’s revenue rose last quarter, showing that consumers stuck to getting food and household essentials delivered even as more restaurants and stores reopened.
  • Revenue for the three months ended March grew 35% to $1.46 billion from a year earlier, when fresh Covid-19 concerns caused people to hunker down. Analysts surveyed by FactSet on average had predicted $1.38 billion in revenue.
  • The value of orders placed on its platform grew 25% to $12.35 billion during the quarter, beating analysts’ forecast of $11.7 billion. Order value more than tripled in the same period a year ago.
  • The company’s first-quarter net loss widened to $167 million from $110 million a year earlier; analysts on average were expecting a $141 million loss.
  • The company raised its guidance on the value of orders placed on its app for the full year. It said it expects 2022 order value to be between $49 billion and $51 billion, up from the $48 billion to $50 billion it projected last quarter. Wall Street expects $49.51 billion in order value this year.
  • The company’s first-quarter net loss widened to $167 million from $110 million a year earlier; analysts on average were expecting a $141 million loss.
  • DoorDash said it expects order value in the current June quarter of between $12.1 billion and $12.5 billion, compared with Wall Street’s expectation of $12.1 billion.

  DraftKings Revenue Up 34% as Gambling Unfazed by Inflation – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • DraftKings said first-quarter sales rose by more than a third, adding that record inflation was having no impact on gambling habits.
  • First-quarter revenue came in at $417 million from last year, with average revenue per user up 11% to $67.
  • Analysts projected revenue of $412 million.
  • Its operating expenses increased 46% to $933 million in the quarter compared with last year.
  • For the period ended March 31, DraftKings reported a net loss of $467.7 million, or $1.14 a share, compared with a loss of $346.3 million, or 87 cents a share, a year earlier.
  • On an adjusted basis, the company said its net loss was 74 cents a share.
  • Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a first-quarter adjusted loss of $1.09.
  • For the full year, DraftKings now expects revenue between $1.93 billion and $2.1 billion, up $50 million from the midpoint of its prior guidance.
  • The company narrowed its forecast for adjusted losses before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to between $760 million and $840 million, a $75 million improvement from prior guidance.

  News Corp Revenue Boosted by Gains in Dow Jones and Real-Estate Units – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • News said revenue and segment earnings rose in the March quarter, driven by gains in its Dow Jones and digital real-estate units.
  • The New York-based media company, which owns The Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins Publishers and news organizations in the U.K. and Australia, reported revenue of $2.5 billion, up 7% from the year-earlier period.
  • Digital advertising revenue jumped 21% at Dow Jones, driven by improvement in the financial-services and technology categories, while print advertising sales increased 18%, thanks to a rebound from pandemic-related weakness last year.
  • Overall, ad revenue increased 20%.
  • News Corp’s subscription-video-services unit, which includes Foxtel, an Australian pay-TV provider, posted a 6% decrease in revenue and a 13% drop in segment earnings.
  • Segment earnings, which exclude interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, impairment and restructuring charges, among other items, rose 20%.
  • News Corp posted net profit of $82 million, or 14 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $79 million, or 13 cents a share, a year earlier.

  Under Armour Posts First-Quarter Loss – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • Under Armour posted a loss in the first-quarter as higher freight costs dented the bottom line.
  • Sales rose 3% to $1.3 billion, just short of analyst expectations.
  • Apparel sales rose 8%, while sales of footwear fell 4% and accessories revenue fell 18%.
  • For the period ended March 31, Under Armour reported a loss of $59.6 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a profit of $77.7 million a year earlier, or 17 cents a share.
  • On an adjusted basis, Under Armour said its loss was one cent a share.
  • Analysts recently polled by FactSet had forecast a profit of 4 cents.
  • For the current year, Under Armour expects sales to rise 5% to 7% from a year ago and per-share earnings of 79 cents to 84 cents.
  • Adjusted for tax allowance and restructuring costs, the company says per-share earnings will come in between 63 cents and 68 cents, below the 78 cents forecast by analysts.

  Cigna reports Q1 profit beat on health services unit strength – Reuters, 5/6/2022

  • Cigna reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Friday, helped by growth in its health services unit that includes the pharmacy benefits management business, and modestly raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast.
  • Cigna, which manages insurance plans for big companies and sells health plans on government exchanges, said total medical customers in its health plans rose to 17.8 million in the quarter on a year-over-year basis.
  • Cigna’s medical care ratio (MCR), the amount spent on medical claims versus income from premiums, worsened to 81.5% in the reported quarter, from 80.9% a year earlier, partly due to higher medical costs.
  • Evernorth, Cigna’s health services unit which has helped drive growth lately, reported adjusted revenue of $33.59 billion in the quarter ended March 31 compared with $30.62 billion a year earlier.
  • Excluding special items, Cigna’s income from operations was $6.01 per share, above analysts’ average estimate of $5.18, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
  • Cigna moderately raised its forecast for 2022 adjusted profit from operations to at least $22.60 per share, from its prior estimate of a minimum of $22.40 per share.

  EOG Resources beats profit expectations, raises dividend on soaring oil prices – Reuters, 5/6/2022

  • U.S. shale producer EOG Resources’ first-quarter profit beat Wall Street estimates, while it raised its dividend, as the Ukraine crisis pushed oil prices to multi-year highs.
  • EOG’s first-quarter total crude volumes was 883,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up from 778,900 boepd a year earlier.
  • EOG saw its average crude oil prices jump 65% during the reported quarter to $96.00 per barrel.
  • The Houston, Texas-based company’s adjusted income rose to $2.35 billion, or $4.00 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $946 million, or $1.62 per share, a year ago. Analysts were expecting $3.72 per share, as per Refinitiv data.
  • The company declared a quarterly special dividend of $1.80 per share, up from $1.00 per share, after its quarterly profit more than doubled.

  Air Lease forecasts strong demand for jets, warns on production risks – Reuters, 5/6/2022

  • Air Lease on Thursday pointed to strong demand for the industry’s most popular jet models as travel recovers from the pandemic but warned of potential risks to jet production from stretched global supply chains.
  • Revenue rose 25.7% to $596.7 million in the quarter.
  • Air Lease reported net loss of $479.4 million, or $4.21 per share, in the three months ended March 31, compared to a profit of $80.2 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.
  • Excluding its jet write-off, Air Lease said its adjusted net earnings before income taxes rose by 72% to $201 million from the year-ago period.

  EV Startup Lucid to Raise Vehicle Prices as Losses Narrow – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • Electric car maker Lucid Group reported narrower losses in the first quarter of 2022, and said it would increase vehicle prices starting in June, citing a changing environment from when it first set pricing in September 2020.
  • The company reported quarterly revenue of $57.7 million, up from $313,000 in the first three months of 2021.
  • Lucid said Thursday that it recorded a net loss of $81.3 million in the January-to-March period, compared with a $2.9 billion loss in the same year-ago period.
  • The company stuck with its production outlook of 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles in 2022, a forecast it reduced earlier this year citing supply-chain disruptions and trouble getting parts such as glass and carpet.
  • Lucid said it plans to increase prices starting in early June for its first model, the Air sedan, which it began selling last year. It plans to honor pricing for buyers who reserved models before that date.
  • Depending on the configuration, prices for the all-electric sedan are expected to increase between 11% and 13% at the beginning of next month, the company said.

  Cinemark Sales Soar as Theatergoers Return – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • Cinemark Holdings sales soared for the recently ended quarter as moviegoers began their return to theaters.
  • Revenue hit $460.5 million, compared with $114.4 million last year. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $447.3 million.
  • Admissions sales rose 320% to $235.8 million, while concession sales soared almost 380%.
  • Attendance for the quarter was 33.1 million, while the average ticket price fell slightly to $7.12 and concession revenue per person rose modestly to $5.23, the company said.
  • The per-share loss for the quarter was 62 cents, compared with a loss of $1.75 a year earlier, the company said. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a loss of 63 cents a share.

  Sweetgreen losses widen despite 67% jump in quarterly sales – CNBC, 5/6/2022

  • Sweetgreen on Thursday reported widening losses for its first quarter, but sales jumped 67% as workers returned to their offices and resumed their old lunchtime routines.
  • Net sales rose 67% to $102.6 million, beating expectations of $101.5 million.
  • Digital orders accounted for two-thirds of its quarterly revenue. More than 40% of sales came from Sweetgreen’s own app and website, rather than third parties.
  • Sweetgreen’s same-store sales climbed 35% in the quarter, after falling 26% a year ago.
  • The company has raised prices 10% over the last year, but executives said that consumer behavior hasn’t shifted at all.
  • The chain’s average unit volumes, which measures average sales per location, increased to $2.8 million in the quarter. A year ago, the metric fell to $2.1 million.
  • The salad chain reported first-quarter net loss of $49.2 million, or 45 cents per share, wider than its net loss of $30 million, or $1.77 per share, a year earlier.
  • Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were anticipating a loss per share of 41 cents.
  • Sweetgreen reiterated its forecast for 2022, predicting revenue of $515 million to $535 million and same-store sales growth of 20% to 26%. It also expects to open at least 35 net new locations.

  Zillow Shares Hit 52-Week Low After 1Q Earnings Hit By Higher Costs, Expenses – MarketWatch, 5/6/2022

  • Zillow Group shares fell 13% to $34.55 in early trade after the company said first-quarter earnings dropped as costs and expenses rose.
  • Revenue came in at $4.26 billion, compared with last year’s $1.22 billion and the $3.36 billion analysts were expecting.
  • Traffic to Zillow’s mobile apps and websites in the first quarter was 211 million average monthly unique users, down 5% from the same period last year. Rentals revenue decreased 5% to $61 million.
  • The real estate company reported earnings of $16 million, compared to $52 million the same quarter last year. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for a loss of 8 cents a share.
  • Zillow also said its board approved an additional $1 billion share repurchase program, and it still has about $100 million remaining from its previous share repurchase program of $750 million.

  Opendoor Technologies Shares Rise 14% on 1Q Earnings – MarketWatch, 5/6/2022

  • Opendoor Technologies shares rose 14% to $8.13 in premarket trading Friday after the company reported a profit instead of an expected loss for the first quarter.
  • Revenue came in at $5.15 billion, compared to last year’s $747 million, and the $4.29 billion analysts were expecting.
  • The company said it sold 12,669 homes in the first quarter, up 415% from last year.
  • The company said it had quarterly earnings of $28 million, or 4 cents a share, compared to a loss of $270 million, or 48 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for a loss of 17 cents a share.
  • Opendoor said it expects revenue for the second quarter to be $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion, up 254% year-on-year at the midpoint of the range. Analysts are forecasting revenue of $4.11 billion for the second quarter.

  Holiday Inn owner IHG finds rebound key over Spring Break – Reuters, 5/6/2022

  • Holiday Inn owner IHG said on Friday that pent-up demand and more hotel stays during the U.S. Spring Break lifted occupancy rates and prices, raising its revenue per room closer to pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter.
  • IHG said its RevPAR, or revenue per available room, was up 61% over the same period in 2021, reaching 82% of pre-pandemic levels in the three months ended March 31, with the Americas, its largest market, leading the recovery.
  • The Crowne Plaza, Regent and Hualuxe owner said rates for leisure stays rose more than 10% on 2019 levels in the United States, but occupancy was still below pre-pandemic levels.
  • “As occupancy levels rise and due to the strength of our brands, our hotels are seeing increased pricing power,” IHG Chief Executive Keith Barr said in a statement.

  U.S. bond funds record outflows for 17th week in a row – Reuters, 5/6/2022

  • U.S. investors remained net sellers of bond funds in the week to May 4 as the economy’s rising inflationary challenges fanned caution ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week.
  • According to Refinitiv Lipper data, U.S. investors offloaded $5.52 billion worth of bond funds in a 17th straight week of net selling.
  • Investors sold U.S. taxable bond funds worth $3.82 billion and municipal funds worth $1.75 billion.
  • U.S. short/intermediate investment-grade funds witnessed net selling of $5.46 billion in a 17th straight week of outflows.
  • Loan participation funds, however, obtained inflows of $0.83 billion, the largest amount in three weeks.
  • Meanwhile, U.S. equity funds’ weekly outflows eased to a four-week low of $3.76 billion.
  • U.S. value funds posted their first weekly inflow in seven weeks, worth $854 million, while growth funds saw net selling of $3.93 billion, although that was the lowest outflow in four weeks.
  • Among sector funds, tech and financials lost $724 million and $593 million, respectively, in net selling, while utilities saw net buying of $542 million.
  • U.S. money markets drew net purchases of $2.63 billion, although there was a 94% drop in inflows compared with the previous week.

  Elon Musk Gets $7 Billion in Fresh Financing for Twitter Deal – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • Elon Musk has assembled a group of investors including a Saudi prince, Larry Ellison and a bitcoin exchange to pony up more than $7 billion to back his bid to buy Twitter.
  • Tesla’s chief executive has lined up about $7.14 billion from 19 investors, a roster of big-money backers whose investment effectively reduces the personal risk Mr. Musk has to take to close the $44 billion deal for the social-media company.
  • The new money will cut in half the amount Mr. Musk needs to borrow against his Tesla stake, according to a regulatory filing, and will slightly reduce the balance of cash he needs to put up personally, to just under $20 billion.
  • The biggest contribution comes from Prince al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, who agreed to retain a stake in Twitter valued at $1.9 billion following Mr. Musk’s takeover, the disclosure said.

  Ports Race to Clear Cargo, Fearing an Overload When China Lockdowns Lift – Wall Street Journal, 5/6/2022

  • Western ports are bracing for increased congestion when China eventually lifts stringent Covid-19 restrictions in major cities, which could come just as many importers start to load up for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.
  • Import gateways such as California’s Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, which handle more than a third of all containers coming into the U.S., are still inundated with uncollected cargo more than two years into the pandemic.
  • “I can’t say whether we will go back to a 100 ships queuing up to dock, but we really need to get the existing cargo out of the port and out of Southern California,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.
  • “Shanghai has not had a big impact yet, but congestion is still a big issue,” said Soren Skou, chief executive of Denmark’s boxship giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S.
  • “The very hard lockdown policy in China means there is a risk that factories will remain closed or that there will be more restrictions. We are in the sixth week of lockdowns, which is quite remarkable.”
  • Mr. Skou said boxes at East Coast ports such as New York are piling up as cargo owners fear the West Coast will stay congested.
  • He said warehouses in Shanghai are operating at 20% to 50% capacity, cargo at European ports is moving slowly and about 10% to 12% of the global container fleet remains stuck at ports.