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DJIA Futures: +154 (+0.5%)
SPX Futures: +15 (+0.4%)
NASDAQ Futures: +43 (+0.3%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are higher as oil prices continue to surge and new jobs data beat expectations.
Let’s get right to it!
Oil prices jumped to a 9-year high today as the war in Ukraine intensifies.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose more than 8% to $112.51 per barrel, the highest price since May 2011.
Brent crude futures are also up more than 8% to nearly $114 per barrel, the highest price since June 2014.
OPEC+ is set to meet today to discuss April’s output.
The group has not yet hinted if it will increase production to offset expected supply shortages from Russia.
The International Energy Agency agreed Tuesday to release 60 million barrels of oil from global reserves.
That includes 30 million from the U.S. strategic reserves.
The U.S. alone consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil per day.
Other commodity prices are also soaring, with wheat futures at a 14-year high of $10.59 per bushel.
Trading was halted after wheat prices hit limit-up for the second straight day.
Payroll firm ADP reports U.S. private employers added 475,000 workers in February.
That was better than economists’ expectations for 400,000 and a sharp reversal from January’s loss of 301,000.
Companies with 500 or more employees added the most jobs at 552,000, while businesses with 50 or less employees lost 96,000.
The leisure and hospitality sector added 170,000 jobs.
Today’s report comes ahead of the official Labor Department jobs report on Friday.
That’s expected to show the economy added 440,000 jobs last month with the unemployment rate dipping to 3.9%
Dollar Tree (DLTR) shares are down 2.7% in premarket trade after mixed Q4 results.
The discount store reported earnings of $1.78 per share on revenue of $7.12 billion.
For the full-year, EPS came in at $5.80 on $26.3 billion in revenue.
Analysts expected full-year earnings of $5.57 per share on $26.4 billion.
But Dollar Tree’s outlook missed expectations.
The company forecast revenue between $6.63 billion and $6.78 billion in Q1 vs analysts’ projections for $6.8 billion.
AMC Entertainment (AMC) shares are down 0.9% ahead of the open despite beating Q4 expectations.
The movie theater chain reported a loss of $0.11 per share on $1.17 billion in revenue.
That was better than analysts’ expectations for a loss of $0.16 on $1.16 billion in revenue.
Attendance at AMC Theaters rose to 59.68 million guests, up sharply from 8.09 million in Q4 2020.
SoFi Technologies (SOFI) shares are jumping 15.7% in premarket trade after a record-breaking Q4.
The fintech company reported a per share loss of $0.15 at the end of 2021 on $285.6 million in revenue.
That was better than analysts’ forecasts for a loss of $0.16 per share on $279 million in revenue.
SoFi said it added a record-high 523,000 new members in Q4.
The company forecast Q1 adjusted net revenue between $280 million and $285 million with adjusted EBITDA of $5 million.
Analysts were projecting adjusted EBITDA of $3 million.
For the full-year, SoFi forecast adjusted EBITDA of $180 million vs analysts’ expectations for $147 million.
Salesforce (CRM) shares are up 3.5% ahead of the open after beating fiscal Q4 expectations.
The cloud software company reported adjusted earnings of $0.84 per share on $7.33 billion in revenue.
That topped expectations for adjusted EPS of $0.74 on $7.24 billion in revenue.
Salesforce projected Q1 revenue between $7.37 billion and $7.38 billion, better than analysts’ expectations for $7.26 billion.
The company also hiked its full-year fiscal 2023 forecast.
Nordstrom (JWN) shares are surging 29.1% ahead of the open after issuing strong full-year guidance.
The retailer reported Q4 earnings of $1.23 per share on $4.49 billion in revenue.
That was better than analysts’ expectations for EPS of $1.02 on $4.35 billion in revenue.
Net sales were up 21% year-over-year, but still down 1% compared to 2019.
Nordstrom Rack sales continued to improve, down 5% compared to 2019 vs 8% in Q3.
Nordstrom forecast revenue growth of 5% to 7% in fiscal 2022, with earnings ranging between $3.15/share to $3.50/share.
That topped analysts’ projections for 3.7% revenue growth and EPS of $2.01.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies on monetary policy in the House Financial Services Committee at 10:00 a.m. ET today.
Powell must tread a tight line with the war in Ukraine complicating the inflation picture for the Fed.
The market has dialed back its rate hike expectations amid uncertainty surrounding the conflict.
Most traders now expect a 0.25% hike at the March meeting after previously betting on a 0.5% rate hike.
The Fed meets again March 15-16.
The Central Bank also releases its Beige book at 2:00 p.m. ET today, which will give the market more clarity on the state of the economy across all 12 Fed districts.
Powell testifies in the Senate Banking Committee Thursday.