Coffee With Greta: Futures Bounce on Russia-Ukraine Optimism
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DJIA Futures: +286 (+0.9%)
SPX Futures: +43 (+1.1%)
NASDAQ Futures: +181 (+1.3%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are higher amid optimism about talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Let’s get right to it!
Russia-Ukraine Talks Make Progress
Russian President Vladimir Putin says ongoing talks between his country and Ukraine are making progress.
Meeting with the Belarusian President he said, “There are some positive shifts there, as I have been told by our delegation.”
Those talks are reportedly taking place daily.
But Russian forces are still advancing further into Ukraine.
New satellite images appear to show a Russian convoy moving into towns and forests outside of the capital Kyiv, in an apparent renewed push into the city.
The U.S. is set to revoke Russia's status as a “most-favored nation” for trade.
That status exempts a country from tariffs and changing it allows Congress to impose tariffs on all goods from Russia.
Goldman Sachs Downgrades GDP Forecast
Goldman Sachs (GS) analysts slashed their 2022 GDP forecast for the U.S.
The group now expects growth of 1.75%, down from the previous 2% and lower than consensus estimates for 2.75%.
Goldman cited rising inflation and higher energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine for that downgrade.
The group also said recession risks are rising.
Goldman says the chances of a recession next year are now between 20% to 35%.
Goldman, JPMorgan Chase Leave Russia
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) joined Goldman Sachs (GS) in pulling its business out of Russia Thursday.
The investment banking giants said they are working in compliance with regulators to wind down operations in the country following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A JPMorgan spokeswoman said in an email, “In compliance with directives by governments around the world, we have been actively unwinding Russian business and have not been pursuing any new business in Russia.”
Goldman was the first major Wall Street bank to announce the move early Thursday.
The investment firm said, “We are focused on supporting our clients across the globe in managing or closing out pre-existing obligations in the market and ensuring the well-being of our people.”
Rivian Reports Larger Than Expected Q4 Loss
Rivian (RIVN) shares are falling 10.2% ahead of the open after reporting a steeper-than-expected loss in Q4.
The electric vehicle maker reported an adjusted per share loss of $2.43 per share on $54 million in revenue.
That was worse than analysts’ expectations for a loss of $1.97 per share on $60 million in revenue.
The stock hit a new 52-week low at $39.77 in intraday trade Thursday.
Rivian warned about continued supply chain struggles for production and a “slow start” to Q1.
The company expects to deliver 25,000 vehicles this year after delivering nearly 1,000 in Q4.
Docusign Slips on Weak Guidance
DocuSign (DOCU) shares are tumbling 16.5% in premarket trade after the company issued weak fiscal 2023 guidance.
The online document signing site reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.48 per share on $580.8 million in revenue.
That was in line with analysts’ profit expectations and beat revenue forecasts for $562 million.
DocuSign also announced a $200 million stock buyback.
Shares slipped after guidance came in short.
DocuSign forecast fiscal 2023 total revenue will range between $2.47 billion to $2.48 billion.
Analysts had forecast full-year total revenue of $2.6 billion.
Oracle Sinks on Earnings Miss
Oracle (ORCL) shares are down 1.5% ahead of the open after a fiscal Q3 earnings miss.
The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.13 per share on $10.51 billion in revenue.
Analysts were looking for adjusted EPS of $1.18 on $10.51 billion in revenue.
Oracle said its profits were dragged down by investments in gene-sequencing company Oxford Nanopore and Arm server chipmaker Ampere Computing.
But the company remains optimistic about the future of those investments.
Oracle said, “We remain confident that our investments in these two cutting-edge technology companies will deliver very strong returns.”
Senate Passes Funding Bill
The Senate passed the omnibus bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.
The legislation was approved in a 69-31 vote late Thursday night.
It now heads to the President’s desk, avoiding a government shutdown tonight.
The legislation includes $13.6 billion in humanitarian and security aid for Ukraine.
In Case You Missed It
- U.S. inflation pressures hit a new 40-year high in February. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI rose 7.9% year-over-year last month vs 7.8% expected. Groceries prices rose 8.6%, gas prices jumped 38%, and used vehicle prices surged 41.2%. The core CPI rose 6.4% annually.
- Amazon (AMZN) logged its second-best day of 2022 Thursday as shares jumped 5.4%. The rally came after the tech giant announced a 20-for-1 stock split and $10 billion stock buyback program. The split is set to take effect in early June.