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DJIA Futures: +167 (+0.5%)
SPX Futures: +17 (+0.4%)
NASDAQ Futures: +14 (+0.1%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are higher following a string of strong retail earnings.
Let’s get right to it!
Macy’s (M) shares are up 13.5% ahead of the open after beating fiscal Q1 expectations and raising its full-year profit outlook.
The department store chain reported adjusted earnings of $1.08 per share on $5.35 billion in revenue.
That was better than analysts’ expectations for adjusted EPS of $0.82 on $5.33 billion in revenue.
Macy’s CEO said, “While macroeconomic pressures on consumer spending increased during the quarter, our customers continued to shop.”
Like Nordstrom, Macy’s said it saw an increase of customers shopping for special occasions like weddings.
The company now expected adjusted fiscal 2022 earnings of $4.53 to $4.95 per share, up from the prior forecast for $4.13 to $4.52.
Macy’s forecast revenue to be flat to up to 1% compared to 2021, which would be between $24.46 billion to $24.7 billion.
Dollar Tree (DLTR) shares are rising 15.9% in premarket trade after reporting better than expected Q1 earnings and lifting its guidance.
The discount store reported adjusted earnings of $2.37 per share on $6.9 billion in revenue.
That topped analysts’ expectations for adjusted EPS of $2.00 on $6.8 billion in revenue.
Same-store sales jumped 4.4% year-over-year vs analysts’ expectations for 2.2% growth.
Dollar Tree’s CEO said, “We are taking the necessary actions now to position ourselves for accelerated growth in what I view as the most attractive sector in retail, especially in the current economic environment. Value and convenience are more important than ever to our shoppers and the communities we serve.”
The company forecast consolidated net sales will range from $27.8 billion to $28.1 billion this year, up from previous guidance for $27.2 billion to $27.9 billion.
Dollar General (DG) shares are up 11.6% ahead of the open after beating Q1 expectations and hiking its full-year guidance.
The discount retailer reported fiscal Q1 earnings of $2.41 per share on $8.75 billion dollars.
That was better than analysts’ estimates for EPS of $2.32 on $8.71 billion in revenue.
Sales rose 4.2% year-over-year while cost of sales jumped 6.5%.
Dollar General maintained its full-year earnings growth guidance at 12% to 14% but raised its same-store sales growth forecast to 3% to 3.5% from 2.5%.
The company expects total sales growth of 10% to 10.5%.
Dollar General also announced it will repurchase $2.75 billion worth of its shares this year.
Nvidia (NVDA) shares are down 4.3% in premarket trade despite beating fiscal Q1 expectations.
The chipmaker reported adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share on $8.29 billion in revenue.
That topped analysts’ expectations for adjusted EPS of $1.29 on $8.11 billion in revenue.
Total sales rose 46% year-over-year with data center sales surging 83% and gaming sales rising 31%.
But Nvidia’s outlook was weak.
The company forecast fiscal Q2 revenue of $8.1 billion, lower than analysts’ estimates of $8.54 billion.
Nvidia’s CEO said the company is facing a “challenging macro environment”.
Snowflake (SNOW) shares are tumbling 11.3% ahead of the open after issuing weak guidance for the current quarter.
The cloud software company reported a fiscal Q1 loss of $0.53 per share on $422 million in revenue.
That was worse than analysts’ expectations for a loss of $0.52 per share but beat revenue estimates of $414 million.
$394 million of that was product revenue vs analysts’ expectations for $389 million.
Snowflake forecast fiscal Q2 product revenue will be between $435 million and $440 million.
Analysts were estimating $440 million.
VMware (VMW) shares are up 1.4% in premarket trade after Broadcom (AVGO) announced plans to buy the company in a $61 billion deal.
That transaction will be a mix of cash and stock based on Broadcom’s share closing price on May 25.
Broadcom is purchasing VMware to diversify its business into enterprise software.
VMware’s products are used by enterprises for their servers and cloud servers.
AVGO shares are down 0.4% ahead of the open.
Twitter (TWTR) shares are up 4.7% ahead of the open after Elon Musk revealed he is planning to fund more of his takeover bid for the company.
A new SEC filing shows Musk has increased his personal equity commitment to $33.5 billion.
That’s $6.25 billion higher than his previous commitment.
The filing also said Musk no longer plans to take out a margin loan against his Tesla (TSLA) stock.
He is in talks with Twitter shareholders, including founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, for additional financing.
Weekly jobless claims fell more than expected as the U.S. labor market remains tight.
The Labor Department reported 210,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits last week.
That was down 8,000 from the previous week and better than expectations for 215,000.
Continuing claims rose unexpectedly by 31,000 to 1.35 million in the week ending May 14.
The U.S. economy contracted more than originally estimated in the first quarter.
The Commerce Department released its first revision of Q1 GDP today, showing a 1.5% annual contraction.
That’s an increase from the original estimate of 1.4% and higher than economists’ expectations for the revision to be lower at 1.3%.
The Congressional Budget Office boosted its GDP growth estimates on Wednesday.
The CBO now sees the U.S. economy expanding 3.1% in 2022, with 2.2% growth in 2023, and 1.5% in 2024.
The group also believes inflation will be at 4.7% by the end of this year, 2.7% in 2023, and 2.3% in 2024.
The CBO believes the Fed will raise the federal funds rate to 1.9% by the end of the year, which is well below the market’s prediction.
The Federal Reserve minutes on Wednesday showed the bank is planning more large rate hikes, but not getting any more aggressive.
That report said, “Most participants judged that 50 basis point increases in the target range would likely be appropriate at the next couple of meetings.”
The minutes also showed FOMC members believe they will have to push monetary past neutral in order to lower inflation.
The report said, “a restrictive stance of policy may well become appropriate depending on the evolving economic outlook and the risks to the outlook.”
The market currently expects the federal funds rate to be around 2.5%-2.75% by the end of the year.
That would be consistent with what most officials consider to be “neutral”, but the minutes show the Fed is willing to go further.
Some Fed officials did raise concerns about tighter policy causing instability in the Treasury and commodities market.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 96.8% of traders predicting a 0.5% rate hike at the June meeting.
Oil prices are rising today as tight supply concerns loom even as the EU struggles to get Hungary on board with a Russian oil ban.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures are u p 0.5% at nearly $111 bbl while Brent crude futures are rising 0.4% to over $114 bbl.
The Energy Information Administration reported another drop in U.S. oil and gas stockpiles last week.
The EIA says crude inventories fell by 1 million barrels and gasoline inventories dropped by 500,000 barrels.
U.S. gas prices hit a new record high for the 17th straight day today.
AAA shows the national average for regular rose to $4.600/gal overnight.
Diesel prices are continuing to cool, slipping to $5.538/gal today.
The National Association of Realtors reports pending home sales for April at 10:00 a.m. ET.
That report is expected to show a 2% drop in the number of contracts signed to purchase a home last month.
That would be an increase from the 1.2% decline in March.
Pending sales in April represent contracts expected to close in 30 to 60 days.