Coffee With Greta: Powell In Focus
DJIA Futures: -146 (-0.4%)
SPX Futures: -18 (-0.5%)
NASDAQ Futures: -77 (-0.7%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are down as traders wait to hear what Fed Chair Jerome Powell will say in Sweden.
Let’s get right to it!
All Eyes On Powell
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is speaking at a Central Bank event in Sweden this morning.
Wall Street is closely watching that speech for any comments on his views about inflation and the Fed’s plans in 2023.
The Central Bank does not hold its first meeting until January 31 – February 1.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 77.1% of traders expect the FOMC to pivot to a smaller 0.25% rate hike at that meeting.
Bed Bath & Beyond Reports Steep Fiscal Q3 Loss
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) shares are up 4.3% ahead of the open despite reporting a steeper fiscal Q3 loss than expected.
Here’s how the retailer’s results compared to analysts’ expectations:
- Adjusted loss per share: $3.65 vs $2.23 expected
- Revenue: $1.26 billion vs $1.34 billion expected
The $393 million loss was even worse than Bed Bath’s projection for a $385.8 million loss last week and 42% larger than a year ago.
Comparable sales tumbled 32% year over year.
Those losses included a $100 million impairment charge related to “certain store-level assets”.
The CEO said they have aggressively cut costs and are on track to close the 150 stores that were previously announced.
Those efforts have reduced operating expenses to $583.6 million from $698 million a year ago.
Albertsons Tops Fiscal Q3 Expectations
Albertsons (ACI) shares are up 0.6% in premarket trade after beating fiscal Q3 expectations.
Here’s how the grocery store chain’s results compared to analysts’ expectations:
- Adjusted EPS: $0.87 vs $0.66 expected
- Revenue: $18.2 billion vs $17.8 billion expected
Sales rose by $1.5 billion year over year.
More Layoffs At Coinbase
Coinbase (COIN) shares are falling 2.0% ahead of the open after announcing another round of mass layoffs.
The crypto exchange reportedly plans to cut another 950 jobs, representing about 20% of its workforce.
This is on top of the layoffs in June which impacted about 18% of the company’s workforce.
CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC, “With perfect hindsight, looking back, we should have done more. The best you can do is react quickly once information becomes available, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.”
The layoffs and other restructuring measures are expected to reduce Coinbase’s operating expenses by 25% this quarter.
Oak Street Health Surges On Reported CVS Takeover
Oak Street Health (OSH) shares are surging 32.2% in premarket trade following a Bloomberg report that CVS (CVS) is exploring options to buy the company.
CVS is reportedly in negotiations to buy the clinic chain for more than $10 billion.
Oak Street has more than 160 healthcare centers across 21 states.
In Case You Missed It
- Consumers’ short-term inflation expectations improved in December. The New York Fed released its latest Survey of Consumer Expectations on Monday. That showed Americans expect inflation to still be at 5% 1 year from now, down from 5.2% in November. But longer-term expectations rose. Respondents to the survey said they see inflation at 2.4% 5 years from now, up from 2.3% in November.