PreMarket Prep Recap: Goldman Sachs Rallies Off Q4 Report, Target Retreats And More Beyond

More earnings reports from the large banks, a retreat in holiday sales and a market-moving rating change were a few of the issues covered on today's PreMarket Prep Show.

Confusing Report From Goldman Sach Equals Confusing Price Action

Earning expectations were high for Goldman Sachs GS after JPMorgan Chase's blowout report on Tuesday.

Although the headline EPS number came across as a big miss, the company did include a $1.09 billion litigation and proceedings for the quarter that distorted the EPS number. Also, the revelation that the company is unsure when a settlement will be reached in the 1MDB saga added further uncertainty to an accurate interpretation of the report.

The muddled report has translated into volatile trading in the issue as it has already had a $7 trading range in the session. Moving forward, the author of this article will be focusing on the high close for the recent move ($245.66) to gain a better understanding of the Street's reading on company moving forward.

Target Missed The Bulls-Eye For Holiday Sales Expectations

Before the opening, Target Corporation TGT came up shy on holiday sales expectations. Since the issue has been on a major tear over the last few months, the release attracted a flurry of sellers. Those sellers chose to ignore that the weak holiday sales would not affect fourth-quarter guidance.

Co-host Dennis Dick was willing to buy the dip if it neared the $111 area and the author of this article was willing to sell a rip if the issue revisited its previous support level of $122.50. As explained on the show in the past, old support in an issue will often provide good resistance on a rebound and old resistance will often provide good support on a decline.

The rally off the open has come up shy of the above noted resistance level, reaching $119.40 before reversing course. The issue has drifted lower, but has come nowhere near Dick's potential long entry area as $116.55 stands as the low for the session as of 10:30 a.m. EST.

Bernstein Gets You Long Beyond Meat And Gets You Out

On Nov. 5, Bernstein upgraded Beyond Meat BYND from Market Perform to Outperform and announced a price target of $106. On that day, the issue ended the session at $81.45 and provided investors the opportunity to purchase shares below that level on several occasions (even early in 2020) before embarking on its monster rally over the last few weeks.

Today, Bernstein is sticking to its guns and downgraded the stock back to Market Perform now that the price target has been met and exceeded. Over the years, this has to be considered an incredible call in a relatively new and volatile issue.

It's evident investors that followed her lead in on the long-side are taking note of her call for a retreat as the issue is trading lower by $10 at $107.05 as of 10:50 a.m. EST.

David Trainer Joins The Show

David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs joined the breadcast. He specializes in reversing accounting distortions on the underlying economics of business performance and stock valuation.of companies ahead of their earnings reports.

At 8:35 a.m. EST on Thursday's show, Jonathon Corpina, Senior Managing Partner at Meridian Equities will join the crew from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.