Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Dicks Sporting Goods Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.25 percent to 25,587.15 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.18 percent to 7,571.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.26 percent to 2,790.66.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the materials shares rose 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included American Vanguard Corp. AVD up 8 percent, and Auryn Resources Inc AUG up 4 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, industrial shares fell by 0.5 percent.

Top Headline

Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Dick's Sporting reported quarterly earnings of $1.22 per share on sales of $2.49 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.06 per share on sales of $2.48 billion. Sales declined to $2.49 billion from $2.66 billion, while same-store sales dropped 2.2 percent in the quarter.

For the full year, Dick's expects EPS of $3.15 to $3.35 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $3.34.

Equities Trading UP

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. OPTT shares got a boost, shooting up 26 percent to $7.70 after signing a Master Service Contract with a leading offshore oil and gas operator.

Shares of Stitch Fix, Inc. SFIX shot up 25 percent to $33.84 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Monday.

ENDRA Life Sciences Inc. NDRA shares were also up, gaining 35 percent to $2.56 after reporting full-year 2018 earnings of $(2.17), up from $(1.95) in 2017.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zafgen, Inc. ZFGN shares dropped 34 percent to $3.0450 after the company disclosed that it has suspended IND Filing plans for Zgn-1258 based on non clinical finding in long-term toxicology. The company also reported Chief Medical Officer Dennis Kim resigned. A replacement was not mentioned. The company also reported a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss.

Shares of Mistras Group, Inc. MG were down 10 percent to $13.94 after reporting downbeat quarterly earnings.

ADT Inc. ADT was down, falling around 12 percent to $6.68 after reporting fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $(0.20). Adjusted net income came in at $101 million, up from $76 million in the same quarter of last year. Sales came in at $1.185 billion. The company also reported a $150 million buyback.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8 percent to $57.24 while gold traded up 0.5 percent to $1,297.70.

Silver traded up 1.1 percent Tuesday to $15.445, while copper rose 1.2 percent to $2.936.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.2 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.3 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.2 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.3 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.2 percent.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index increased 0.5 point to a reading of 101.7 in February.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 0.3 percent during the first week of March versus February.

The Treasury will auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.