Why U.S. Stocks Are Trading Mixed; Verizon Lowers FY22 Guidance

U.S. stocks traded mixed this morning, with the Dow Jones gaining around 60 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.19% to 32,097.64 while the NASDAQ fell 0.56% to 11,991.64. The S&P also fell, dropping, 0.06% to 3,996.39.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 1.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included NextEra Energy Partners, LP NEP, up 3% and NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE up 3%.

In trading on Friday, communication services shares fell 2.7%.

Top Headline

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and lowered its guidance.

Verizon posted adjusted earnings of $1.31 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $1.32 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $33.80 billion, versus expectations of $33.77 billion.

Verizon lowered its FY22 adjusted EPS guidance from $5.40-$5.55 to $5.10-$5.25.

Equities Trading UP

Pagaya Technologies Ltd. PGY shares shot up 86% to $9.96. Pagaya Technologies is expected to announce its Q2 earnings on August 16, 2022.

Shares of ToughBuilt Industries, Inc. TBLT got a boost, shooting 25% to $7.15. ToughBuilt Industries recently reported $3.56 million in Q2 sales through Amazon.

Hanger, Inc. HNGR shares were also up, gaining 25% to $18.40 after the company announced it will be acquired by Patient Square Capital for $18.75 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Snap Inc. SNAP shares tumbled 37% to $10.36 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 results, announced a reduction in its hiring rate and did not provide guidance. Several analysts downgraded the stock following the report.

Shares of a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp. AKA were down 30% to $2.0750. a.k.a.Brands said it sees Q2 net loss of $4.2 million.

Lulu's Fashion Lounge Holdings, Inc. LVLU was down, falling 22% to $8.10. Keybanc, on Thursday, initiated coverage on Lulus Fashion Lounge with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $15.

Also check out: AT&T to $20? Here Are 5 Other Price Target Changes for Friday

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $96.87, while gold traded up 1.1% to $1,731.90.

Silver traded up 0.4% to $18.795 on Friday while copper rose 2.8% to $3.3895.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.5%. The German DAX gained 0.2%, French CAC 40 rose 0.3% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.1%.

Retail sales in the UK fell 0.1% month-over-month in June. The S&P Global Eurozone manufacturing PMI fell to 49.6 in July, while services PMI dropped to 50.6 in July from 53 in June.

Economics

US manufacturing PMI dropped to 52.3 in July from previous reading of 52.70, while services PMI tumbled to 47.00 from 52.70.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out this: These Analysts Lower Price Targets On Snap After Weak Q2 Earnings

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 91,942,740 cases with around 1,051,230 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,847,060 cases and 525,930 deaths, while Brazil reported over 33,506,280 COVID-19 cases with 676,550 deaths. In total, there were at least 572,887,450 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,398,670 deaths.