Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Home Depot Beats Q4 Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.26% to 28034.81 while the NASDAQ rose 0.31% to 9249.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19% to 3232.02.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 0.7% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Arlo Technologies, Inc. ARLO, up 34%, and SailPoint Technologies Holdings, Inc. SAIL, up 8%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Home Depot HD reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and raised its quarterly dividend from $1.36 to $1.50 per share.

Home Depot reported quarterly earnings of $2.28 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.11. The company reported quarterly sales of $25.78 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $25.77 billion.

The company also said it expects fiscal year 2020 sales growth of 3.5%-4%.

Equities Trading UP

Arlo Technologies, Inc. ARLO shares shot up 35% to $4.4622 after the company reported a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss.

Shares of Mallinckrodt plc MNK got a boost, shooting 28% to $5.32 after the company announced a global opioid settlement agreement that limits its payout to $1.6 billion and it also reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Jumei International Holding Limited JMEI shares were also up, gaining 25% to $19.30 after the company entered into definitive agreement for a going-private transaction.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP shares tumbled 34% to $3.76 on the heels of concerning FY19 and FY20 guidance. The company cited increased valuation of allowances for deferred tax assets, unfavorable macro trends in Brazil, China, US and Canada and a probe related to accounting of accounts payable and liabilities.

Shares of Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. CSOD were down 26% to $40.50 after the company reported Q4 results and announced plans to purchase Saba for $1.395 billion in cash and stock. RBC Capital and Mizuho downgraded the stock.

IMV Inc. IMV was down, falling 17% to $3.9488 after the company released updated data from the Phase 2 study of its lead candidate DPX – Survivac in patients with advanced recurrent ovarian cancer, which showed that DPX-Survivac immunotherapy was active, durable and well tolerated.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $51.43, while gold traded down 1.4% to $1,652.80.

Silver traded down 2.8% Tuesday to $18.345, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.576.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.5% the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.9%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.2% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.3%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.6% while UK shares fell 0.8%.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index slipped 0.2% during the first three weeks of February versus January.

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, versus a revised 2.5% increase in the prior month.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.6% in December, versus a revised 0.3% increase in November.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 130.7 in February, versus revised reading of 130.4. Analysts were projecting a reading of 132.

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index fell to a reading of -2 for February, versus prior reading of 20. However, analysts expected a reading of 13.

The Treasury is set to auction 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.