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Nasdaq at New Highs, S&P Within 2%; Plus Zynga, Roku, Etsy Earnings
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The Dow boosted higher again Wednesday during regular trading hours, up an additional 373 points or 1.4%, the Nasdaq hitting a new record close, +0.52%, the Russell 2000 up 2% and the S&P 500 now within 2% of its own all-time high. These results are partly on news from the nation’s capital that Republican senators support an extra $25 billion in aid to support struggling airline businesses, with additional funds being considered for airline-adjacent businesses, also having been harmed by ongoing pandemic conditions.
The airlines themselves performed very well, with American (AAL - Free Report) leading the way +10% on the day, with its competitors up around 5%. The funding for airline industry support was part of the now-expired CARES Act, and now that it’s clear this industry has not been forgotten for the next measure of aid, consider this upswing a sigh of relief.
We can’t help but think there’s a bit of whistling past the graveyard here, however. After all, there still is no deal having been reached by both houses of Congress, now nearly a week since the CARES Act ran out, and the coronavirus pandemic, instead of petering out now in late-summer, is actually increasing its spread throughout the country. Obviously there is no vaccine yet — in fact, no pharma companies working diligently at creating one are through phase 3 testing yet, which is the biggest hurdle for any drug approval through the FDA.
Also, even when we do see a stimulus package arrive, as well as a coronavirus vaccine, market participants will still have to account for increased stock valuations, ongoing stormy trade talks with China and Europe, and what promises to be a volatile campaign season ahead of the November General elections. None of these seem to be the cake-walk slam-dunks a persistently bullish market might suggest. Not that you shouldn’t ride strong stocks higher, but keeping one eye on the unaddressed issues would be prudent.
Q2 Earnings Results at a Glance
Social media game developer Zynga rose 8% directly following its quarterly results after Wednesday’s close before tapering off a bit, with revenues of $518 million easily outperforming the $503 million in the Zacks consensus. Guidance for Q3 and the full-year were even more to the point — to $620 million next quarter from the expected $443 million, and $2.2 billion for the full year, up nicely from $1.85 million projected. The company recorded its highest-ever Monthly Active User (MAU) growth, to 22 million for the quarter, +4% year over year.
Streaming platform provider Roku (ROKU - Free Report) also stormed past expectations on its Q2 release Wednesday afternoon, with a negative 35 cents per share much better than the -55 cents predicted. Quarterly sales of $356 million surpassed the $302 million analysts were looking for, +42% year over year. The company grew a best-ever 3.2 million active accounts in the quarter to 43 million overall, better than expected. Roku noted it saw better ad revenue than expected in Q2.
E-commerce retailer Etsy (ETSY - Free Report) makes it three-for-three with a strong beat on both top and bottom lines: 75 cents per share in earnings zoomed past the 42 cents expected, while $429 million in sales crushed the estimated $334 million. The company notably sells lots of facial masks to help stop the spread of coronavirus, which led to sales growth over 100% in the quarter. Even ex-mask sales, organic revenues rose 90% year over year. Shares are down modestly on the news. For more on ETSY's earnings, click here.
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Nasdaq at New Highs, S&P Within 2%; Plus Zynga, Roku, Etsy Earnings
The Dow boosted higher again Wednesday during regular trading hours, up an additional 373 points or 1.4%, the Nasdaq hitting a new record close, +0.52%, the Russell 2000 up 2% and the S&P 500 now within 2% of its own all-time high. These results are partly on news from the nation’s capital that Republican senators support an extra $25 billion in aid to support struggling airline businesses, with additional funds being considered for airline-adjacent businesses, also having been harmed by ongoing pandemic conditions.
The airlines themselves performed very well, with American (AAL - Free Report) leading the way +10% on the day, with its competitors up around 5%. The funding for airline industry support was part of the now-expired CARES Act, and now that it’s clear this industry has not been forgotten for the next measure of aid, consider this upswing a sigh of relief.
We can’t help but think there’s a bit of whistling past the graveyard here, however. After all, there still is no deal having been reached by both houses of Congress, now nearly a week since the CARES Act ran out, and the coronavirus pandemic, instead of petering out now in late-summer, is actually increasing its spread throughout the country. Obviously there is no vaccine yet — in fact, no pharma companies working diligently at creating one are through phase 3 testing yet, which is the biggest hurdle for any drug approval through the FDA.
Also, even when we do see a stimulus package arrive, as well as a coronavirus vaccine, market participants will still have to account for increased stock valuations, ongoing stormy trade talks with China and Europe, and what promises to be a volatile campaign season ahead of the November General elections. None of these seem to be the cake-walk slam-dunks a persistently bullish market might suggest. Not that you shouldn’t ride strong stocks higher, but keeping one eye on the unaddressed issues would be prudent.
Q2 Earnings Results at a Glance
Social media game developer Zynga rose 8% directly following its quarterly results after Wednesday’s close before tapering off a bit, with revenues of $518 million easily outperforming the $503 million in the Zacks consensus. Guidance for Q3 and the full-year were even more to the point — to $620 million next quarter from the expected $443 million, and $2.2 billion for the full year, up nicely from $1.85 million projected. The company recorded its highest-ever Monthly Active User (MAU) growth, to 22 million for the quarter, +4% year over year.
Streaming platform provider Roku (ROKU - Free Report) also stormed past expectations on its Q2 release Wednesday afternoon, with a negative 35 cents per share much better than the -55 cents predicted. Quarterly sales of $356 million surpassed the $302 million analysts were looking for, +42% year over year. The company grew a best-ever 3.2 million active accounts in the quarter to 43 million overall, better than expected. Roku noted it saw better ad revenue than expected in Q2.
E-commerce retailer Etsy (ETSY - Free Report) makes it three-for-three with a strong beat on both top and bottom lines: 75 cents per share in earnings zoomed past the 42 cents expected, while $429 million in sales crushed the estimated $334 million. The company notably sells lots of facial masks to help stop the spread of coronavirus, which led to sales growth over 100% in the quarter. Even ex-mask sales, organic revenues rose 90% year over year. Shares are down modestly on the news. For more on ETSY's earnings, click here.
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