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Great Reopening Alive & Well: Retail Sales, Imports, WMT, HD
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Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Big numbers hit the tape this morning ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, with market indexes hedging to the upside after losing momentum during the day yesterday, closing flat. At this hour, the Dow is up a healthy +80 points, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lagging down near zero-balance: +1 point and +7 points, respectively.
Retail Sales numbers for October came in hotter than expected: +1.7% versus the +1.5% estimate, and more than double the upwardly revised +0.8% reported for September. Subtracting volatile month-over-month auto prices, we still see a +1.7% — much higher than the +1.0% anticipated, while ex-autos & gas came in double expectations to +1.4%. The Control number came in at +1.6% — illustrating for the Fed and economists everywhere that the Great Reopening has re-asserted itself.
We also see a new Import Price Index for October which also beat analyst estimates: +1.2% topped consensus by 20 basis points, tripling the previous month’s unrevised +0.4%. Subtracting volatile petrol (auto fuel oil) prices, this reduces to a still-hot +0.5%. Year over year is where we really see some accumulation, however: +10.7% — the highest we’ve seen since June. Again, the Reopening is back.
Exports grew +1.5% for the month, also higher than expected. Year over year exports are downright historic: +18% — the highest reading ever, going back to the beginning of this index in 1984. This suggests the Great Reopening is not only back on the rails here at home, but among our international trading partners, as well.
Two Q3 earnings reports from big-box retailers are out this morning, as well:
Walmart (WMT - Free Report) beat estimates easily on both top and bottom lines, with $1.45 per share outpacing the $1.39 in the Zacks consensus on $140.53 billion in quarterly sales, +3.5% better than the $135.74 billion expected. It’s the third-straight beat for the biggest of the big-boxes, although shares are selling off -1% on the news; Walmart stock now trades in the red once again, year to date. For more on WMT’s earnings, click here.
On the other side of the coin, Home Depot (HD - Free Report) also outperformed expectations on both sides of the ledger, with $3.92 per share easily surpassing the $3.41 analysts were looking for — a +15% earnings surprise — on $36.82 billion in sales, +5.3% from the Zacks consensus. By contrast with Walmart, however, shares are up +2% in today’s pre-market and now more than +40% year to date. For more on HD’s earnings, click here.
Image: Bigstock
Great Reopening Alive & Well: Retail Sales, Imports, WMT, HD
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Big numbers hit the tape this morning ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, with market indexes hedging to the upside after losing momentum during the day yesterday, closing flat. At this hour, the Dow is up a healthy +80 points, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lagging down near zero-balance: +1 point and +7 points, respectively.
Retail Sales numbers for October came in hotter than expected: +1.7% versus the +1.5% estimate, and more than double the upwardly revised +0.8% reported for September. Subtracting volatile month-over-month auto prices, we still see a +1.7% — much higher than the +1.0% anticipated, while ex-autos & gas came in double expectations to +1.4%. The Control number came in at +1.6% — illustrating for the Fed and economists everywhere that the Great Reopening has re-asserted itself.
We also see a new Import Price Index for October which also beat analyst estimates: +1.2% topped consensus by 20 basis points, tripling the previous month’s unrevised +0.4%. Subtracting volatile petrol (auto fuel oil) prices, this reduces to a still-hot +0.5%. Year over year is where we really see some accumulation, however: +10.7% — the highest we’ve seen since June. Again, the Reopening is back.
Exports grew +1.5% for the month, also higher than expected. Year over year exports are downright historic: +18% — the highest reading ever, going back to the beginning of this index in 1984. This suggests the Great Reopening is not only back on the rails here at home, but among our international trading partners, as well.
Two Q3 earnings reports from big-box retailers are out this morning, as well:
Walmart (WMT - Free Report) beat estimates easily on both top and bottom lines, with $1.45 per share outpacing the $1.39 in the Zacks consensus on $140.53 billion in quarterly sales, +3.5% better than the $135.74 billion expected. It’s the third-straight beat for the biggest of the big-boxes, although shares are selling off -1% on the news; Walmart stock now trades in the red once again, year to date. For more on WMT’s earnings, click here.
On the other side of the coin, Home Depot (HD - Free Report) also outperformed expectations on both sides of the ledger, with $3.92 per share easily surpassing the $3.41 analysts were looking for — a +15% earnings surprise — on $36.82 billion in sales, +5.3% from the Zacks consensus. By contrast with Walmart, however, shares are up +2% in today’s pre-market and now more than +40% year to date. For more on HD’s earnings, click here.
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