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So the good news is we remain above mid-August lows among the major stock indices, but the bad news is, it doesn’t look like we’re getting those higher highs just yet. From mid-March of this year, every minor setback in the S&P and elsewhere has risen to the challenge and gone higher within a few sessions, leading to year-to-date gains of +33% on the Nasdaq, +16% on the S&P 500, +7% on the small-cap Russell 2000 and -4% on the blue-chip Dow.
We’re economic data-dependent for the time being, with the full start of Q3 earnings season still five weeks away. Those coming earnings results, including forward guidance, might be what propels markets forward in a meaningful way in this final quarter of the year, as long as companies are eyeing the coming quarters more positively than are currently priced in. Until then, however, the best we can expect are continued muted growth from things like the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report next week, and a Fed that does not raise interest rates the week after that.
Meantime, late-stage calendar earnings reports are out this afternoon, starting with a company so intertwined with artificial intelligence, it’s right there in its ticker: C3.ai (AI - Free Report) . A fiscal Q1 loss of -$0.09 per share was a notable beat over expectations for -$0.17 and the -$0.12 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $72.4 million outpaced the Zacks consensus, as well, and sales guidance for next quarter and the full year seeing the range up on the high end. The company is keen on its new suite of A.I. products coming to market. Shares are down -5% in the late session, but still +180% year to date.
American Eagle Outfitters (AEO - Free Report) also beat expectations on its top and bottom lines after today’s close, with earnings of 25 cents per share outperforming estimates by a solid dime, on sales of $1.20 billion which narrowly slipped past the consensus $1.19 billion. Gross margins surpassed analyst estimates at +37.7%, even as comps were down -2% and inventories worked down -7%. But shares are trading down -4% on the news, having already gained +38% from early June lows, giving back some of the build-up.
And meme stock — remember them? — extraordinaire GameStop (GME - Free Report) also also released results of its Q2 earnings following the closing bell this Hump Day, posting a better-than-expected loss per share of -$0.03 per share, from -$0.15 cents predicted on sales of $1.16 billion in the quarterly, narrowly beating the $1.14 billion anticipated. Strong videogame demand was behind the quarterly beat, which has helped the stock climb +5% on the news. Still a long way from $81 per share highs like we saw in early 2022, GameStop nevertheless gets the job done in the quarter.
Image: Bigstock
Good News/Bad News for Markets; AI, AEO, GME Beat
So the good news is we remain above mid-August lows among the major stock indices, but the bad news is, it doesn’t look like we’re getting those higher highs just yet. From mid-March of this year, every minor setback in the S&P and elsewhere has risen to the challenge and gone higher within a few sessions, leading to year-to-date gains of +33% on the Nasdaq, +16% on the S&P 500, +7% on the small-cap Russell 2000 and -4% on the blue-chip Dow.
We’re economic data-dependent for the time being, with the full start of Q3 earnings season still five weeks away. Those coming earnings results, including forward guidance, might be what propels markets forward in a meaningful way in this final quarter of the year, as long as companies are eyeing the coming quarters more positively than are currently priced in. Until then, however, the best we can expect are continued muted growth from things like the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report next week, and a Fed that does not raise interest rates the week after that.
Meantime, late-stage calendar earnings reports are out this afternoon, starting with a company so intertwined with artificial intelligence, it’s right there in its ticker: C3.ai (AI - Free Report) . A fiscal Q1 loss of -$0.09 per share was a notable beat over expectations for -$0.17 and the -$0.12 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $72.4 million outpaced the Zacks consensus, as well, and sales guidance for next quarter and the full year seeing the range up on the high end. The company is keen on its new suite of A.I. products coming to market. Shares are down -5% in the late session, but still +180% year to date.
American Eagle Outfitters (AEO - Free Report) also beat expectations on its top and bottom lines after today’s close, with earnings of 25 cents per share outperforming estimates by a solid dime, on sales of $1.20 billion which narrowly slipped past the consensus $1.19 billion. Gross margins surpassed analyst estimates at +37.7%, even as comps were down -2% and inventories worked down -7%. But shares are trading down -4% on the news, having already gained +38% from early June lows, giving back some of the build-up.
And meme stock — remember them? — extraordinaire GameStop (GME - Free Report) also also released results of its Q2 earnings following the closing bell this Hump Day, posting a better-than-expected loss per share of -$0.03 per share, from -$0.15 cents predicted on sales of $1.16 billion in the quarterly, narrowly beating the $1.14 billion anticipated. Strong videogame demand was behind the quarterly beat, which has helped the stock climb +5% on the news. Still a long way from $81 per share highs like we saw in early 2022, GameStop nevertheless gets the job done in the quarter.
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