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Markets Flat as a Pancake; United Beats, JB Hunt Misses
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Market traded flat today overall, excepting the small-cap Russell 2000, which continues to ramp up in an attempt to catch its index brethren. The Dow was up +0.04% today, while the S&P 500 was -0.01%. (Tough to get flatter than this.) The Nasdaq dipped a tad deeper, -0.25% on the session, while the Russell, off midday highs, gained +1.12%. We’re flat over the past five trading days, as well: the Dow and S&P are in the green, while the Nasdaq and Russell are -0.7% and -0.9%, respectively.
Ahead of today’s open, we saw Retail Sales numbers come in hotter than expected for September — a figure that asserts a stout economy, but one still prone to inflation (and not just in fuel costs). We also saw Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for September stronger than analysts were anticipating: +0.3% on headline was above the +0.1% expected on Production, but a tick down from the upwardly revised +0.4% the previous month. Utilization was in-line month over month at 79.7%.
We saw big banks like Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) and Goldman Sachs (GS - Free Report) outperform estimates on both top and bottom lines for Q3 this morning, and the negative start for the day looked to have some upward trajectory. This lasted til the midday swoon, perhaps on further increasing 2-year and 10-year bond yields: 5.04% and 4.84%, respectively. The good news is that yield curve inversion is closer to evening out; the bad news is it looks to be at an historically elevated level.
After the closing bell, United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) beat Q3 earnings estimates (which had been ratcheted down ahead of today’s release): $3.65 per share versus expectations of $3.40, and the year-ago print of $2.81 per share. Record-high revenues of $14.85 billion easily surpassed the $14.44 billion expected, which already represented a double-digit gain year over year.
Yet shares are down -4% in late trading on weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for Q4 and the full year: $1.50-1.80 per share was notably below the $2.26 in the Zacks consensus; $9.55-9.85 per share beneath the previously anticipated $10.04. Revenue per Seat Mile and Passenger Revenue per Seat Mile both fell marginally in the quarter, while Costs per Seat Mile ex-fuel came up +2.6%.
Transportation major J.B. Hunt (JBHT - Free Report) missed expectations on both top and bottom lines in its quarterly release Tuesday afternoon: earnings of $1.80 per share missed consensus by 5 cents (and well off the $2.57 per share reported a year ago) on revenues of $3.16 billion, which came up short of the $3.24 billion analysts were looking for. Operating revenue, even ex-fuel costs, were still down -15%. That said, the company does expect demand to improve during Q4, holiday shopping season. Shares have slipped -2% in after-hours trading. Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>
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Markets Flat as a Pancake; United Beats, JB Hunt Misses
Market traded flat today overall, excepting the small-cap Russell 2000, which continues to ramp up in an attempt to catch its index brethren. The Dow was up +0.04% today, while the S&P 500 was -0.01%. (Tough to get flatter than this.) The Nasdaq dipped a tad deeper, -0.25% on the session, while the Russell, off midday highs, gained +1.12%. We’re flat over the past five trading days, as well: the Dow and S&P are in the green, while the Nasdaq and Russell are -0.7% and -0.9%, respectively.
Ahead of today’s open, we saw Retail Sales numbers come in hotter than expected for September — a figure that asserts a stout economy, but one still prone to inflation (and not just in fuel costs). We also saw Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for September stronger than analysts were anticipating: +0.3% on headline was above the +0.1% expected on Production, but a tick down from the upwardly revised +0.4% the previous month. Utilization was in-line month over month at 79.7%.
We saw big banks like Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) and Goldman Sachs (GS - Free Report) outperform estimates on both top and bottom lines for Q3 this morning, and the negative start for the day looked to have some upward trajectory. This lasted til the midday swoon, perhaps on further increasing 2-year and 10-year bond yields: 5.04% and 4.84%, respectively. The good news is that yield curve inversion is closer to evening out; the bad news is it looks to be at an historically elevated level.
After the closing bell, United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) beat Q3 earnings estimates (which had been ratcheted down ahead of today’s release): $3.65 per share versus expectations of $3.40, and the year-ago print of $2.81 per share. Record-high revenues of $14.85 billion easily surpassed the $14.44 billion expected, which already represented a double-digit gain year over year.
Yet shares are down -4% in late trading on weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for Q4 and the full year: $1.50-1.80 per share was notably below the $2.26 in the Zacks consensus; $9.55-9.85 per share beneath the previously anticipated $10.04. Revenue per Seat Mile and Passenger Revenue per Seat Mile both fell marginally in the quarter, while Costs per Seat Mile ex-fuel came up +2.6%.
Transportation major J.B. Hunt (JBHT - Free Report) missed expectations on both top and bottom lines in its quarterly release Tuesday afternoon: earnings of $1.80 per share missed consensus by 5 cents (and well off the $2.57 per share reported a year ago) on revenues of $3.16 billion, which came up short of the $3.24 billion analysts were looking for. Operating revenue, even ex-fuel costs, were still down -15%. That said, the company does expect demand to improve during Q4, holiday shopping season. Shares have slipped -2% in after-hours trading.
Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>