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Markets Take a Powder; PLTR, NXPI Beat in Q4

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We finished the normal trading session on the first day of a new trading week the same way we began it — reluctant to drag a stock market higher amid all-time high ranges on the Dow and S&P 500, overbought conditions and high valuations. The Dow, off its lows of -434 points intraday, closed -274 points, -0.71%. The S&P 500 was less severe — down -0.32% — and the Nasdaq down even less — -0.20% — but the small-cap Russell 2000 took it on the chin once again: -1.08% on the day.

Materials were the laggard among market sectors, while Tech — led once again by a new record-high from NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) — kept relatively steady overall. The Russell has parted from the rest of the major indices over the past week, down -3% in that timeframe, versus the other three main indices which all currently hover around flat year-to-date. Actually, the small-cap index’s separation from the rest of the pack pretty much began at the start of the year, after a strong rally to finish 2023.

Reports after today’s close include software security firm Palantir Technologies (PLTR - Free Report) , which matched earnings expectations at $0.08 per share on revenues of $608 million in the quarter, which outperformed the Zacks estimate of $603.5 million. Next-quarter revenues have guided somewhat lower than existing estimates, but after-hours trading is surging the stock +8% on strong demand for A.I. in its space, and U.S. commercial growth +70% in Q4, with a total contract value up +107% year over year.

NXP Semiconductors (NXPI - Free Report) is also up in late trading, by +4.5%, on beats for both earnings and revenues results in Q4: earnings of $3.71 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 7 cents, on quarterly sales of $3.42 billion which performed better than the $3.40 billion anticipated. Forecasts for the current quarter were higher on the bottom line but slightly lower on the top. Its automotive business was in-line with estimates, while the company beat on mobile and industrial segments.

Tomorrow brings us another big day of quarterly earnings reports, with top performer Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) joining big auto staples Ford (F - Free Report) and Toyota (TM - Free Report) before the regular trading day. After the market closes, we’ll see results from Chipotle (CMG - Free Report) , Snap (SNAP - Free Report) and e.l.f. Beauty (ELF - Free Report) , among others. Of these, Ford, Chipotle and e.l.f. carry Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) ratings into their earnings releases, while the others listed are Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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