Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Stock Market News for Feb 9, 2024

Read MoreHide Full Article

Wall Street closed higher on Thursday as strong earnings data boosted market participants’ confidence on risky assets like equities. Investors’ sentiment bolstered as solid earnings results indicate the strength of the economy. A key labor market data also remained favorable.  All three major stock indexes ended in green.  

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up 0.1% to close at 38,726.33. This marked a fresh closing high of the blue-chip index. Notably, 20 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory and 10 ended in negative zone.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 15,793.72, rising 0.2% due to good performance by corporate bigwigs. In intraday trading, the tech-laden index touched a new 52-week high at 17,813.27. The S&P 500 gain 0.1% to finish at 4,997.91. In intraday trading, the market’s benchmark briefly crossed the key technical barrier of 5,000 for the first time in its history.

Six out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while five in negative zone. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) rose 1% while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) fell 0.7%, respectively.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.3% to 12.79.  Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.4-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.6-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues. The S&P 500 posted 56 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows while the Nasdaq recorded 249 new 52-week highs and 109 new lows.

Solid Q4 Earnings Results

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS - Free Report) reported first-quarter fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.22 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 25.77% and increased 23.2% year over year. Revenues rose 0.2% year over year to $23.5 billion but missed the consensus mark by 0.58%.

Molina Healthcare Inc. (MOH - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per share of $4.38, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.6%. The bottom line advanced 6.8% year over year. Total revenues rose 10% year over year to $9 billion in the quarter under review. Also, the top line surpassed the consensus mark by 9%.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN - Free Report) reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.91, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 by 70.5%. In the prior-year quarter, the company reported an adjusted loss of $1.23 per share. Quarterly revenues of $1.8 billion surpassed the consensus mark of $1.7 billion by 7%. Also, the top line increased 83.1% on a year-over-year basis. Solid contributions from Macau and Las Vegas Operations backed the upside.

Consequently, stock prices of Disney, Molina and Wynn rallied 11.5%, 5.4% and 6.3%, respectively. All three stocks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Economic Data

The Department of Labor reported that initial claims dropped by 9,000 to 218,000 for the week ended Feb 3, lower than the consensus estimate of 220,000. Previous week’s data was revised upward from 224,000 to 227,000.
Continuing claims (those who have already received government aids and reported a week behind) dropped 23,000 to 1.871 million. The four-week moving average for claims, which helps adjust for weekly volatility, increased 9,500 to 1,849,750.

Wholesale inventories rose 0.4% in December, beating the consensus estimate of 0.3%. November’s data was revised downward to a fall of 0.4% from 0.2% reported earlier.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Molina Healthcare, Inc (MOH) - free report >>

Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN) - free report >>

The Walt Disney Company (DIS) - free report >>

Published in