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Pre-market futures are flat at this hour, with minimal new data to chew on in order to decide a near-term direction for stocks. The Dow is -0.02% currently, the S&P 500 -0.03% and the Nasdaq -0.12%. Only the small-cap Russell 2000 is +0.06% as of this moment.
We’re still riding a string of new all-time highs for two of these major indexes: 11 of 12 sessions have closed higher for the S&P, 10 of 12 for the blue-chip Dow. Both indexes began setting new all-time closing highs mid-this month, off previous all-time highs in July.
Cintas Beats on Q1 Earnings, Nudges Guidance
Uniform and cleaning equipment major Cintas (CTAS - Free Report) outperformed the Zacks consensus on fiscal Q1 earnings this morning, with $1.10 per share outpacing expectations by a solid dime — and reflecting the 4 to 1 split conducted earlier this month. Revenues of $2.50 billion in the quarter was in-line with expectations, +6.8% from a year ago, including one less work day.
Guidance for full-year earnings and sales were nudged up slightly, to a range of $4.06-4.19 per share on the bottom line, $10.16-10.31 billion on the top. These compare with prior Zacks consensus prints of $4.16 per share and $10.27 billion, respectively. Shares are +1.5% on the news, +38% year to date.
Mortgage Refis Coming Back Strong
A new report on home mortgages is out this morning, showing applications to refinance home mortgages +20% in the past week, +175% from this time a year ago. This marks the eight-straight week of lower mortgage rates, with the FHA rate now with a “5-handle” for the first time in ages: 5.99%.
Refinances (“refis”) now make up 55.7% of all mortgage applications. This accounts for a portion of the pent-up demand in the housing market: those looking to buy a home but have been waiting for rates to come down. A year ago, the average mortgage rate was +7.41%.
What to Expect After Wall Street’s Opening Bell
Once the regular trading day gets underway, we’ll take a look at New Home Sales for August. These are expected to come in lower month over month, to 700K from 739K reported the prior month. Of course, key mortgage and Fed funds rate data had not yet hit the tape by then, so we’ll be looking at a ghost of the recent past.
Also, Micron (MU - Free Report) will report fiscal Q4 results after today’s close. The Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated stock (with a Momentum score of F)is expected to fetch +202% earnings growth year over year, and +90% revenue growth. Micron is riding a five-quarter streak of positive earnings surprises, with a trailing 4-quarter average of +73% — largely due to a giant +255% beat in the February quarter of this year.
Image: Bigstock
Pre-Markets Flat on Mortgage Refi, Earnings Data
Wednesday, September 25th, 2024
Pre-market futures are flat at this hour, with minimal new data to chew on in order to decide a near-term direction for stocks. The Dow is -0.02% currently, the S&P 500 -0.03% and the Nasdaq -0.12%. Only the small-cap Russell 2000 is +0.06% as of this moment.
We’re still riding a string of new all-time highs for two of these major indexes: 11 of 12 sessions have closed higher for the S&P, 10 of 12 for the blue-chip Dow. Both indexes began setting new all-time closing highs mid-this month, off previous all-time highs in July.
Cintas Beats on Q1 Earnings, Nudges Guidance
Uniform and cleaning equipment major Cintas (CTAS - Free Report) outperformed the Zacks consensus on fiscal Q1 earnings this morning, with $1.10 per share outpacing expectations by a solid dime — and reflecting the 4 to 1 split conducted earlier this month. Revenues of $2.50 billion in the quarter was in-line with expectations, +6.8% from a year ago, including one less work day.
Guidance for full-year earnings and sales were nudged up slightly, to a range of $4.06-4.19 per share on the bottom line, $10.16-10.31 billion on the top. These compare with prior Zacks consensus prints of $4.16 per share and $10.27 billion, respectively. Shares are +1.5% on the news, +38% year to date.
Mortgage Refis Coming Back Strong
A new report on home mortgages is out this morning, showing applications to refinance home mortgages +20% in the past week, +175% from this time a year ago. This marks the eight-straight week of lower mortgage rates, with the FHA rate now with a “5-handle” for the first time in ages: 5.99%.
Refinances (“refis”) now make up 55.7% of all mortgage applications. This accounts for a portion of the pent-up demand in the housing market: those looking to buy a home but have been waiting for rates to come down. A year ago, the average mortgage rate was +7.41%.
What to Expect After Wall Street’s Opening Bell
Once the regular trading day gets underway, we’ll take a look at New Home Sales for August. These are expected to come in lower month over month, to 700K from 739K reported the prior month. Of course, key mortgage and Fed funds rate data had not yet hit the tape by then, so we’ll be looking at a ghost of the recent past.
Also, Micron (MU - Free Report) will report fiscal Q4 results after today’s close. The Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated stock (with a Momentum score of F)is expected to fetch +202% earnings growth year over year, and +90% revenue growth. Micron is riding a five-quarter streak of positive earnings surprises, with a trailing 4-quarter average of +73% — largely due to a giant +255% beat in the February quarter of this year.
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