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Markets Temper Enthusiasm Ahead of Election Day

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Monday, November 4, 2024

Stock market activity slid tepidly into the red once again today, more or less in keeping with overall trading through last week. Because we await results from tomorrow’s General Election, we don’t expect any sudden movements until Wednesday morning the earliest.

The Dow sank -263 points on the session, -0.63%, while the S&P 500 came in -16 points, -0.29%. The Nasdaq posted a near-identical -55 points, -0.30%. The small-cap Russell 2000, a laggard to the other indexes year to date, rose by +0.40% on the session.
 

Factory Orders Match Low Expectations: -0.5%


Headline Factory Orders for September reached -0.5% in the latest report released after the opening bell this morning. This was an improvement from the previous month’s -0.8% — but that sustained a big downward revision from the -0.2% reported a month ago. Back in July we saw a big burst up to +4.9%, but ultimately, we’re still oscillating pretty notably on either side of zero.
 

Busy Q3 Earnings Afternoon: PLTR, NXPI, HIMS


Big moves in the late session today — none bigger right now than Palantir’s (PLTR - Free Report) +14% move following super Q3 results. While earnings of 10 cents per share only beat estimates by a penny, revenues climbed to $726 million in the quarter, ahead of the $705.1 million expected and +30% year over year. 

U.S. commercial revenues grew +54% in the quarter, and the Peter Thiel-founded analytics software firm increased next-quarter revenue guidance. The company also reported free cash flow of over $1 billion and, despite trading in excess of 100x forward earnings, continue to move higher: +140% year to date and up nearly +600% from 2022 lows.

Check out the updated Zacks Earnings Calendar here.

NXP Semiconductors (NXPI - Free Report) outpaced earnings expectations by 2 cents to $3.45 per share this afternoon, on in-line revenues of $3.25 billion for the quarter. The automotive tech supplier reported broader macro-weakness in both Europe and the Americas. Shares are down -5% in late trading.

Growing telehealth firm Hims & Hers (HIMS - Free Report) shares are rising +6% in after-hours trading after its strong beat on both top and bottom lines for its Q3 this afternoon: earnings of 32 cents per share crushed the $0.06 anticipated (and another orbit from the -$0.04 per share reported the prior quarter) on $402 million in revenues, above the $384.2 million in the Zacks consensus.

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