Author: fortraders

The world’s largest asset manager said it received strong support for its board and executive pay, with more than 99% of votes cast in favor of the proposals.

BlackRock said it was pleased with the outcome of the meeting, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said it was committed to engaging with shareholders and addressing their concerns. It also said it was focused on delivering long-term value for all shareholders.

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, with more than $7 trillion in assets under management. It is a major player in the global financial markets and has a significant presence in the world’s major economies.

On Wednesday, U.S. stock indexes were set to open lower as talks between the White House and Republican representatives over raising the debt ceiling failed to make a breakthrough. Shorter-dated Treasury yields continued to rise, with yields on the 1-month bond hitting another record high at 5.8920%, as worries about a possible government debt default rise.

Investors await minutes from the Federal Reserve’s May 2-3 meeting, due later in the day, to assess the central bank’s interest-rate path. Shares of Meta Platforms Inc, Agilent Technologies Inc, Nvidia Corp, PacWest Bancorp, Kohl’s Corp, Urban Outfitters Inc, VF Corp, and Abercrombie & Fitch Co were all trading lower or higher premarket, depending on their respective earnings reports.

The lack of progress in talks to raise the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit ahead of the June 1 deadline has weighed on Wall Street, with its benchmark indexes ending the previous session sharply lower. Investors will be closely watching the Fed minutes and earnings reports for further direction.

Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) tumbled 15% in early Wednesday trading after the medical research company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed the company it “requires modest additional time to complete the review” of SRP-9001. The PDUFA date for ‘9001 will be delayed until June 22, 2023, from May 29th. The therapy is currently under review for the treatment of ambulant individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The FDA also indicated that it intends to potentially grant an accelerated approval for SRP-9001, initially for use in Duchenne patients ages 4-5 years old, once the review is completed. RBC analysts said the delay “offers concrete timelines” and believe the weakness presents a buying opportunity.

Analysts at Bank of America (BofA) believe that Apple’s upcoming Mixed Reality (MR) headset could be a game-changer. At the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple is expected to unveil the headset, as well as updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

BofA analysts have a Neutral rating and a $176 price target on Apple, and feel that the MR headset “could be transformative over time.” They believe that the headset could disrupt existing markets and create entirely new ones, and that the initial uptake may be modest, with 200K units in 2023. However, if Apple can drive meaningful adoption, the headset could drive one-third of App Store revenues by 2026.

Investors were active in premarket trading on Wednesday, May 24th, with stocks in focus ranging from Kohl’s to PacWest Bancorp. Kohl’s stock soared 11.6% after the retailer reported a surprise profit, while Abercrombie & Fitch stock rose 15.8% after the clothes retailer raised its annual sales forecast. XPeng stock fell 5.6% after the China-based EV maker reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, while Palo Alto Networks stock rose 4.7% after the cybersecurity company posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter profit. Urban Outfitters stock soared 13.3% after the clothes retailer reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street estimates, while Intuit stock fell 5.2% after the business software firm reported disappointing third-quarter revenue. Agilent stock fell 9.4% after the lab-equipment maker disappointed with its full-year guidance, and Integra LifeSciences stock fell 2.6% after JPMorgan downgraded the medical technology company. Finally, PacWest Bancorp stock rose 4.9% after the lender agreed to sell its property lending unit in its second asset sale this week.

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) has completed the third and final round of layoffs, cutting 10,000 roles as part of a plan announced in March. The cuts hit non-engineering roles most heavily, with the ad sales, marketing and partnerships teams being the most affected. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the bulk of the layoffs would take place in three “moments” over several months, largely finishing in May. The layoffs follow months of waning revenue growth and the company’s investment in its metaverse-oriented Reality Labs unit and AI infrastructure.

Kohl’s Corp reported a surprise profit in the first quarter of 2021, sending its shares up 12%. The department store operator’s efforts to reduce excess inventory and slash costs under newly appointed CEO Tom Kingsbury have started to pay off. Gross margin grew by 67 basis points, while operating expenses fell 4.2%. Comparable store sales declined 4.3%, however, due to ongoing cost-of-living pressures. Kohl’s maintained its fiscal 2023 earnings per share in the range of $2.10 to $2.70, and operating margin at about 4%.

Mizuho analysts have upgraded Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) to a Top Pick for the second half of 2023, citing accelerating demand for AWS’ generative AI products and services. Channel checks showed that AWS clients are shifting their savings from optimization to Gen-AI, which is both revenue and margin accretive.

The analysts believe that AWS revenue growth will likely trough in this quarter before starting a rebound in the second half of the year. They also expect a multiple expansion as concerns on AMZN’s AI-market-position diminish.

In a client note, the analysts said, “Case studies show that AWS wins over clients on intelligence privacy and data security. Furthermore, Gen-AI is priced meaningfully higher than conventional computing, so it is both revenue and margin accretive.”

As a result of the upgrade, the analysts raised the Amazon stock target to $160 per share. Amazon stock is up 0.6% in premarket Wednesday.

Kelleher said UBS would be “very selective” in taking on Credit Suisse staff, adding that the bank would be “very careful” in its approach. He said UBS would be looking for “people who fit the culture” and that the bank would have an “incredibly high bar” for those it takes on.

rnrnThe UBS chairman also said the bank would be looking to make sure it was not taking on any “toxic” assets from Credit Suisse. He said UBS would be “very careful” in its approach to the integration of the two banks, and that it would be looking to ensure that the culture of UBS was maintained.

Investors are keeping a close eye on the markets today as ongoing debt ceiling negotiations fail to make progress and the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting are due to be released. The Dow Futures contract is down 115 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 13 points, or 0.3%, lower and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 37 points, or 0.3%.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the “X-date”, when the government runs out of money to pay its bills, could fall as soon as June 1. Investors are also becoming wary of the Federal Reserve continuing its hiking cycle, even after Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at a pause in June.

Oil prices rose sharply Wednesday after industry data registered a chunky drop in U.S. inventories, pointing to tighter supplies as the U.S. driving season draws nearer. Gold futures traded 0.2% higher to $1,978.60/oz, while EUR/USD edged 0.1% lower to 1.0755.

Friday sees the release of the April personal consumption expenditure index reading, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Additionally, there are more earnings to digest Wednesday, including from department store Kohl’s, chipmaker Nvidia, cloud computing company Snowflake and clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters.