Investors are unpacking plenty of household name earnings this morning
After yesterday's pullback saw winning streaks snapped, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are once again on the rise before the bell. Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are higher as well, coming off a fourth-straight win and record close. So far today, investors are cheering quarterly reports from the likes of Coca-Cola (KO), Twitter (TWTR), and Under Armour (UAA). There's also encouraging economic data; the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.3% in January, in line with analyst estimates.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Two technical indicators for bulls, according to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
- This red-hot cannabis stock has room to run.
- Plus, more on Coca-Cola's report; Match Group makes a big acquisition, and analysts fly to Twitter stock.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2.4 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, and 866,548 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.36 and the 21-day moving average dropped to 0.40.
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Blue-chip stock Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is up 1.8% before the bell today, after the beverage giant reported fourth-quarter earnings of 47 cents per share -- five cents higher than analyst estimates. Furthermore, the company expects sales growth to return in 2021. Heading into today, KO is down 9.4% year-to-date.
- The shares of Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) are up 4.5% in electronic trading, after news that the dating service operator will acquire Hyperconnect for $1.73 billion. To follow, Wedbush raised its price target to $150 from $135. Year-over-year, the stock is up 109.6%.
- Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) stock is up 8.5% ahead of the open, looking to extend yesterday's eight-year highs, after the social media giant reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. In response, no fewer than 17 analysts chimed in with price-target hikes. Year-over-year, TWTR is up 66.5%.
- Today the Federal budget balance is slated for release.
Asia Stocks Rose Amid Economic Data
Asian markets closed higher today, after China’s National Bureau of Statistics released a batch of fresh economic indicators. While the country’s consumer price index dropped 0.3% year-over-year, its producer price index added 0.3% for the same time period. In response, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite added 1.9% and 1.4%, respectively, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5%. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei jumped 0.2%, after tech startup Aurora announced a partnership with Toyota and Denso to “build and globally deploy self-driving cars at scale.”
European stocks are mixed, on the other hand, as investors sift through a number of corporate earnings reports, and digest outsized losses from Danish names Maersk and SimCorp. Traders are also keeping an eye on U.S. stimulus developments, while in Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to extend the country’s lockdown to March 14, in response to the new Covid-19 variants. As a result, both the German DAX and French CAC 40 were last seen slightly below breakeven at a 0.04% loss, while London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.04%.