Lululemon Jumps, Cisco Drops — and What Else Is Happening in the Stock Market Thursday
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was set for a lower open Thursday—and perhaps its third consecutive day—amid concerns about economic growth ahead of today’s European Central Bank meeting.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures have fallen 0.2%, in what would be a third consecutive decline, while S&P 500 futures have dropped 0.2%, and Nasdaq Composite futures have slipped 0.2%.
It’s a holiday-shortened week, so it’s hard to jump to too many conclusions, but there are some conclusions to be made. With the ECB meeting, investors will be watching to it responds to something that is happening globally—slowing economic growth combined with inflation that just doesn’t seem to want to go away. “Growth and likely earnings expectations are being revised down on the back of the spread of Covid-19,” writes Nordea’s Sebastien Galy. [There] is now some understanding that the economy is going through a sticker price shock which also includes disruptions in the supply chain and mismatches in skills and still elevated salary expectations in labor demand and vis versa in supply.”
That sounds a lot like stagflation.
Here are six stocks making moves Thursday morning:
T-Mobile US (TMUS) has fallen 3.3% after following reports of a block trade of 12.5 million shares of the company. Shares of T-Mobile had fallen 0.9% so far this year.
Devon Energy (DVN) has declined 1.2% after getting cut to Buy from Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs. Analyst Neil Mehta cited the market’s recognition of the company’s dividend strategy for the downgrade.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) has fallen 1.3% after getting downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Analyst Meta Marshall cited Cisco’s relative valuation for the cut.
BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (BMRN) has risen 1.1% after getting raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel. Analyst Paul Matteis cited the stock’s underperformance, as well as the potential approval of one of its drugs.
Macy’s (M) has gained 2% after getting upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen. “We upgrade M to Outperform as we forecast continued momentum from: more agile inventory and pricing management, data-centric loyalty and personalization actions, product innovation, and store-base reinvention on closures, digital integration + real estate monetization,” Cowen analyst Oliver Chen writes.
Lululemon Athletica (LULU) has gained 14% after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The athleisure-wear company reported a profit of $1.65, beating forecasts for $1.19, on sales of $1.5 billion, ahead of forecasts for $1.33 billion. It also raised its full-year guidance.
Write to Ben Levisohn at [email protected]
