The S&P 500 futures are up 8 points, trading 0.2% above fair value. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 82 points, trading 0.4% above fair value. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 54 points, trading 0.1% below fair value.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures are higher due to a rebound in chipmakers and mega cap stocks. These stocks led yesterday's declines, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closing 1.4% and 2.8% lower, respectively.
Treasury yields are slightly up. The 10-year note yield is up 3 basis points to 4.18%, and the 2-year note yield is up 3 basis points to 4.46%.
Today's economic reports include:
- 8:30 ET: Weekly Initial Claims (consensus 225,000; prior 222,000), Continuing Claims (prior 1.852 million), and July Philadelphia Fed survey (consensus 2.9; prior 1.3)
- 10:00 ET: June Leading Indicators (consensus -0.3%; prior -0.5%)
- 10:30 ET: Weekly natural gas inventories (prior +65 bcf)
- 16:00 ET: May Net Long-Term TIC Flows (prior $123.1 billion)
In corporate news:
- United Airlines (UAL): Up 1.6% after beating earnings by $0.21, reporting in-line revenue, and reaffirming FY24 EPS guidance.
- Steel Dynamics (STLD): Down 0.1% after missing earnings by $0.01 but beating revenue estimates; expects steel pricing to firm.
- Discover Financial Services (DFS): Up 3.3% after beating earnings by $2.98 and revenue estimates.
- Alcoa (AA): Up 1.1% after reporting Q2 results in-line with last week's guidance.
- Beyond Meat (BYND): Down 13.3% on reports of restructuring talks with bondholders.
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM, Financial): Up 1.1% after beating earnings by $0.07 and revenue estimates; Q3 revenue guidance in-line.
- D.R. Horton (DHI, Financial): Down 2.2% after beating earnings by $0.35 and revenue estimates; narrows FY24 guidance.
- Domino's Pizza (DPZ, Financial): Down 11.6% after beating earnings by $0.35 and reporting in-line revenue.
- NVIDIA (NVDA): Up 2.0% pre-open after yesterday's sharp decline.
- Boeing (BA): Down 0.02% after Seattle workers passed a strike vote.
Reviewing overnight developments:
Today's News
Goldman Sachs' tactical strategist Scott Rubner advises caution as we move past the peak of broader market returns. He notes that the S&P 500 has hit 38 new all-time highs and suggests that the "pain trade" is no longer higher from here. Rubner is not buying the dip, indicating that the market will likely move more freely into lower trading liquidity and vacations starting next week.
Cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike (CRWD, Financial) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW, Financial) faced downgrades from Redburn Atlantic, citing concerns about market expectations and slowing growth. Palo Alto shares fell 0.5% in premarket trading, while CrowdStrike dropped 1.7%. Analyst Nina Marques pointed out that the Gen-AI boost is primarily a short-term acceleration of demand rather than a sustainable trend, leading to overly optimistic market expectations.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM, Financial) saw its stock rise about 2% premarket after second-quarter results beat estimates and third-quarter revenue outlook exceeded expectations. CEO C. C. Wei confirmed that the company continues to expand its overseas fabs, including in Arizona and potentially Europe, despite geopolitical risks. The company's net revenue grew 32.8% year-over-year to $20.82 billion.
Meta Platforms (META, Financial) announced that it will not offer its multimodal AI model to customers in the EU due to regulatory uncertainties. The company plans to release the model over the coming months but will delay its launch in Europe. This decision follows a request from the Irish privacy regulator and complaints from advocacy groups about the use of personal data to train AI models without user consent.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD, Financial) is exploring strategic options, including selling assets or splitting its Max streaming service and movie studio businesses from its legacy TV networks. CEO David Zaslav is considering spinning off its streaming and studio businesses into a separate company to give the faster-growing segments more flexibility. The news sent WBD's stock up 4.9% premarket.
Block (SQ, Financial) rose 2.3% in premarket trade as William Blair upgraded the company to Outperform, citing improved execution and new vertical solutions. CEO Jack Dorsey is injecting new energy into the business, and the cash app continues to emerge as an important neobank leader. The company's Q1 core profit margin reached 33.7% of gross profit.
Cintas (CTAS, Financial) reported Q4 GAAP EPS of $3.99, beating estimates by $0.19, with revenue of $2.47 billion. For fiscal 2025, the company expects revenue to be in the range of $10.16 billion to $10.31 billion, and diluted EPS to be between $16.25 and $16.75. The stock received mixed reviews, with some analysts pointing to potential overvaluation.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR, Financial) gained attention after Wedbush Securities introduced a 2025 bull case scenario, citing significant demand across commercial and government sectors for its AI technologies. Analyst Dan Ives maintained an Outperform rating and a $35 price target, with a new bull case of $50 per share for 2025.
Domino's Pizza (DPZ, Financial) fell sharply in early trading after missing revenue estimates in its Q2 earnings report. Revenue increased $7.1 million year-over-year, driven by higher supply chain and franchise revenues. CEO Russell Weiner noted positive order counts in both delivery and carryout businesses, across all income cohorts.
D.R. Horton (DHI, Financial) stock slid 2.2% premarket after posting fiscal Q3 revenue and earnings that topped Wall Street estimates. The company narrowed its FY2024 guidance for both revenue and home closings and announced a new $4.0 billion stock buyback program. Despite elevated inflation and mortgage rates, the supply of affordable homes remains limited, supporting housing demand.
Blackstone (BX, Financial) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, slightly down from the previous $0.83. The forward yield stands at 2.43%. The dividend is payable on August 5th to shareholders of record as of July 29th. The company's Q2 earnings showed mixed results, with revenue beating estimates but EPS missing by $0.02.
GuruFocus Stock Analysis
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