Stocks Sink on Russia “Invasion” News

You’ve probably read the headlines, but we’ll reiterate for your convenience — Russian troops have advanced into Ukraine, and President Biden is calling Russia’s move an “invasion.” 

In response to Russia’s advance, President Biden enacted sanctions on Russia’s VEB bank and the country’s military bank. Biden shared the following about the U.S.’s sanctions: 

“That means we’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade its new debt on our markets, or European markets either.” Wealthy Russian citizens and the country’s elites will also face personal sanctions from the U.S. 

President Biden commented on his military response to Russia’s movements as well. He announced: “Today, in response to Russia’s admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus, I have authorized additional movements of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic Allies, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.” 

The markets felt the heat from the ongoing international turmoil. 🔥 🔥 The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 each shaved over a percent. Germany shut off its access to the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, and Europe’s natural gas costs surged over 11%. Brent crude gained over 2% to nearly $100/barrel, its highest level since 2014.

We’ll obviously be keeping watch on the escalation of this situation. 👀

Home Depot shares fell over 8% today after the company reported Q4 earnings. The home improvement store beat on revenue, but missed on earnings estimates — Home Depot credited inflation for some of its sales boost, and that didn’t sit well with investors. 🤷

Revenue: $35.72 billion, +11% YoY (compared to estimates of $34.87)
Earnings per share: $3.21, +17% YoY (compared to estimates of $3.18)
Guidance: 2.5% increase in sales, 4.7% increase in EPS for the full year

The highlight of the company’s presentation was its sales figure, which showed +10.7% YoY growth from Q4 2020. Home Depot’s sales came in at $35.7 billion, a $3.5 billion increase from Q4 the year before. The ultra-hot housing market is also working to Home Depot’s advantage because a higher quantity of homeowners are renovating. 🔨

Home Depot’s Chairman and CEO, Craig Menear, shared “Our ability to grow the business by over $40 billion in the last two years is a testament to investments we have made in the business, our ability to execute with agility, and our associates’ relentless focus on our customers. I would like to thank all of our associates, as well as our supplier partners, for their hard work and dedication to serving our customers, communities and each other.”

Home Depot revealed a 15% increase to its dividend, which will pay out $7.60/share annually to investors starting March 24, 2022. Home Depot will also appoint a new CEO in the coming months. 

$HD is up 0.18% in afterhours.

SoFi plummeted 10% today on news of its M&A deal. SoFi announced its purchase of Technisys SA, a banking-software company, for $1.1 billion… that’s literally 10% of SoFi’s entire market value. 

This deal aims to implement Technisys’ banking technology to jumpstart SoFi’s financial services for its banking users. SoFi will gain a back-end platform capable of sustaining its personal banking app, customer accounts, and customer deposits. 💰 💰

 Despite SoFi’s 10% dump, the company’s CEO Anthony Noto isn’t doubting his play. 💡 Noto shared “We’re not slowing down. The distance between us and others is only going to increase.” The company anticipates an additional $800 million in revenue from Technisys’ capabilities until 2025. 

SoFi went public via SPAC last year, but officially became a bank this year after its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp Inc. and its purchase of Galileo Financial Technologies Inc. for debit card issuance. Although SoFi is moving full-steam ahead, its stock is down a whopping 28% over the last year.

$SOFI is up 0.98% after hours.