Stocks rallied throughout the day — here’s what you missed.
Today’s top story is Boris Johnson resigning as U.K. Prime Minister. More on that below. 👇
Crude oil and other commodities rebounded after a tough couple of days, and stocks matched their longest winning streak of the year (4 days). 📈
Here’s today’s heat map.
10/11 sectors closed green, with energy (+3.61%), consumer discretionary (+2.58%), and technology (+2.07%) leading. 👍
Semiconductor stocks $SOXX rallied 4.48% after Samsung’s earnings came in better than expected. The hardest-hit areas continue to lead this week’s bounce. 💪
In macro news, all eyes remain on employment data. Unfortunately, we don’t have ADP’s national employment report this month and next, which the organization is updating. Initial jobless claims did show a slight uptick WoW, but remain near record lows. Nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate data will be announced tomorrow at 8:30 am ET. 👀
As the labor market stays tight, struggling companies like Peloton must take significant measures to keep their talent and boost morale. ⭐
Meanwhile, recession fears are starting to impact central bankers’ actions around the globe. The Polish central bank hiked less than expected, forecasting slower growth and persistently high inflation through 2023. 😨
Also, in international news, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov preps for a tense encounter with global leaders at the G20 meeting in Indonesia. 😬
$GME (+15.06%) led today’s meme stock rally after announcing a 4:1 stock split after the bell yesterday. $AMC (+15.20%) and $BBBY (+21.70%) had great days as well. 📈
In crypto news, Voyager Digital’s troubles continue as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) launches a probe into the firm’s marketing of deposit accounts. Additionally, Crypto exchange Binance.US hired a former PayPal executive as CFO, and Celsius freed up $440 million worth of collateral. ₿
From a price perspective, BTC.X (+6.86%) and ETH.X (+7.43%) rallied as the space rebounded with stocks and other risk assets.
Other symbols active on the streams included: $EVFM (-6.01%), $BBIG (+6.60%), $LKNCY (+6.62%), $MARA (+24.07%), and $MULN (+4.90%). 🔥
Here are the closing prices:
| S&P 500 | 3,903 | +1.50% |
| Nasdaq | 11,621 | +2.28% |
| Russell 2000 | 1,770 | +2.43% |
| Dow Jones | 31,385 | +1.12% |
Boris Johnson, who became the U.K.’s Prime Minister in 2019, officially resigned today.
The announcement comes shortly after more than 50 government ministers and aides quit, as his remaining confidence and support evaporated.
His three-year term as Prime Minister has been riddled with controversy. Some examples include his slow response to the pandemic, accusations that he held several illegal parties during the coronavirus lockdowns, and a sex scandal involving one of his government appointments.
Johnson’s popularity has fallen steadily throughout his tenure and has only worsened amid the country’s cost of living crisis.
A few weeks ago, he narrowly survived a vote of no confidence, reiterating just how little support he had from lawmakers and the public.
Despite his own government members not trusting him, Johnson showed no intentions of resigning, stating, “…What we need to do now is come together as a government and a party.”
But, given this week’s historic string of resignations, he was left with little choice but to move aside and pave the way for change.
He will stay on until the Conservative Party selects a replacement from the country’s 350 or so Conservative lawmakers. Speculation about who will be chosen and what’s ahead for the country has already begun and will continue as this historic process unfolds.
Regardless of what’s next, we’ll keep you updated on all the news and implications for the U.K. and the global economy.
Earnings Recap
Levi Strauss ($LEVI) | EPS: $0.29 vs. $0.23 expected | Revenue: $1.47 billion vs. $1.43 billion expected | Link to Report
In addition to its second-quarter beat, the company reiterated its full-year guidance and increased its quarterly dividend by 20%. Shares are up 3.60% after hours.
WD-40 ($WDFC) | EPS: $1.07 vs. $1.28 expected | Revenue: $127.8 million vs. $142.8 million expected | Link to Report
Shares plummeted 9.21% after hours, as the company issued full-year 2022 revenue and profit guidance below analyst expectations.
Helen Of Troy ($HELE) | EPS: $2.41 vs. $2.00 expected | Revenue: $508.1 million vs. $474.2 million expected | Link to Report
The stock fell 8.91% today despite its current-quarter earnings/revenue beat, as investors focus on its full-year outlook.
Kura Sushi USA ($KRUS) rallied 7.32% today and extended gains after hours, up another 14.88%, after reporting strong earnings and providing full-year revenue guidance of $137 to $142 million.
Enservco ($ENSV) rose 10.29% after reporting Q4 revenue up 71% YoY and full-year financial results.
KalVista Pharmaceuticals ($KALV) jumped 9.69% after releasing results for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2022.
Want more EPS?? Check out Stocktwits’ earnings calendar! 📅
Bullets
Bullets From The Day:
💰 Construction software/fintech company raises $6.5m seed round, led by a16z. The 11-month-old startup, Adaptive, has raised $6.5 million from several high-profile investors. The company is setting out to give construction teams better tools to manage their back-office operations and is aiming for a broader release of its product later this year. Read more from TechCrunch.
🏘️ Mortgage rates see the largest decline since 2008. After topping 6% just a few weeks ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has dropped to an average of 5.30% in the steepest decline since the financial crisis. The drop comes as mortgage demand wanes due to unaffordability and Treasury yields back off their highs as recession fears grip Wall Street. CNN Business has more.
⛈️ Startups face harshest fundraising climate in a decade. The tech financing market has gone cold in 2022, especially for late-stage investments. As a result, more mature startups have to take a more defensive approach to increase their runways, while earlier-stage startups need to show an actual product/results to retain investor interest and raise the funds they need. More from CNBC.
👀 Top SoftBank exec steps back. As criticism mounts over SoftBank’s string of bad bets in the private and public markets, Rajeev Misra, who runs the firm’s Vision Fund, will be stepping back from his lead role in Vision Fund 2. He plans to launch an external multi-asset investment fund, reportedly raising $6 billion from Abu Dhabi’s state investment funds Mubadala and ADQ, as well as Royal Group. CNBC has more.
📒 Oil companies reverse asset write-downs. As the energy sector rebounds, some companies may see ‘paper improvements’ to their financials as they reassess the value of their assets from an accounting perspective. For example, Shell is looking to reverse several impairment charges it made during the first quarter, amounting to $3.5 to $4.5 billion in post-tax impact on its second-quarter earnings. Given the outlook for the energy sector, we’ll likely see more of this from other players in the quarters ahead. More from Oilprice.com.
Links
Links That Don’t Suck:
📈 Check out IBD’s interactive guide to investing in electric vehicles*
🦖 Meet Meraxes Giga, a ferocious dinosaur with teeny arms like T. Rex
👑 Casper king Philip Krim is getting into the insurance business
🎬 The Godfather star James Caan dies aged 82
✈️ Boeing CEO says planemaker could be forced to cancel 737 MAX 10 – aviation week
🥽 Meta nudges its big VR push another step away from the Facebook legacy
🛍️ Amazon bets on influencers to drive sales for Prime Day
🕵️ U.S. charges two homeland security workers in Chinese spying scheme
⚖️ U.S. jury convicts Theranos’ Sunny Balwani of fraud
✍️ Twitter begins testing ‘CoTweets’ to allow users to co-author tweets
🔭 New James Webb space telescope test image shows deepest yet field of sparkling galaxies
*this is a sponsored post