Stocks Moderate As Buyers Tire

One of the top stories in the market over the last 24 hours has been Intuitive Machines’, which trades under the ticker symbol $LUNR. 📻

The space exploration company’s Nova-C cargo moon lander known as “Odysseus” became the first privately developed spacecraft to land on the lunar surface. It was also the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on the moon in over 50 years. 🌝

Shares had absolutely blasted off in anticipation of this success, rising from just over $2 at the start of the year to over $13 earlier this week. Despite experiencing some profit-taking, the stock rose sharply yesterday after the news broke and continued the momentum in today’s trading session.

Investors celebrated, thinking the company had finally reached the “tipping point” in its history. But nobody could have predicted it would be a literal tipping point… 🤦

News broke after the bell that the moon lander had “tipped over sideways” but was “alive and well” on the lunar surface. CEO Stephen Altemus said the vehicle is believed to have caught one of its six landing feet during its final descent and tipped over “near or at our intended landing site.”

Speculation around the mission’s supposed success whirled today, given no photo images from the landing were circulated. And so far, their suspicions have been proven right. The company is still in contact with the lander and is working to obtain images soon, but much investor trust has already been lost in the process. 📡

$LUNR shares have begun a sharp descent in after hours, falling over 30% as investors and traders assess the situation. Once again, another promising investment opportunity has been unable to stick the landing. And in this case, we do mean a literal landing… 🦿

Message activity surged on the streams, pushing the stock to the second-most newly-watched stock on our platform today. That’ll likely persist as this story develops, so be sure to add the stock to your watchlist to stay current on all the action. 👀

The return of “left for dead” stocks continues as investors look for opportunities in the market beyond the “magnificent seven.” 🔍

Carvana is an excellent example of this turnaround story in action, with the stock posting its first-ever annual profit and catching several analyst upgrades. 💪

The online car retailer’s $450 million in net income during 2023 compared to a $1.59 billion loss in 2022. Management’s focus on cost-cutting is paying dividends, and it is currently working on step two of a three-step restructuring plan.

While management admitted the macroeconomic car-selling environment remains uncertain, it now expects to grow retail units sold in 2024. And with its total gross profit per unit more than doubling to $5,283 last quarter, improved unit economics should help it approach breakeven on an adjusted EBITDA basis. 🔺

Long story long, the stock was priced for bankruptcy, but the company actually turned things around. It’s still got a long road ahead of it, but “not dead” is a big improvement from imminent bankruptcy… And that is certainly reflected in $CVNA shares, which made a new cycle high and are now up 2,100% from their lows. 📈

We’ll see if it can continue, but the wild ride for Carvana bears certainly continued this week. 🤪

One of the perplexing things about markets is that sometimes headlines don’t necessarily match the reaction in markets. And that was certainly the case today in struggling media giant Warner Bros. Discovery. 📰

The Hollywood Reporter wrote an article boasting that Warner Bros became the first Hollywood conglomerate to turn a full-year streaming profit ($103 million).  

With a headline like that, you’d expect the stock to go gangbusters. Especially since major competitors like Disney have yet to reach that milestone, Warner Bros. must be doing something well, right??? 🤔

Well, not exactly. $WBD shares fell another 10% to their lowest level in about 15 years.

That’s likely because the broader story is that the company missed revenue and earnings estimates, with advertising taking a significant hit in 2023. Management also said there will be free cash flow headwinds in 2024 as its content spending increases, declining to offer guidance for the year.

It is not exactly the picture-perfect situation that initial headlines indicated. The truth is that the media landscape remains incredibly challenged, and those conglomerates with other businesses to offset their media operations will continue to outperform.

So, while we commend Warner Bros. streaming service Max for its profitability, the company has much bigger problems to deal with. And that’s why the market continues to sell its shares in the face of seemingly decent news. 😩