Stocks Fight for Gains Following Another Hot Inflation Report

Super Micro Stock Continues Wild Week With Massive Friday Swings

45 minutes ago

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) continued its wild week Friday as shares jumped in the first few minutes of trading before reversing course and moving sharply lower.

About halfway through Friday’s session, the stock was down 11% at $892, after rising as much as 7% in the opening minutes of trading. The stock, which has more than tripled since the start of the year, surged 14% to above $1,000 on Thursday amid anticipation of future gains driven by rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI).

Barclays analysts this week raised their price target for the stock to $961 from $691, citing Super Micro Computer’s position within the AI ecosystem and “strategic” partnerships with NVIDIA (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Intel (INTC).

Bank of America analysts initiated coverage this week with a “buy” rating, and also said they expect “this provider of server and storage solutions will be a beneficiary of AI-driven demand growth.”

–Naomi Buchanan

Coinbase Stock Jumps on Big Earnings Beat as Transaction Volume Grows

1 hr 16 min ago

Coinbase (COIN) shares jumped more than 15% to $191 on Friday after the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange reported quarterly earnings and revenue significantly above Wall Street expectations thanks to growth in transaction volumes.

The crypto exchange, which allows investors to buy, sell, receive, or hold digital assets, posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.04 per share, compared with a loss of $2.46 per share in last year’s corresponding quarter. Analysts had expected the company to report earnings of just 2 cents a share. Total revenue of nearly $954 million grew 41% on a sequential basis and also came in ahead of the consensus estimate, which Wall Street had pegged at $826 million.

The quarterly results received a boost from transaction revenue growing 64% from a year earlier on the back of excitement surrounding spot Bitcoin ETF approvals and expectations of improving macroeconomic conditions in 2024.

Since bottoming out in late December 2022, Coinbase shares have traded within an ascending channel, oscillating several times between the pattern’s upper and lower levels to establish key support and resistance areas. More recently, buyers stepped up to defend a pullback to the 50-day moving average, indicating growing bullish momentum in the stock.

Amid an earnings-driven price pop, keep an eye on the channel’s upper trendline currently sitting around $210, which investors may see as an area on the chart to book profits.

–Timothy Smith

DoorDash Stock Tumbles on Disappointing Earnings

2 hr 15 min ago

Shares of DoorDash (DASH) fell Friday morning after the food delivery company reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss despite beating revenue estimates. 

DoorDash reported a net loss of $154 million, or 39 cents per share, an improvement from last year’s $640 million loss but still bigger than analysts had forecast. Revenue increased 27% to $2.3 billion on a 23% increase in total orders. Sales got a boost from both more users—monthly active users reached an all-time high of 37 million in December—and higher order frequency. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $363 million, just slightly above the midpoint of its guided range of $320 million to $380 million. 

The company forecast first-quarter gross order value of between $18.5 million and $18.9 million, implying 19% growth at the higher end of the range. That’s a slowdown from the fourth quarter’s 22% increase. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to again fall within a range of $320 million to $380 million. 

The results were good, but not good enough for investors, who had driven the stock up nearly 90% in the 12 months leading up to Thursday’s earnings report. Shares were down 10% at $113.65 Friday morning.

Applied Materials Stock Pops On Earnings Beat Amid Advanced Chip Demand

3 hr 18 min ago

Shares in Applied Materials (AMAT) rose sharply Friday morning after the semiconductor equipment maker delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and provided a current-quarter outlook that topped analysts’ forecasts, underpinned by growing demand for advanced chips.

The Santa Clara, California-based company, whose customers include chip-industry bellwethers Intel (INTC) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSM), posted fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.13 per share on revenue of $6.71 billion. Both headline numbers came in comfortably above Wall Street’s expectations of $1.90 a share and sales of $6.48 billion.

Looking ahead at the fiscal second quarter ending in April, the company anticipates adjusted profit to come in between $1.79 and $2.15 a share, with the lower end of that guidance range matching the consensus view at $1.79 per share. Applied Materials’ midpoint sales forecast for the period of $6.5 billion also tops forecasts, which analysts had modeled at $6.34 billion.

Since a deep retracement to the 200-day moving average and lower portion of a multi-month ascending channel in late October, Applied Materials’ share price has trended steadily higher, with the stock climbing to a record close ahead of yesterday’s earnings report.

In the weeks ahead, keep an eye on the channel’s top trendline, which may turn into a key future support area on the chart during pullbacks before another potential move higher. 

–Timothy Smith

Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket

4 hr 1 min ago

Gains:

• The Trade Desk Inc. (TTD): Shares of the advertising technology company soared 18% after it beat revenue expectations in the fourth quarter and offered better-than-expected current-quarter guidance. 
• Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN): The cryptocurrency exchanges shared surged 14% to nearly a 2-year high after reporting a surprise profit of $1.04 per share in the fourth quarter. 
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT): Shares of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker jumped more than 8% after it topped Wall Street estimates with its fiscal first-quarter earnings and current-quarter guidance. 

Losses:

• Roku Inc. (ROKU): Shares plunged 17% after reporting a wider-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter. 
• Dropbox Inc. (DBX): Shares of the digital storage platform sank 14% after its first-quarter revenue forecast fell short of analyst estimates. 
• DoorDash Inc. (DASH): Shares of the meal delivery company fell 8% after it reported a wider quarterly loss than analysts had been expecting, overshadowing a revenue beat and $1.1 billion share buyback authorization. 

Stock Futures Slip After Stronger-Than-Expected PPI

4 hr 23 min ago

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4% in premarket trading on Friday.

S&P 500 futures were about 0.3% lower.

Nasdaq 100 futures gave up earlier gains to trade about in line with Thursday’s close.