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Wildfires, smoke and air quality bring up the climate ETF discussion (00:35). GameStop (GME) slides after firing CEO, elevating Ryan Cohen to chairman slot (01:39). Affirm Holdings (AFRM) surges after Amazon Pay (AMZN) adds its Adaptive Checkout (04:55).
This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.
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A shakeup at GameStop. The CEO is out and Ryan Cohen is the executive chairman. Investors react and not in a positive way.
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Affirm Holdings gets a boost. The company says more merchants will offer it’s payment option through Amazon Pay.
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4D Molecular rallies after the company releases promising data in the treatment of cystic fibrosis
OUR TOP STORIES
Smoke from wildfires in Canada is blowing across the border and wreaking havoc on air quality.
At the current pace, government officials have said that Canada is on track to experience the worst wildfire season in its recorded history, with 9.4M acres already burned.
Wildfires out in Canada’s western provinces usually impact oil and gas production, but the blazes in the East have forced mining firms like Patriot Battery Metals to suspend operations.
It’s also derailing activity down the East Coast, in areas such as New York, which recorded the worst air quality of any city in the world on Wednesday. The haze even halted flights, postponed games and Broadway shows, altered school schedules, and prompted companies like Google to issue work-from-home orders.
The situation may put a spotlight on climate investing, though others say the bigger problem has to do with forest management.
In this article we’ve included a list of climate-related ETF’s.
GameStop (NYSE:GME) fell sharply in after-hours trading after the retailer disclosed that it fired the CEO and the board elected Ryan Cohen as executive chairman, effective immediately.
In addition to that news, GameStop (GME) reported Q1 revenue fell 10.3% to $1.24B to miss the consensus mark of $1.34B.
SG&A expenses fell to 27.9% of sales from 32.8% a year ago. GME also narrowed its quarterly loss to $50.5M from $157.9M last year.
On the balance sheet, GameStop (GME) ended the quarter with a cash position of $1.06B.
GameStop (GME) did not hold a conference call.
Premarket GameStep is down more than 18%.
Campbell Soup Company (CPB) also reported earnings Wednesday.
Campbell Soup (CPB) reported Q3 non-GAAP EPS of $0.68, edging past expectations of $0.65. The packaged food maker disclosed revenue of $2.2B, rising about 5% from last year and matching analysts’ projections.
CPB also reaffirmed its full-year forecast for net sales and adjusted EPS.
I spoke to Seeking Alpha analyst Daniel Jones about investors’ reaction to the results and his take on CPB.
(03:02)
Jones is the investing group leader of Crude Value Insights on Seeking Alpha.
Morgan Stanley has identified high-potential stocks across key sectors that exhibit strong pricing power amid declining inflation.
These companies should maintain or increase their prices, leading to improved profitability and market performance.
Morgan Stanley said that the companies have favorable market dynamics, competitive advantages, and market-leading positions that support their pricing power and potential for long-term growth,
This is a long list of companies so I won’t list each one.
However, a link to this article is in show notes. The companies are listed by sector and it includes the analysts notes about the company.
When you read the article you’ll see names like Spotify (SPOT), Baker Hughes (BKR), Lululemon (LULU), Vertex (VRTX) and WillScott Mobile (WSC).
Check it out with your Seeking Alpha premium account.
Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ:AFRM) jumped 14% in Wednesday morning trading after announcing that U.S. merchants offering Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Pay can now add its Adaptive Checkout feature as a payment option.
Adaptive Checkout offers bi-weekly and monthly pay-over-time options side-by-side at checkout.
Affirm ended Wednesday’s trading up 2.4%. Premarket AFRM is up 1.4%.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appeared on CNBC.
In the interview she cautioned that U.S. banks could be pressured by the weakening commercial real estate market and are likely preparing for difficulties ahead.
She noted a change in demand for office space that has come with the change in attitudes toward remote work.
Yellen said higher interest rates are also a factor.
However, she believes banks should be able to handle the pressure despite near-term pain.
4D Molecular Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FDMT) rallied 21% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company released promising interim data from a study for its gene therapy for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Just after market close, 4D said that interim data from a small study showed CF patients who were administered an aerosolized formulation of the therapy exhibited “meaningful improvement” in CF-related quality of life.
The company intends to present additional interim data at a CF medical conference in November.
In the ratings summary on Seeking Alpha, there’s a consensus. FDMT is a buy according to Seeking Alpha Analysts, Wall Street and the Quant rating.
Floor & Decor (NYSE:FND) on Wednesday said its Spartan Surfaces unit had acquired Salesmaster Flooring Solutions.
Salesmaster is a flooring and installation supplies distributor with 80 employees and is headquartered in Deer Park, New York.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal closed on Wednesday and is not expected to have a material impact on FND’s FQ2 results.
A couple events to look out for in our catalyst watch for the day. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) will hold an Investor Day event with updates on the bank’s strategy and growth plans. DLocal Limited (DLO) will also host an Investor Day event with presentations by the management team.
You can find a full list of catalysts for the week in our weekly catalyst watch article. A new article will be published tomorrow around 3 pm with all the catalysts for next week.
U.S. stocks on Wednesday ended mixed.
The Nasdaq (COMP.IND) posted its worst day since April 25, falling 1.3%.
The Dow (DJI) ended 0.3% higher. The S&P 500 (SP500) lost ground by 0.4%.
Of the 11 S&P sectors, six ended in positive territory.
The 10-year yield (US10Y) was up 9 basis points to 3.79% while the 2-year yield (US2Y) was up 3 basis points to 4.56%.
Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6:20 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are mixed. The Dow is down 0.1%, the S&P 500 is up 0.1% and the Nasdaq is up 0.2%.
On today’s economic calendar, at 8:30am initial jobless claims.
Read the full article here