The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 stocks closed at record highs on Monday amid fluctuations in technology stocks, while investors awaited the release of multiple financial reports.
The Nasdaq rose 92.93 points, or 0.7%, to 13635.99 points at the end of the volatile session. The index jumped 1.4% early in the day, then dropped 1.3% and then recovered. At the same time, there were no clear catalysts for such dynamics of the index.
The S&P 500 added 13.89 points, or 0.4%, to 3855.36 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.98 points, or 0.1%, to 30960.00 points. Investors are worried about disruptions in the supply of Covid-19 vaccines. Pharmaceutical giant Merck has announced that it is ending work on a Covid-19 vaccine due to disappointing test results. Thus, a major participant dropped out of the race to create an effective vaccine. Meanwhile, its competitor, AstraZeneca, warned on Friday that shipments of its vaccine to the European Union would fall short of forecast.
Vaccination problems and the spread of new strains of coronavirus have contributed to the recent rally in technology stocks. Tech corporations should benefit from this situation, as companies and employees who have switched to telecommuting are increasingly using digital technology.
Corporate News
Tech stocks were volatile. Apple shares gained 2.8%. Shares of data scientist Palantir Technologies, which is due to present its software on Tuesday, jumped 11.0% after posting a 21.0% gain throughout the day.
Twitter and Etsy were down 0.5% and 2.2%, respectively, while rallying in early trading. Among the outsiders in the United States were also shares of financial and oil and gas companies. Chevron lost 0.9%, Goldman Sachs – 2.2%, which affected the DJIA.
Meanwhile, shares of Kimberly Clark, a maker of Kleenex wipes and Huggies diapers, rose 3.3% after it forecast net sales to rise in 2021. It also raised its quarterly dividend and announced a new $ 5 billion share buyback program. Shares of special-purpose M&A firm TS Innovation Acquisitions, part of the Tishman Speyer real estate group, jumped 44.0%.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell from 1.090% on Friday to 1.038%.
Today Top Movers
Adamas Pharma (ADMS), a drug manufacturer company, soared about 15.35% at $5.86 in pre-market trading Tuesday. The FDA decision on the expanded use of Adamas Pharma’s lead drug GOCOVRI is expected on February 1, 2021.
Arcimoto Inc (FUV) share price jumped 2.29% to $21.85 during the early morning trading session on Tuesday after the company revealed that it has reached an agreement to acquire Tilting Motor Works.
US Well Services Inc (USWS) stock ascended 13.08% at $1.10 in the pre-market trading today after receiving notice from the Nasdaq stock market that it has regained compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2).
Phunware Inc (PHUN) gained over 21.37% at $1.76 in pre-market trading as Today Phunware COO Randall Crowder will be presenting at the Proactive Investors One2One Investor Forum about the company’s 2021 roadmap for the commercial launch of its blockchain-enabled customer data platform and mobile loyalty ecosystem.
Top Upgrades & Downgrades
Goldman Sachs turned bullish on DraftKings Inc. (DKNG), upgrading the stock to “Buy” and assigning a $65.0 price target, representing a potential upside of 26.73% from Monday’s close.
FVCBankcorp Inc. (FVCB) has won the favor of Piper Sandler’s equity research team. The firm upgraded the shares from Neutral to Overweight and moved their price target to $19.0, suggesting 20.03% additional upside for the stock.
Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL) received an upgrade from analysts at Berenberg, who also set their one-year price target on the stock to $76.0. They changed their rating on CL to Hold from Sell in a recently issued research note.
Earlier Tuesday BMO Capital reduced its rating on Sonoco Products Company (SON) stock to Market Perform from Outperform and assigned the price target to $65.
RBC Capital analysts reduced their investment ratings, saying in research reports covered by the media that it’s rating for BlackBerry Limited (BB) has been changed to Underperform from Sector Perform.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Delek US Holdings Inc. (DK)’s stock to Sell from Neutral Tuesday.
Latest Insider Activity
Facebook Inc. (FB) COB and CEO Zuckerberg Mark announced the sale of shares taking place on Jan 22 at $275.79 for some 55,869 shares. The total came to more than $15.41 million.
Twitter Inc. (TWTR) Engineering Lead Montano Michael sold on Jan 20 a total 664,770 shares at $46.23 on average. The insider’s sale generated proceeds of almost $0.1 million.
The Blackstone Group Inc. (BX) 10% Owner Blackstone BDC Holdings LLC declared the purchase of shares taking place on Jan 07 at $25.00 for some 997,940 shares. The transaction amount was around $24.95 million.
Arcadia Biosciences Inc. (RKDA) Chief Executive Officer Plavan Matthew T bought on Aug 03 a total of 14,285 shares at $3.16 on average. The purchase cost the insider an estimated $1,849.
Important Earnings
Top US earnings releases scheduled for today include General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). It will announce its Dec 2020 financial results. The company is expected to report earnings of $0.09 per share from revenues of $21.83B in the three-month period.
Analysts expect Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) to report a net income (adjusted) of $0.47 per share when the bank releases its quarterly results shortly. Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Dec 2020 is predicted to come in at $3.02B.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), due to announce earnings after the market closes today, is expected to report earnings of $1.64 per share from revenues of $40.18B recently concluded three-month period.
