The markets have opened lower today, amidst weak economic numbers in the U.S. Data shows that the U.S GDP dropped by 32% in the last quarter. The number of jobless people also shot up indicating a weakening of the labor markets According to the Commerce Department, there was a spike in the country’s jobless numbers in the past week, indicating that the economy is slowing down again especially in the Western and Southern States. The mood is further dampened by the Federal Reserve’s observation that the increasing numbers of coronavirus cases could slow down the rate of economic recovery. Nonetheless, there are stocks that are performing well in the current environment driven mainly by earnings. Some of the stocks that are doing well this morning and have been performing well since early morning. Some of the early morning top performers are as below:
Qualcomm Incorporated [NASDAQ: QCOM]
QUALCOMM has been one of the top performers in early morning trading. The stock’s strong performance follows the company’s announcement that it had entered into a $1.8 billion licensing deal with Huawei. The terms of the agreement include licensing rights to some Huawei patents. Through the deal, Qualcomm expects to make about $1.8 billion and the deal will start on January 1st. Besides news on the Huawei deal, the company offered guidance for its Q4 earnings. It stated that it expects revenues of between $5.5 billion and $6.3 billion in Q4. It also added that it expects an EPS of between $1.05 and $1.25. The results also touched on its 5G rollout stating that it was starting to realize benefits from the investment and that it was fully embracing the challenges that 5G presents.
Apache Corporation [NASDAQ: APA]
Apache Corporation is another big gainer this morning and has been gaining from the early morning. Its strong upside momentum comes after it announced strong Q2 results. The company reported that it had a diluted EPS of $1.02 and a loss of $218 million. The company’s CEO stated that its offshore exploration program was a success. The company also announced that it had made a major discovery at Kwaakwasi-1, and more success in its block-58.
Hologic Inc [NASDAQ: HOLX]
Hologic Inc is another top performer this morning and has been in the green since pre-market. This comes after the company announced better than expected Q3 results. The company announced that its revenues grew by 8% to hit $822.9 million, or an EPS of $0.75. The company stated that the strong performance was driven by increased demand for its COVID-19 test kits. It is for the same reason that the company expects strong performance in the coming quarters.
