Pre-Market overzicht Wall Street (nieuws)

TOP NEWS
• US Congress scrambles to pass stopgap bill to avert government shutdown
The U.S. Senate on Thursday will aim to approve a stopgap measure keeping the federal government funded through early March, averting a partial shutdown that would begin in less than two days if Congress fails to act.

• Humana sees higher-than-expected medical costs in fourth quarter
Humana said it sees medical costs to be higher than previously expected in the fourth quarter due to increased demand for medical services, sending its shares down in premarket trading.

• Intel gains boost in battle against EU antitrust fine
U.S. chipmaker Intel's fight against a 1.06 billion euro EU antitrust fine was boosted by an adviser to Europe's top court finding EU regulators at fault on their economic analysis.

• EU sends information request to 17 tech firms including Amazon, Apple, Meta
The European Commission said it had send requests for information under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) to 17 tech companies that it regards as very large online platforms (VLOP) and search engines.

• Meta's Sheryl Sandberg to exit board after 12 years
Meta Platforms' former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg plans to step down from her position on the company's board of directors after her term ends in May, she said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

BEFORE THE BELL
Wall Street futures ticked up with futures tracking the Nasdaq getting a lift from TMSC’s upbeat earnings that boosted chip stocks. Weekly jobless claims and housing starts data are expected later in the day. In Europe, stock indexes rose on upbeat corporate earnings, as markets awaited minutes of ECB's December meeting. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended almost flat, due to investor caution about recent gains in the index that prompted stock selling and Chinese stocks recovered to close higher as several large-cap ETF’s saw trading spike indicating support from state-backed funds. Softening dollar and the widening Middle East conflict raised gold’s appeal. Meanwhile, IEA and OPEC's strong demand forecast for 2024 boosted oil prices.

\STOCKS TO WATCH

Results
• Birkenstock Holding Plc: The German luxury footwear maker forecast annual sales above analysts' estimates, buoyed by higher pricing and strong demand for its sandals and clogs, but warned margins could come under pressure from investments to expand globally. Sales through its own website and stores jumped 29% during the fourth quarter and accounted for about 40% of total 2023 revenue. Quarterly revenue rose 16.5% to 374.54 million euros, topping market expectations of 357.39 million euros, according to LSEG data. But adjusted profit per share of 0.14 euros missed estimates of 0.17 euros. Sales in the Americas region jumped 30% to 187.24 million euros during the fourth quarter and the company also highlighted China and India as key growth drivers. Birkenstock forecast fiscal 2024 revenue to be between 1.74 billion euros and 1.76 billion euros, compared to analysts' expectations of 1.72 billion euros.

• Discover Financial Services: The digital bank reported a 62% fall in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the lender set aside more rainy-day funds to cover loans that could sour in a tough economy. It provisioned $1.91 billion for credit losses in the quarter, higher than the $883 million a year prior. However, the company posted a 13% growth in its quarterly net interest income, the difference between what it makes on loans and pays out on deposits. Its total operating expenses rose 19% to $1.78 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Discover's net income fell to $388 million, or $1.54 per share, from $1.03 billion, or $3.74 per share, a year earlier.

• Humana Inc: The company said it sees medical costs to be higher than previously expected in the fourth quarter due to increased demand for medical services. The higher-than-anticipated cost trends are expected to result in adjusted insurance segment benefit ratio of about 91.4% in the fourth quarter 2023, verses previous expectation of 89.5%, the company said.

• Kinder Morgan Inc: The pipeline and terminal operator on Wednesday posted a lower-than-expected profit for the fourth quarter, as higher interest expenses and weakness in the natural gas pipeline segment hurt margins during the period. The company earned a profit of 28 cents per share on an adjusted basis for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of 30 cents per share, according to LSEG data. The reported quarter was pressured by weakness in the carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation segment, which was hit by lower prices of natural gas liquids and declining CO2 volumes. It's adjusted core profit from the natural gas pipeline segment was down to $1.33 billion in the October-December quarter, from $1.35 billion last year. "Despite the decline versus last quarter, we're still confident in our ability to spend at the high end of the $1 billion to $2 billion per year discretionary capex range for the next few years," CEO Kimberly Dang said. The company raised its adjusted core profit guidance for 2024 to $1.22 per share from its previous forecast of $1.21 per share, on the inclusion of NextEra Energy Partners' STX Midstream assets, following its acquisition.

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd: The Taiwanese chipmaker projected more than 20% growth in 2024 revenue on booming demand for high-end chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications even as the broader industry deals with weak smartphone and electric vehicle sales. The company said at an earnings conference that AI represented a major opportunity. "We are a key enabler for AI applications. So far today, everything you saw for AI comes from TSMC," CEO C.C. Wei said at the conference, after the company reported a fourth quarter net profit that beat market expectations. It forecast capital spending at $28-$32 billion for this year, in line with 2023. It posted a 19% drop in net profit for the October-December quarter to T$238.7 billion from a particularly strong year-earlier quarter. The profit, though, beat a T$226.4 billion LSEG SmartEstimate.

Deal Of The Day
• LiveRamp Holdings Inc: The software company which helps match up customer datasets for brands, advertisers and retailers told Reuters on Wednesday it has agreed to acquire marketing data startup Habu for $200 million in cash and stock. The deal will enable their clients to share customer data more easily with their business partners, including advertisers and other stores. "Habu is well known in the industry for building a really simple lightweight application layer that makes data even easier to use. We are going to ingest that and adopt it across our much larger client base and make things even easier for them to utilize," LiveRamp CEO Scott Howe said in an interview. LiveRamp will pay approximately $170 million in cash and $30 million in LiveRamp stock for Habu. The deal is expected to be completed during the March quarter, LiveRamp said. The company expects Habu to deliver approximately $18 million in revenue in fiscal year 2025.

Moves
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co: The company named Stellantis executive Mark Stewart as its CEO, who will succeed long-time top boss Richard Kramer. During his tenure at Stellantis, Stewart led the brand's EV transformation in North America. Elliott did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Kramer, who previously announced that he would retire after leading the tire manufacturer for 14 years, will continue to serve Goodyear in an advisory capacity.

• Meta Platforms Inc: The company's former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg plans to step down from her position on the board of directors after her term ends in May, she said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "Meta business is strong and well-positioned for the future, so this feels like the right time to step away," Sandberg said in the post, adding that she will serve as an adviser to the company. Responding to Sandberg, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he looks forward to "a new chapter together". Sandberg's decision came after 12 years on the board. She was also the company's chief operating officer for more than 14 years until 2022.

• Target Corp: The company said its finance chief Michael Fiddelke was stepping down from the role and has been named chief operating officer, effective Feb. 4. Until his replacement is named, Fiddelke will continue to serve as the company's CFO, it added. Fiddelke, who has been Target's finance chief since November 2019, replaces John Mulligan, who announced his plans to retire in October. Target also announced the upcoming retirement of its chief legal and compliance officer Don Liu, as well as a rejig in the leadership of its merchandising department.

In Other News
• Alphabet Inc: Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees to expect more job cuts at the Alphabet-owned this year, The Verge reported on Wednesday, citing an internal memo. Pichai said in the memo that the layoffs this year were focused on removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas, according to the report. "These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year's reductions, and will not touch every team," Pichai informed all employees in the memo. A Google representative confirmed to Reuters that an email was sent to all employees, but refused to disclose further contents of the memo.

• Amazon.com Inc & Apple Inc: The European Commission said it had send requests for information under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) to 17 tech companies that it regards as very large online platforms (VLOP) and search engines. It said it contacted AliExpress, Amazon's Amazon Store, Apple's AppStore, Booking.com, Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Alphabet's Google Search, Google Play, Google Maps and Google Shopping, Microsoft's LinkedIn and Bing, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and Zalando. The EU asked the companies to provide more information by February 9 on measures they have taken to give researchers access to data that could be relevant to the upcoming EU and national elections as well as countering illegal content and goods sold online.

• Barclays Plc: The bank's CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan is looking to use the lender's first investor day in a decade to show shareholders it can replicate the success of its investment bank across other divisions to create a stronger, more balanced lender. "...the investment bank has been successful but it's about 60% of the bank, which is one of the things that I think dampens the valuation," Venkat told delegates at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal at the World Economic Forum in Davos. While its transatlantic investment bank has performed in recent quarters, the unit's cost of capital and volatility of returns has spooked some investors, sparking debate on whether Barclays could reduce its overall risk and improve its share price by paring the investment banking business.

• BHP Group Ltd: The world's biggest listed miner said it was reassessing the value of its nickel operations after a price slump, in a move that could lead to writedowns amid an oversupply of the metal used in electric vehicle batteries. The company said it was looking at options to mitigate the impacts of the sharp fall in nickel prices and that it would offer more details at its half-year results on Feb. 20. "The nickel industry is undergoing a number of structural changes and is at a cyclical low in realised pricing," it said in quarterly production report. Elsewhere, BHP reported a small 2.2% drop in second-quarter iron ore production that was in line with analyst forecasts as it ties in its rail line to a central production hub in the Pilbara region.

• Boeing Co: India's Akasa Air said it has ordered 150 Boeing MAX narrowbody planes, showcasing its confidence in the troubled planemaker as the budget carrier seeks to fly to more destinations at home and abroad. This is the first major order announcement for Boeing's MAX jetliner programme since a mid-air cabin panel blowout in the United States early this month. Akasa's order for 737 MAX 10 and MAX 8-200 does not include the MAX 9 version, which has been largely grounded over the Alaska Airlines cabin panel blowout incident.

• BP Plc: The British oil company and Chinese state oil major Sinopec signed a memorandum of understanding at the World Economic Forum in Davos to strengthen cooperation in areas including fuel sales, oil and gas trading, and upstream activities, according to a post on Sinopec's Weibo account. The two companies will also explore potential cooperation in low carbon sectors such as new energy vehicle (EV) charging. BP already operates fuel stations in China through joint ventures with Sinopec and Chinese state-owned oil major China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).

• Citigroup Inc: The Wall Street bank is planning to lay off around 20 equity researchers in Asia Pacific as part of its global overhaul, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. Two researchers in Hong Kong are going to be impacted with the rest of the headcount reduction likely to take place in Japan, Australia and Korea, the person said. The cuts are going to make a small dent in the bank's regional research workforce where it has several hundred employees based in multiple markets, according to the source. The U.S. bank declined to comment.

• Intel Corporation: The chipmaker fight against a 1.06 billion euro EU antitrust fine was boosted by an adviser to Europe's top court finding EU regulators at fault on their economic analysis. "The court should confirm that the Commission erred in applying the AEC test with respect to HP and Lenovo," said Laila Medina, Advocate General at the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The CJEU, which will rule in the coming months, follows the majority of such recommendations.

• Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund: Investor interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters has held steady despite a backlash from conservative U.S. politicians, according to the CEO of the global investment manager. Corporate clients, customers and employees remain concerned about issues like climate change, and in response, companies continue to post "stewardship" sections on their websites, Nuveen CEO Jose Minaya told the Reuters Global Markets Forum (GMF) in an interview in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. Minaya said Nuveen has seen increased demand for investments in areas like wind and solar energy, and has embraced the shift. As an investment firm, he said, "you can get higher returns because these aren't areas that have tremendous access to capital."

• PG&E Corp: The administration of President Joe Biden has finalized $1.1 billion in credits aimed to help keep open the company's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California, the Department of Energy said on Wednesday. The first payment of awards, for Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear plant, is scheduled for 2025. Diablo's two reactors, which the Energy Department said provide 9% of California's power generation, had been slated to shut in 2024 and 2025. The $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit Program was funded by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

• Tesla Inc: The U.S. automaker's China unit is to launch a nationwide tour to showcase its flagship Cybertruck pickup in its second-largest market, the company said on Chinese social media messaging site Wechat. Unlike in the United States, pickups have been a niche product in China where many city governments, including Beijing, do not allow them to enter downtown areas. The company did not give dates.

ANALYSIS
FedEx Express revamp hangs on fate of USPS, pilot talks
FedEx Corp is waging financial battles on two fronts. The delivery giant wants a more profitable contract with the U.S. Postal Service and is seeking an elusive labor deal with its pilots.

ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Charles Schwab Corp: KBW cuts rating to market perform from outperform and reduces target price to $70 from $75, noting the management’s cautious tone on near-term cash trends.

• Cummins Inc: JPMorgan cuts target price to $245 from $255, expecting headwind to sales in second half of 2024.

• Masonite International Corp: JPMorgan raises target price to $120 from $115, citing the company’s recent acquisitions and strategy will likely improve margins.

• Meta Platforms Inc: Bernstein raises target price to $435 from $375, citing several positive tailwinds to revenue growth.

• Palo Alto Networks Inc: Bernstein initiates coverage with outperform rating and target price of $402, referring to products’ strong performance and well-established customer base.

ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 Building permits number for Dec: Expected 1.480 mln; Prior 1.467 mln
0830 Building permits change mm for Dec: Prior -2.1%
0830 Housing starts number for Dec: Expected 1.426 mln; Prior 1.560 mln
0830 Housing starts change mm for Dec: Prior 14.8%
0830 Initial jobless claims: Expected 207,000; Prior 202,000
0830 Jobless claims 4-week average: Prior 207,750
0830 Continued jobless claims: Expected 1.845 mln; Prior 1.834 mln

COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
J B Hunt Transport Services Inc: Expected Q4 earnings of $1.75 per share
PPG Industries Inc: Expected Q4 earnings of $1.50 per share

CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0800 Discover Financial Services: Q4 earnings conference call
0800 Truist Financial Corp: Q4 earnings conference call
0900 KeyCorp: Q4 earnings conference call
0900 Northern Trust Corp: Q4 earnings conference call
1000 Fastenal Co: Q4 earnings conference call
1000 M&T Bank Corp: Q4 earnings conference call
1100 Intuit Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1200 Micron Technology Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1700 Costco Wholesale Corp: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1700 J B Hunt Transport Services Inc: Q4 earnings conference call

EX-DIVIDENDS
General Dynamics Corp: Amount $1.32
Pentair PLC: Amount $0.23
Procter & Gamble Co: Amount $0.94
Progressive Corp: Amount $0.1
Revvity Inc: Amount $0.07
Zoetis Inc: Amount $0.43