Liveblog Archief woensdag 26 augustus 2020

TOP NEWS
• Amazon faces new antitrust challenge from Indian online sellers, say legal documents
A group of more than 2,000 online sellers has filed an antitrust case against Amazon in India, alleging the U.S. company favours some retailers whose online discounts drive independent vendors out of business, a legal filing seen by Reuters showed.
• Limited legal protection for COVID vaccine makers hampers EU deals
The European Union is offering only partial protection to vaccine makers against legal risks from side-effects of their potential COVID-19 shots, European officials said, in a move that is hampering deals and contrasts with U.S. policy.
• U.S. firms in Shanghai say WeChat ban could hit competitiveness, revenue -survey
U.S. companies based in the financial hub of Shanghai said Washington's planned ban on Chinese messaging app WeChat could badly hit their competitiveness and revenue should it apply to U.S. firms and citizens in China, a survey showed.
• Desktop Metal to go public through blank check company at $2.5 billion valuation
Desktop Metal said it has agreed to go public through a reverse merger with blank-check company Trine Acquisition, in a deal that values the metal 3D printing technology provider at $2.5 billion.​
• U.S. resumes oil and gas auctions with major New Mexico sale
The Trump administration will resume its oil and gas leasing program with a large sale of acreage in three states, ending a five-month pause due to the coronavirus pandemic and a crash in oil prices.


BEFORE THE BELL
Futures tied to the S&P 500 were little changed after bleak consumer confidence data provided a sobering view on the health of the economy, while investors held back ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech this week. Asian stocks were mostly in the green. European shares were majorly up as hopes of additional stimulus for Germany and France outweighed worries about rising COVID-19 cases in the continent. Spot gold slipped as the dollar gained. Oil prices fell.​


STOCKS TO WATCH
Results
• Nordstrom Inc (JWN). The company reported a bigger-than-expected loss on Tuesday, as the COVID-19 pandemic shut its stores for about half of the reported quarter and consumers stayed home with little need for designer clothes. Looking forward to the all-important winter holiday season, Nordstrom executives said the firm would join other retailers in "bringing in gift offerings before Thanksgiving." Nordstrom would continue to refine its marketing strategy and invest in top performing categories like home, active and wellness, they told investors on a post-earnings conference call. Nordstrom reported a net loss of $255 million, or $1.62 per share, compared with a profit of $141 million, or 90 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a loss of $1.48 per share. Total revenue fell 52% to $1.86 billion, missing Wall Street estimates of $2.38 billion.
• Salesforce.com Inc (CRM). The company on Tuesday raised its annual revenue forecast and beat estimates for quarterly results on coronavirus-spurred demand for its online business software that supports remote work and commerce. Salesforce now expects revenue between $20.7 billion and $20.8 billion in the fiscal year 2021, up from its previous forecast of $20 billion. Total revenue jumped about 29% to $5.15 billion in the second quarter from a year earlier, above analysts' expectation of $4.90 billion. Excluding items, the company earned a profit of $1.44 per share, which beat analysts' average estimate of $0.67 per share. Net income rose to $2.63 billion, or $2.85 per share, from $91 million, or $0.11 per share, a year earlier.
• Toll Brothers Inc (TOL). The U.S. luxury homebuilder reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, benefiting from record-low mortgage rates. Toll said its orders jumped 26.4% to 2,833 homes in the third quarter ended July 31, beating analysts' expectation of 2,051 homes. The company, which withdrew its full-year financial outlook in May, said it expects current quarter home deliveries between 2,400 and 2,550 units, above the Wall Street's estimate of 2,425 homes. Net income fell to $114.8 million, or 90 cents per share, in the third quarter, from $146.3 million, or $1 per share, a year earlier, but topped expectations of 71 cent per share. Revenue fell 6.5% to $1.65 billion.​

IPO
• Xpeng Inc (XPEV). The Chinese electric vehicle maker could raise as much as $1.275 billion from its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) after flagging that its shares would be priced at $15, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The price will be formally set on Wednesday in the United States but the indicative $15 is higher than the guidance of $11 to $13 the company gave when the transaction launched last week. The Alibaba-backed Xpeng will sell 85 million American Depository Shares (ADS), and at $13 would have raised $1.1 billion.​

In Other News
• Amazon.com Inc (AMZN). A group of more than 2,000 online sellers has filed an antitrust case against Amazon in India, alleging the U.S. company favours some retailers whose online discounts drive independent vendors out of business, a legal filing seen by Reuters showed. The case presents a new regulatory challenge for Amazon in India, where it has committed $6.5 billion in investment but is battling a complex regulatory environment. In the latest case, the All India Online Vendors Association, members of which sell goods on Amazon and Flipkart, allege Amazon engages in unfair business practices.​
• BlueCity Holdings Ltd (BLCT). The owner of China's biggest gay men dating app Blued said it had bought a Chinese lesbian dating app LESDO, marking the first ever deal within the country's LGBT market. "We can see the scale of existing lesbian apps are not big enough to meet the demand of a sizable market," BlueCity's founder and chief executive Ma Baoli said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday. The company declined to disclose financial details of the deal. Ma said one of his main focuses with the acquisition would be to win back customers who had left LESDO for other lesbian apps, adding that BlueCity would offer marketing guidance, financing, and algorithm support to boost LESDO's performance and image.
• Facebook Inc (FB). Thailand's digital minister vowed no relent in a crackdown on social media content deemed illegal and said it was unlikely Facebook would follow through on plans to challenge an order to block access to a group critical of the Thai monarchy. The "Royalist Marketplace" group, which had over 1 million members, was blocked within Thailand late on Monday after the digital ministry threatened legal action against Facebook under the country's Computer Crime Act. Facebook said it was compelled to comply and would mount a legal challenge in court.
• General Motors Co (GM) & Ford Motor Co (F). General Motors and Ford Motor said on Tuesday they are close to completing production of ventilators ordered by the Trump Administration in response to the surge in coronavirus cases, and are ramping down or exiting the operations. GM and medical equipment maker Ventec Life Systems are in the "home stretch" toward completing a contract to deliver 30,000 critical care ventilators by the end of August under a $489 million contract with the federal government, the automaker said. Ford has assembled about 47,000 of the 50,000 ventilators it agreed to supply to partner General Electric, Ford spokeswoman Rachel McCleery said. GE has a $336 million contract with the government.
• KKR & Co Inc (KKR). The Italian government has given approval to the U.S. investment firm to buy a minority stake in Telecom Italia's (TIM) secondary grid - the last-mile, copper and fibre network linking to customers' homes - daily La Repubblica reported. The move could be significant because it could pave the way to an Italian treasury-sponsored plan to create a single network champion in the country. Telecom Italia's board meeting is expected to approve the deal on Aug. 31.
• Super Micro Computer Inc (SMCI). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday that it has charged a computer server producer, Super Micro Computer and a former chief officer with prematurely recognizing revenue and understating expenses. The San Jose, California-based company and the former CFO , Howard Hideshima, "pushed employees to maximize end-of-quarter revenue, yet failed to devise and maintain sufficient internal accounting controls to accurately record revenue," the SEC order said. The agency said that resulted in the company's "improperly" and "prematurely" reporting of revenue, including "on goods sent to warehouses but not yet delivered to customers, shipping goods to customers prior to customer authorization, and shipping misassembled goods to customers."


INSIGHT
Framework review complete, Fed's Powell starts hard sell for higher inflation
After a nearly two-year review, U.S. Federal Reserve officials feel they've hit on a better way to meet their key goals of steady inflation and maximum employment. On Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell begins what may be the tougher task: convincing the public that the central bank can and will deliver in the wake of a pandemic that has arguably eroded trust in U.S. institutions and put a huge chunk of the labor force on the unemployment rolls.


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Autodesk Inc (ADSK). JPMorgan raises target price to $239 from $181, noting the significant free cash flow generated in the second quarter and signs of recovery in markets following reopening.
• Intuit Inc (INTU). RBC raises target price to $405 from $315, noting the company delivered impressive results for the fourth quarter with the largest beat vs. consensus in over two years on small and medium as well as consumer businesses.
• Lowe's Companies Inc (LOW). Jefferies raises target price to $205 from $193, citing the company's multi-year roll-out of tool rental that could could yield over $700 million in annual sales by F'25.
• Salesforce.com Inc (CRM). Jefferies raises target price to $285 from $235, following the company's strong second-quarter results.
• Urban Outfitters Inc (URBN). RBC raises target price to $22 from $17, citing impressive second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates and a better-than-feared second half outlook compared to retail peers.


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 Durable goods for July: Expected 4.3%; Prior 7.6%
0830 Durables ex-transport for July: Expected 2.0%; Prior 3.6%
0830 Durables ex-defense mm for July: Prior 9.5%
0830 Non-defense cap ex-air for July: Expected 1.9%; Prior 3.4%


COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
NetApp Inc (NTAP). Expected Q1 earnings of 41 cents per share


CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 Anaplan Inc (PLAN). Q2 earnings conference call
0900 HEICO Corp (HEI). Q3 earnings conference call
1100 Aon PLC (AON). Shareholders Meeting
1100 Toll Brothers Inc (TOL). Q3 earnings conference call
1630 Splunk Inc (SPLK). Q2 earnings conference call
1700 Elastic NV (ESTC). Q1 earnings conference call
1700 NetApp Inc (NTAP). Q1 earnings conference call
1700 Williams-Sonoma Inc (WSM). Q2 earnings conference call
2100 Bilibili Inc (BILI). Q2 earnings conference call


EXDIVIDENDS
Maxim Integrated Products Inc (MXIM). Amount $0.48
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (SMG). Amount $5.00
Steris plc (STE). Amount $0.40
Xylem Inc (XYL). Amount $0.26

GLOBAL TOP NEWS
Top U.S. and Chinese trade officials reaffirmed their commitment to a Phase 1 trade deal, which has seen China lagging on its obligations to buy American goods, giving a boost to financial markets on Tuesday.

First lady Melania Trump urged voters to re-elect her husband during a impassioned speech to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday that offered sympathy for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and a plea for racial understanding.

Two European patients are confirmed to have been re-infected with COVID-19, raising concerns about people's immunity to the coronavirus as the world struggles to tame the pandemic.


EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS
British drugmaker AstraZeneca has begun testing an antibody-based cocktail for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, adding to recent signs of progress on possible medical solutions to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The collapsed payments company Wirecard has let go more than half of its remaining staff in Germany and terminated the contracts of its management board members, its insolvency administrator said.

Credit Suisse could cut up to 500 jobs in its Swiss banking business as it seeks to generate 100 million Swiss francs in annual savings through a new digitally-focussed retail banking strategy reducing its branch footprint.​


TODAY'S COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENTS
AGFA Gevaert NV Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Ambu A/S Q3 2020 Earnings Call
ASR Nederland NV HY 2020 Earnings Release
AVEVA Group PLC Trading Statement Release
Bavarian Nordic A/S HY 2020 Earnings Call
Bergman & Beving AB Annual Shareholders Meeting
Edap Tms SA Q2 2020 Earnings Release
Ediliziacrobatica SpA Shareholders Meeting
Eiffage SA HY 2020 Earnings Release
Elekta AB (publ) Q1 2021 Earnings Release
French Connection Group PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Immofinanz AG HY 2020 Earnings Release
Internationella Engelska Skolan I Sverige Holdings II AB FY 2020 Earnings Call
Ion Beam Applications SA HY 2020 Earnings Call
Matica Technologies AG Annual Shareholders Meeting
Multiconsult ASA Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Nel ASA Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Omega Diagnostics Group PLC Annual Shareholders Meeting
Otrs AG Annual Shareholders Meeting
Pacifico Renewables Yield AG Annual Shareholders Meeting
PCI Biotech Holding ASA Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Polymetal International PLC HY 2020 Earnings Release
Provident Financial PLC HY 2020 Earnings Release
Scandi Standard AB (publ) Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Sonae SGPS SA Q2 2020 Earnings Release
Sydbank A/S Q2 2020 Earnings Release
Systemair AB Q1 2021 Earnings Release
Van Lanschot Kempen NV HY 2020 Earnings Call
Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe HY 2020 Earnings Call
Webstep ASA Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Willis Towers Watson PLC Shareholders Meeting​


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All times GMT)
0645 France Consumer Confidence for Aug: Expected 94; Prior 94
0800 Switzerland Investor Sentiment for Aug: Prior 42.4​