Macro Focus
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 48 points to 19,768.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell
6 points to 2,268.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 16.50 points to 5,132.00.
Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.76 percent to trade at $57.23 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures
rose 0.48 percent to trade at $54.14 a barrel.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged, while the Bank of England on Thursday lefts its benchmark
interest rate unchanged.
Initial Jobless Claims for Jan 27 246.0K vs 250.0K Est; Prior 259.0K Continuing Claims for Jan 20 2.06M vs 2.06M Est; Prior
2.10M
- The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
- Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
BZ News Desk Focus
-
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) Reports Q4 EPS
$1.41 vs $1.31 Est., Sales $8.629B vs $8.51B Est.
-
Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) Reports Q4
Adj EPS $0.75 vs $$0.72 Est, Sales $768M vs $759.54M Est
-
Qorvo (NASDAQ: QRVO) Reports Q3 Adj EPS
$1.35 vs $1.26 Est, Adj Revenue $825.4M vs $821.3M Est
-
Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS) Reports Q3
EPS $1.87 vs. Est. $1.62, Rev. $523M vs. Est. $495M
-
Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) Reports Q4
Adj. EPS $0.30 vs $0.29 Est., Sales $2.191B vs $2.16B Est.
-
Merck (NYSE: MRK) Reports (NYSE: MRK) Q4 Adj. EPS $0.89, Inline, Sales $10.1B vs $10.22B Est.
-
Shutterfly (NASDAQ: SFLY) Reports Q4
EPS $2.63 vs $2.84 Est, Revenue $561.2M vs $583.8M Est
-
Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) Reports Q1 Adj. EPS
$1.22 vs $1.17 Est., Sales $3.21B vs $3.25B Est.
-
Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) Reports Q4 Adj.
EPS $1.10 vs $1.12 Est., Sales Ex Excise Taxes $7B vs $6.67B Est.
Sell-Side Themes
Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage on several healthcare names, with Trevena (NASDAQ: TRVN), Alnylam (NASDAQ: ALNY) and Achillion (NASDAQ: ACHN) getting Buy ratings.
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
- Baird downgraded CVS Health (NYSE: CVS)
to Neutral.
- Argus downgraded United Rentals (NYSE: URI) to Hold.
- Bank of America upgraded US Steel (NYSE: X) to Buy.
- Guggenheim upgraded Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) to Buy.
Deal Talk
Terry Lundgren, who is stepping down as Macy's (NYSE: M) CEO
later this quarter, is trying to avoid an ugly board shakeup that could tarnish his 13-year legacy and turn the largest U.S.
department store into a battleground littered with discarded top brass, The New York Post has learned. A partner at a
private equity firm told The Post that he’d been contacted about a Macy’s sale by a real estate investor — while other industry
sources close to the situation say they, too, have had similar discussions.
Reckitt Benckiser Group confirmed to Reuters it's in talks to acquire Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE: MJN) for $90 per share in cash or approximately $16.7 billion. This
confirmed an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal.
Shares of National Oilwell (NYSE: NOV)
spiked as high as $39.68 as a report from Activist Insights stated that Pershing Square could be taking a new position in the
manufacturer of products used in oil and gas drilling. The company later stated it has no information regarding an activist
position. Jim Cramer tweeted "$NOV screaming. I am on record from my Deal Economy speech that this company will be acquired by
$BHI-GE."
Air Methods (NASDAQ: AIRM) is exploring
a potential sale, according to sources as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The company has hired bankers to review potential
buyers, sources said. Activist investor Voce Capital Management LLC, has been pressuring the company to formulate a plan to boost
Air Method's share price.
In The News
President Trump urged Senate
Republicans to make a major change to the chamber's voting rules if his Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, amid early signs the
two parties were headed for a major showdown.
Trump suggested Wednesday he could back out of an agreement with Australia to take 1,250 refugees, calling it a “dumb deal!” in
a Twitter post. The social-media post came four days after Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
had a combative phone call about the status of the refugee agreement. The discussion devolved from there, according to people
familiar with the call.
While none of these border taxes have officially been implemented, U.S. companies that rely heavily on imported goods are
certainly concerned about the potential for costs to skyrocket. Supporters of new border taxes argue that these cost increases will
be offset by a stronger dollar as the economies of U.S. trade partners suffer the consequences of the border taxes. However, many
economists question
this assumption.
Blogosphere
Back in 2011, companies launched a new marketing tactic of teasing their Super Bowl ads. But that strategy — considered bizarre
at the time — is no longer enough. Now, it’s about
meta-marketing.
Does seasonality impact quarterly unit sales statistics of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhones? Benzinga looked at unit iPhones
sales during the different quarters of the year since 2008.
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