Coffee With Greta: Powell Takes The Hot Seat
DJIA Futures: +13 (+0.04%)
SPX Futures: +6 (+0.1%)
NASDAQ Futures: +31 (+0.3%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are inching higher as traders await the Fed Chair’s first day of testimony on Capitol Hill.
Let’s get right to it!
Powell Testimony Day 1
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to deliver his semiannual testimony on monetary policy to Congress over the next two days.
Powell will first appear in the Senate, with testimony in the Senate Banking Comittee beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Traders are watching this testimony for any new insight into the bank’s plans for interest rates amid the stubborn inflation pressures in the U.S.
Powell will face questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle during this hearing.
The Fed’s next meeting is March 21-22 and CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows over 70% of traders expecting the bank to approve another 25 basis point rate hike.
Meta Planning More Layoffs
Meta Platforms (META) shares are rising 2.4% ahead of the open following a Bloomberg report that the company is planning more layoffs.
The social media giant is reportedly set to cut thousands of more jobs this week.
That’s on top of the 13% workforce reduction the company announced in November.
The Bloomberg report said directors and vice president at the company have been asked to compile lists of employees deemed expendable.
Rivian Drops After Bond-Selling Announcement
Rivian (RIVN) shares are dropping 5.8% in premarket trade after announcing a new plan to raise capital.
The electric automaker plans to sell $1.3 billion worth of bonds.
Initial investors will also get an option to buy an additional $200 million of the bonds.
Rivian said the capital raised from this offering will be used to help it launch its smaller R2 electric vehicle family.
Dick’s Rallies On Earnings Beat
Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) shares are up 6.1% ahead of the open after beating Q4 expectations on the top and bottom line.
Here’s how the sporting goods retailer’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:
- Adjusted EPS: $2.93 vs $2.88 expected
- Revenue: $3.60 billion vs $3.45 billion expected
Same-store sales jumped 5.3%, more than double analysts’ expectations for a 2.1% gain.
The company said it feels confident it has fixed the supply chain and inventory issues it faced throughout 2022.
The CEO said, “As planned, we continued to address targeted inventory overages, and as a result our inventory is in great shape as we start 2023.”
Dick’s forecast full-year EPS between $12.90 and $13.80, beating estimates of $12.
The company expects same-store sales growth for the full-year to be flat to up to 2%.
In Case You Missed It
- U.S. factory orders fell less than expected in January. The Commerce Department reported new orders for U.S.-manufactured goods fell 1.6% at the start of 2023. That was better than expectations for a 1.8% decline but a reversal from the 1.7% increase in December. The drop was due to a plunge in orders for Boeing (BA) planes, which drove commercial aircraft orders down 55%. Most other manufacturing categories saw an increase in orders. Excluding transportation, factory orders rose 1.2%.