An Airbnb logo displayed on a smartphone and a planisphere world map displayed on a personal computer are seen in L’Aquila, Italy, on september 9th, 2023.
Lorenzo Di Cola | Nurphoto | Getty Images
10 things to watch Friday, Feb. 14
— Today’s newsletter is written by Director of Portfolio Analysis Jeff Marks.
1. Wall Street is tracking for a lower open following a strong rally in the prior session. Stocks got a boost Thursday after learning that President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs won’t take effect immediately. The Nasdaq enters Friday up more than 2% week to date. The S&P 500 and Dow are up 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively.
2. January retail sales came in much weaker than expected, falling 0.9% month over month compared to estimates of a 0.2% decline. Excluding autos and gas, retail sales dropped 0.5% versus a 0.3% increase expected. Positive revisions for December make the numbers look less bad, though.
3. Club name Palo Alto Networks reported a good quarter Thursday night, but it wasn’t enough to prevent profit-taking in the stock. Its “platformization” strategy is leading to larger deals, and the cybersecurity company also provided a strong multiyear free cash flow outlook.
4. Airbnb shares are surging after a big fourth quarter beat and strong guidance. The company is exploring new verticals. Baird upgraded the stock to a buy-equivalent outperform, saying its first quarter will be the low-water mark for growth and margins this year. Goldman Sachs went to neutral from sell.
5. Shares of Coinbase dipped despite a better-than-expected fourth quarter. Oppenheimer says Coinbase has taken market share from Robinhood and upped its price target to $388 a share from $334. It also reiterated its outperform rating on the stock.
6. Morgan Stanley downgraded California-based utility PG&E after the quarter to a sell-equivalent rating from equal weight. Analysts argued the fire risks are too great to stay invested.
7. Club name Wells Fargo got another consent order terminated tied to its scandals under previous leadership. That is the 10th consent order closed by regulators since 2019, the year that CEO Charlie Scharf took over to fix the once-troubled bank. We’re still waiting on the Federal Reserve-imposed asset cap to be lifted.
8. DraftKings beat expectations on adjusted earnings per share despite customer-friendly sport outcomes. The company raised the midpoint of its 2025 revenue guidance due to enhancements to its live-betting offering. Its adjusted EBITDA guidance was unchanged.
9. A bunch of price target increases on Club stock GE Healthcare after a strong quarter and guide on Thursday. Mizuho went to $110 a share from $105. Jefferies went to $110 from $103. We also raised our PT in response to the print.
10. Applied Materials shares are lower after providing a softer-than-expected forecast due to the U.S. government’s restrictions on exports to China. The maker of equipment used in semiconductor production expects a roughly $400 million hit to sales this year.
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