- Wall Street in green at the start of the session
- US100 remains above an important resistance point
- Workday surges after results, Ross Stores and Intuit in the background
US markets open Friday's cash session higher. Nasdaq is trending above 50 day SMA, while the S&P500 is adding 0.49%. Russell 2000 is up also more than 1%. Investor attention is fully focused on Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. It might be make or break moment for markets.
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Current volatility observed on Wall Street. Source: xStation
Breakdown of the S&P 500 index by sectors. Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P
The Nasdaq-100 index, represented by the US100 contract, is trying to recover yesterday's losses. It managed to break above the 50-day SMA. For today's session, the 50-day SMA and the 61.8 Fibonacci retracement will remain as support. The resistance remains at yesterday's session high of 20028; if it breaks through, the next resistance will be the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement at 20208. RSI continues its bullish divergence and is slowly approaching overbought levels. On the MACD, a slight cooling is visible with a still bullish divergence. It's worth looking for a bearish divergence on the MACD indicator. Source: xStation 5
Company News:
- Intuit (INTU.US) reported strong fourth-quarter results that beat expectations, but its shares dipped 0.8% in premarket trading due to recalibrated long-term growth expectations. The company's Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.99 surpassed the estimated $1.85, while revenue of $3.18 billion exceeded the expected $3.09 billion. Intuit provided a robust full-year 2025 outlook with adjusted EPS of $19.16 to $19.36 on revenue of $18.16 billion to $18.35 billion. The Small Business and Self-Employed Group segment showed particularly strong performance. Despite positive results, analysts noted that the debate around Intuit's slightly lower long-term guidance model without a long-term margin commitment could impact the stock.
FOURTH QUARTER 2024 RESULTS
- Adjusted EPS: $1.99 vs $1.85 estimate
- Revenue: $3.18 billion vs $3.09 billion estimate
- Small Business and Self-Employed Group revenue: $2.6 billion vs $2.5 billion estimate
- Credit Karma revenue: $485 million vs $439.7 million estimate
FISCAL YEAR 2025 FORECAST
- Adjusted EPS: $19.16 to $19.36
- Revenue: $18.16 billion to $18.35 billion
- Small Business and Self-Employed Group revenue growth: +16% to +17%
- Consumer Group revenue growth: +7% to +8%
- Workday (WDAY.US) shares surged up to 13% in premarket trading after the software company announced plans to increase profitability over the next three years to enable strategic investments. The firm reported second-quarter results that beat expectations, with adjusted EPS of $1.75 surpassing the estimated $1.64 and revenue of $2.09 billion exceeding the expected $2.08 billion. Workday maintained its fiscal year 2025 subscription revenue guidance but raised its adjusted operating margin forecast to 25.3%. Analysts viewed the decision to focus on margin improvement positively, noting it provides a clearer path to delivering attractive EPS growth.
SECOND QUARTER 2024 RESULTS
- Adjusted EPS: $1.75 vs $1.64 estimate
- Revenue: $2.09 billion (+17% y/y) vs $2.08 billion estimate
- Subscription revenue: $1.90 billion (+17% y/y) vs $1.9 billion estimate
- Adjusted operating margin: 24.9% vs 24.7% estimate
FISCAL YEAR 2025 FORECAST
- Subscription revenue: $7.70 billion to $7.73 billion (maintained)
- Adjusted operating margin: 25.3% (raised from 25%)
- Ross Stores (ROST.US) shares rose up to 6% in premarket trading after the off-price retailer boosted its full-year earnings per share forecast following strong second-quarter results. The company reported Q2 EPS of $1.59, surpassing the estimated $1.49, while sales of $5.29 billion beat the expected $5.25 billion. Comparable sales grew 4%, exceeding the 2.98% estimate. Ross Stores raised its full-year 2025 EPS guidance to $6.00-$6.13 from $5.79-$5.98 previously. Analysts noted that the results showed strong demand for trade-down apparel and were positive about the retailer's improving margins, despite ongoing pressures on low-income consumers.
SECOND QUARTER 2024 RESULTS
- EPS: $1.59 vs $1.49 estimate
- Sales: $5.29 billion (+7.1% y/y) vs $5.25 billion estimate
- Comparable sales: +4% vs +2.98% estimate
- Operating margin: 12.5% vs 11.8% estimate
FISCAL YEAR 2025 FORECAST
- EPS: $6.00 to $6.13 (raised from $5.79 to $5.98)
- Q3 comparable sales: +2% to +3%
- Q4 comparable sales: +2% to +3%
