PRISM Market Moves on Wednesday: Signet Jewelers, Spotify Gain Ground; ULTA, Wolfspeed Drop
US equities are trading higher at midday on Wednesday, near best levels. Rails, industrial metals, precious metals, GLP-1s, semi cap equipment and streaming are outperforming, while staples are lagging. Treasuries are weaker, the Dollar index is down (0.4%), Gold is up +0.9%, Bitcoin futures are up +0.9% and WTI crude has gained +0.7%.
Outperformers at midday are Signet Jewelers ($SIG) which has gained +12.0% after the company announced it has repurchased ~50% of convertible preferred shares ahead of their November 2024 maturity. Signet says the transaction was settled with ~$1.4 billion cash on hand and will reduce diluted share count by ~7.6%. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment ($PLAY) is up +10.3% on Q4 earnings with EPS missed but revenue in line. Cost control led to another quarter of outperforming margins and EBITDA. The company remains confident in its ability to achieve a $1 billion adjusted EBITDA target in the coming years. Spotify Technology ($SPOT) has risen +6.7% after Bloomberg reported the company would be raising prices in several key markets for the second time in a year to help cover the cost of the recent addition of audiobooks. US prices may be increased later this year.
Decliners at midday are Ulta Beauty ($ULTA), which has dropped (13.3%). The company noted at the JP Morgan Retail Conference that it has seen a slowdown in its total category, with growth rate coming down faster than expected. Intel ($INTC) has fallen (6.8%) after the company disclosed metrics for Intel Foundry (IFS) as it outlined a new reporting structure. Takeaways included a ~$7 billion operating loss in 2023 versus a loss of $5.2 billion in 2022. Analysts are concerned about the company’s ability to hit its targets by the end of 2030 and flagged limited AI participation as another area of concern. Wolfspeed ($WOLF) is down (4.8%) after being downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Wells Fargo.
