PRISM Market Moves on Thursday: STAAR Surgical Shines; Paramount and Hertz Tumble
US equities are trading higher on Thursday afternoon, following a strong finish Wednesday. Big tech is performing well, along with airlines, machinery, REITs, banks, software, and asset managers. It is a tougher day for retail, casual diners, hospitals, large-cap pharma, oil services, and grocers. Treasuries are mixed, the Dollar index is down (0.2%), Gold is down (0.2%), Bitcoin futures are up +2.9%, and WTI crude is down (0.3%).
Outperformers on Thursday afternoon are Levi Strauss ($LEVI) which has gained 15.7% on Q1 EPS and revenue beat and FY24 EPS guidance raised. The company noted market share gains, particularly with young adults and high-income consumers and a strong start to the year. STAAR Surgical ($STAA) has soared +15.5% after the company guided Q1 revenue in excess of $77 million versus consensus which sits at $72.1 million. Wayfair ($W) has risen +4.4% after being upgraded to outperform from in line at Evercore ISI. Analysts noted expectations for revenue acceleration and market share gains in the home furnishing market, and Celsius Holdings ($CELH) has gained +3.5% after the company announced plans to expand to France in Q4.
The day’s decliners include Lamb Weston Holdings ($LW) which has dropped (20.4%) after it missed fiscal Q3 sales and EPS and reported NA volume down by 17%. The company flagged soft near-term restaurant traffic trends as contributing to its weaker performance. Paramount Global ($PARA) is down (9.2%) after CNBC reported a potential transaction with Skydance could also involve the issuance of up to $3 billion in stock. Hertz Global ($HTZ) has lost (5.2%) after being downgraded to sell from neutral at Goldman Sachs.
