PRISM Market Moves on Thursday: Guess? Climbs; Papa John’s, Shake Shack Slide on CEO News
US equities are trading higher on Thursday at midday after stocks rallied on Wednesday. The S&P crossed 5,200 for the first time and the Dow and Nasdaq also hit all-time highs. Outperformers at midday are software, banks, credit cards, asset managers, homebuilders, machinery, transports, travel/tourism, and auto suppliers. Refiners, managed care, large-cap pharma, P&C insurance, restaurants, dollar stores, and media are underperforming. Treasuries are mostly weaker, the Dollar index is up+ 0.3%, Gold is up +0.6%, Bitcoin futures are up +1.4%, and WTI crude is off (0.8%).
Strong performers at midday include Guess? ($GES) which has gained +19.5% on Q4 EPS and revenue beat with gross and operating margins ahead of consensus. Micron Technology ($MU) is up +15.5% on strong fiscal Q2 results and fiscal Q3 guiding above expectations, and Revolve Group ($RVLV) has risen
+6.2% after being upgraded to outperform from market perform at TD Cowen. Analysts cited the company’s return to growth after a weak 2023, sales growth outpacing inventory, stabilizing returns, and record active customers.
The day’s decliners are Papa John’s International ($PZZA) which has fallen (7.3%) after the company announced CEO Rob Lynch will depart Papa John’s and join Shake Shack ($SHAK) as its CEO. Papa John’s CFO Ravi Thanawala will take on the role of interim CEO until the board identifies a successor. Chewy, Inc. ($CHWY) is down (3.2%) after missing Q1 revenue guidance. The company’s management cautioned on lower pet household formation trends. Shake Shack ($SHAK) has lost (2.5%) after the company appointed Rob Lynch as CEO, effective May 20. Apple ($AAPL) has dropped (2.4%) after a long anticipated DoJ antitrust lawsuit was filed today. The suit accuses the company of blocking rivals from accessing core hardware and software features of its iPhone.
