PRISM Market Moves on Thursday: Macy’s Shines; Anhauser-Busch and Dollar General Slide
US equities are trading lower on Thursday at midday after a mixed session on Wednesday. Big tech is mostly higher with some pull from Nvidia ($NVDA) and Tesla ($TSLA). Energy, software, managed care, A&D, and payments are outperforming, while homebuilders, semis, media, steel, airlines, utilities, and REITs are lagging. Treasuries are weaker, the Dollar index is up +0.5%, Gold is down (0.8%), Bitcoin futures are down (2.3%) and WTI crude is up +1.8%.
Notable outperformers at midday are Robinhood Markets ($HOOD) which has gained +6.9% after reporting strong February trading volumes with 41% growth year over year. Bernstein initiated coverage of the company with an outperform rating and $30 price target citing the crypto market upswing. Macy’s ($M) is up +3.5% after Bloomberg reported that the company was open to engaging with Arkhouse and Brigade on its takeover bid. Macy’s received a $24 a share bid from Arkhouse and Brigade earlier this month. RTX Corp ($RTX) has risen +1.5% after being upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Wells Fargo.
The day’s decliners are Anheuser-Busch InBev ($BUD) which is down (5.4%) after Altria ($MO) announced plans to sell more than $2 billion of its stake in the company, Dollar General ($DG) has fallen (5.0%) in spite of Q4 comps being unexpectedly positive with and EPS beat on lower expenses. Analysts noted signs of stabilization and cleaner inventory positioning among the positive takeaways. United States Steel ($X) has lost (2.2%) President Biden made a statement advocating against the company’s acquisition by Nippon Steel.
