Back to top

Image: Bigstock

S&P 500 Records a Fresh All-Time High

Read MoreHide Full Article

Pre-market activities are up modestly on the back of a fresh all-time high recorded by the S&P 500 on Aug 18. It took six months, from Feb 19 to Aug 18 for the S&P 500 Index to reach where it was before the pandemic. Market participants enjoyed an astonishing 54.7% rally of the broad-market index since its crash on Mar 23. However, President Trump's decision to cancel trade talks with China, which was postponed last weekend, dampened investors' spirit.

Adding pace to the recent mergers and acquisitions, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) has decided to takeover Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $6.5 billion in cash in order to enhance its autoimmune disease treatments portfolio. In pre-market trading, shares of Momenta are up more than 65%.

Retail giant Target Corp. (TGT - Free Report) witnessed 24.3% year-over-year growth in comparable sales, which is, strongest ever, and a 195% surge in online sales. In-store comparable sales also grew 10.9% year over year.

Quarterly adjusted earnings of $3.38 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.64 and increased from $1.82 reported a year-ago. Revenues of $22.98 billion exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $20.24 billion and improved from the year-ago amount of $18.42 billion.
 
Building products retailer Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW - Free Report) reported stronger than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings results. The coronavirus-led lockdowns enabled Americans to focus on home repairs that boosted same-store sales by 35.1%. Meanwhile, online sales soared 135% year over year.

Quarterly adjusted earnings per share of $3.75, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.03. Year-ago earnings were $2.15 per share. Revenues of $27.30 billion exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $24.71 billion and increased from $20.99 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Meanwhile, discount store retailer The TJX Companies Inc. (TJX - Free Report) reported disappointing earnings for second-quarter fiscal 2021. Adjusted loss per share of 18 cents was wider-than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 8 cents. It had reported earnings of 62 cents per share a year earlier. Revenues of $6.67 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.95 billion and deteriorated from the year-ago figure of $9.78 billion. Moreover, open-only comparable store sales declined 3% year over year.

Semiconductor giant Analog Devices Inc. (ADI - Free Report) reported better-than-expected third quarter fiscal 2020 earnings results. Adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.33 per share and increased from $1.26 reported a year-ago. Revenues of $1.46 billion were slightly above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.45 billion. However, the top line declined from $1.48 billion reported a year-ago.

After the closing bell today, semiconductor behemoth NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA - Free Report) , tech major Synopsys Inc. (SNPS - Free Report) , retailer L Brands Inc. (LB - Free Report) and manufacturing bigwig Nordson Corp. (NDSN - Free Report) are slated to report their earnings results.

Published in