Bed Bath & Beyond Slumps, Discovery Falls, and the Stock Market Is Waiting for Coinbase to Start Trading
The stock market looks set for a higher open after JPMorgan Chase and other U.S. banks reported strong profits and investors prepared the Coinbase direct listing.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures had ticked up 18 points, or 0.05%, while S&P 500 futures had advanced 0.1%, and Nasdaq Composite futures had gained 0.3%.
Reopening stocks lagged Tuesday after Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was paused in the U.S., and that looks set to continue Wednesday, even as strong bank earnings point to a vigorous economic recovery. JPMorgan, for instance, reported a profit of $4.50 a share, easily topping estimates for $3.10 a share, while Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings of $18.60 a share, blowing by forecasts for $10.22 a share. Even Wells Fargo (WFC) topped earnings forecasts, reporting a profit of $1.05 a share, ahead of estimates for 70 cents.
The market reaction, however, was tepid: JPMorgan stock was down 0.6%, while Wells Fargo had ticked up 0.2%, and Goldman Sachs gained 1.7%. “As is typically the case with these big beats from the financials, there’s usually a ‘yeah but,’” writes Bespoke Investment Group’s Paul Hickey. In this case, the ‘yeah, but’ is likely whether banks can sustain the growth in the quarters ahead.
The real action was in cryptocurrencies, as investors waited for Coinbase stock to start trading. Coinbase set a reference price of $250, but everyone expects it to start trading much higher than that. It’s probably not a coincidence that Bitcoin had risen 1.5% to 64,110, ethereum had gained 3.1% to 2,373.16, and dogecoin, the crypto parody, had jumped 81% to 13.8417 cents. And they said speculation was dead.
Here are other stocks on the move Wednesday morning:
Exxon Mobil (XOM) has gained 1% after getting upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) has fallen 1.7% after getting cut to Underperform from Neutral at BofA.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) tumbled 9.2% after the company reported a profit of 40 cents a share, topping estimates for 31 cents a share, but missed on sales.
Discovery (DISCA) stock dropped 4.4% as Credit Suisse continued to sell shares related to the Archegos blowup.
Galapagos (GLPG) has climbed 4.5% after getting upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Corrections & Amplifications
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.05%. An earlier version said they had gained 0.5%.
Write to Ben Levisohn at [email protected]
