Stocks close at record highs as post-election rally continues; Tesla and Bitcoin continue to rise

What Home Depot analysts think ahead of the earnings report

1 hour and 20 minutes ago

Home Depot (HD) will report earnings after the bell on Tuesday the past quarters have been disappointingas many Americans postpone major purchases and home improvement projects to focus spending on essentials.

Most analysts covering the stocks covered by Visible Alpha have a buy rating, although their average price target isn’t much higher than current levels. Of the 18 analysts followed, 14 are among them “buy” ratings and four with ‘hold’ ratings, with an average price target from $410.94.

Shares of Home Depot rose about 1% in late trading Monday at about $409.50.

Customers shop at a Home Depot store in Arlington, Virginia on March 14, 2024.

Sha Hanting/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images

Analysts expect an increase from Home Depot for the third quarter sale will increase 4% from the same time last year to $39.2 billion net income is expected to decline about 6% to $3.6 billion.

JPMorgan analysts suggested Home Depot and rival Lowe’s (LOW) could see an increase in sales due to the hurricanes that hit parts of the South in the quarter, but the costs for retailers to deal with the storm damage themselves could offset the increase in sales.

The analysts said retailers could also get a boost in the coming year relaxation of mortgage interest rates lead to an improving housing market and consumers carrying out more renovation or home improvement projects.

The stock is up 18% since the beginning of the year, lagging the S&P 500’s 25% gain so far in 2024.

–Aaron McDade

Tesla shares are up more than 40% in the past week

2 hours and 34 minutes ago

Tesla (TSLA) stocks continued their post-election gains on Monday, boosted by hopes for a reduction in regulation by a Trump, White House and CEO Elon Musk‘s ties with the new government as an advisor to the newly elected president.

Shares of Tesla recently rose 8.5% to $348.70 in recent trading. They have added more than 40% since trading began on Election Day and are at their highest level since early 2022.

Trading view

Adding to that enthusiasm was a huge increase in the Tesla price target by Wedbush from $300 to $400. The analysts wrote in a letter to clients that they believe Trump’s victory “will be a game changer for the autonomous and AI story for Tesla and Musk in the coming years.”

The analysts said they estimate the autonomous vehicle and artificial intelligence (AI) The opportunity will be worth $1 trillion to the company. They added that they fully expect that “these important initiatives will now be fast-tracked as the federal regulatory spider web that Musk & Co. encountered in recent years around FSD/autonomous will disappear significantly in a new Trump era.”

The analysts noted that they believe Tesla “remains the most undervalued AI play in the market today.” Wedbush maintained its ‘outperform’ rating on the stock.

–Bill McCol

AbbVie sinks after drug trial results; Bristol Meyers Squibb rises

3 hours 57 minutes ago

Shares of AbbVie (ABBV) plummeted Monday after the company said its schizophrenia drug Emraclidine missed key targets in a few Phase 2 clinical trials.

AbbVie said the Week 6 trials showed no statistically significant improvement in symptoms compared to the placebo group.

“While we are disappointed with the results, we continue to analyze the data to determine next steps,” said Dr. Roopal Thakkar, Chief Scientific Officer of AbbVie.

Abbvie shares recently fell 11%. Meanwhile, shares of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMI), makers of recently approved treatment for schizophrenia Cobenfy, jumped 12%.

–Aaron Rennie

Bitcoin and Crypto-related Stocks Continue to Rise

4 hours 57 minutes ago

The cryptocurrency euphoria that followed Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election continued on Monday, with everything related to the digital currency industry moving forward.

Bitcoin traded at another all-time high, surpassing $84,000. Stocks of companies in the sector, including Robinhood Markets (CAP), which rose 10%. Coinbase Worldwide (MINT), riot platforms (REVOLT), and Marathon Digital parent company MARA Holdings (MARA) were all up 17% or better.

Crypto exchange traded funds (ETFs)such as iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), each also rose by about 10%.

The enthusiasm has grown on Trump’s previous comments about his support for cryptocurrencies, at one point saying he wants the US to become “the crypto capital of the planet.”

Additionally, MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, announced it had purchased an additional 27,200 bitcoin for $2.03 billion. Shares of MicroStrategy recently rose 17%.

–Bill McCol

Humana collapses, Cigna rises as the deal is finalized

6 hours and 12 minutes ago

Human (HUMMING) shares fell 5% Monday morning after The Cigna Group (CI) said it is not pursuing a combination with its smaller health insurance rival. Cigna shares, meanwhile, rose by more than 6%.

Reportedly Cigna canceled its plans to buy Humana late last year after neither side could agree on financial terms. Bloomberg reported last month that the two companies had been revived informal conversations about a deal, with discussions in the early stages.

“In light of recent and ongoing speculation, The Cigna Group expects to communicate that the company is not pursuing a combination with Humana Inc.,” Cigna said in a news release Monday.

“Cigna Group remains committed to its established M&A criteria and would only consider acquisitions that are strategically aligned, financially attractive and have a high probability of closing,” the Bloomfield, Conn.-based company added. established company.

Cigna said it has bought $6 billion worth of stock this year, including $1 billion so far in the fourth quarter, and that it will continue to “actively” buy back stock next year. It said it would use most of the proceeds from the sale of its Medicare business to finance the buybacks.

Trading view

Humana shaves have lost 40% of their value this year, while Cigna is up about 15%.

–Nisha Gopalan

S&P 500 levels to watch as an index are at record highs

7 hours and 18 minutes ago

The S&P500 (SPX) closed at noon record high Friday after briefly breaching the 6K level for the first time as stocks recovered following the US presidential election.

After Friday’s close, the S&P 500 is up about 25% this year. The index broke above a rising wedge pattern on above-average volume last week, paving the way for further potential gains in the week ahead.

Source: TradingView.com.

A measured move, which calculates the distance between the two rising wedge trendlines near their widest point and adds that amount to the initial breakout area, projects a price target for the S&P 500 of 6,500.

Investors should pay attention to key support levels on the index chart around 5,900 and 5,670.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smit

Stock futures point to a higher open for major indexes

8 hours and 19 minutes ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%.

Trading view

Futures on the S&P 500 also rose 0.4%.

Trading view

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%.

Trading view