Market Recap: Tesla beats on profit, Align Tech soars 25%
10/21/2020
Here is the Market Recap for you on Wednesday.
Stocks closed lower today, as investors looked to Washington for signs of progress that a fiscal stimulus deal might materialize before the Nov. 3 election.
No one want to say YES FIRST in this drama. To some, even gridlock is better than losing dominnance(control).
How did major indexes fare?
- The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ shed 97.97 points, or 0.4%, to end at 28,210.82, while the $S&P 500 index(.SPX.US)$ fell 7.56 points, 0.2%, closing at 3,435.56.
- The $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ finished 31.80 points lower, or 0.3%, at 11,484.69.
U.S. equity futures retreated with Asian shares after a volatile session Wednesday amid signs that a U.S. stimulus package is unlikely to become law before the election.
What drove the market?
Drama playing out between members of Congress and the White House over additional pandemic aid overshadowed modestly positive economic data from the Federal Reserve and fresh corporate earnings.
Stimulus Hurdles
Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued talks even as the odds remained long for a deal that could pass in the Senate.
Pelosi said she ‘has a prospect for an agreement” with the Treasury secretary, but it may not come together in time to pass before the Nov. 3 election.
Federal Observation
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book released Wednesday for early October showed that most regions of the U.S. continued to show slight to modest growth in economic activity.
Earnings Reports
U.S. corporate earnings reporting season remains in full swing as well.
Big names such as $Tesla, Inc.(TSLA.US)$, $Lam Research Corp(LRCX.US)$, $Xilinx Inc(XLNX.US)$, $Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc(CMG.US)$ report their thrid quarter earnings on Wednesday.
Which stocks were in focus
- Elon Musk’s electric car and renewable energy company, $Tesla, Inc.(TSLA.US)$, reported third-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday.
- The stock rose about 3% after hours as the company beat expectations on EPS and revenue, and reported its fifth consecutive quarter of profit.
- For more: Tesla reports fifth consecutive quarter of profits
- $Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc(CMG.US), the burrito chain saw its stock drop more than 5% in after-hours trading after the company said a shift to delivery orders ballooned costs and led to reduced drink sales in the third quarter.Chipotle topped profit expectations with per-share earnings of $3.76, but its net income fell to $80.2 million from $98.6 million in the year-ago period.
$Align Technology Inc(ALGN.US)$, the company that owns Invisalign teeth aligners, soared more than 20% after the bell thanks to better-than-expected shipments of its clear aligners in the third quarter.
Align reported a profit of $2.25 per share, far exceeding consensus estimates of less than $1.
$Peloton Interactive Inc(PTON.US)$, the exercise equipment company shed 3% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.
Here are some key events coming up:
- The final presidential debate before the U.S. election, between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, will be live from Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday.
- U.S. jobless claims come Thursday.
- Earnings results of $Intel Corp(INTC.US)$, $Coca-Cola Company(KO.US)$, $AT&T Inc(T.US)$, and $TAL Education Group(TAL.US)$ are expected on Thursday.
Source: Bloomberg, Barron’s, MarketWatch, CNBC
