Outback Steakhouse owner stock surges
Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin’ Brands was up around 10% in premarket trade, after it was revealed that activist investor Starboard Value has increased its stake in the company to 9.9%.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Starboard is now one of Bloomin’ Brands’ top five stakeholders.
The stock is up 9.3% at US$28 before the opening bell in New York.
Tesla-challenger Xpeng losses widen
Chinese Tesla-challenger Xpeng Inc (NYSE:XPEV) saw its stock slide in Friday’s premarket deals as it reported a wider-than-expected net loss for its second quarter.
XPeng reported a net loss of 2.8 billion yuan (US$390 million), up from 2.7 billion yuan in the same period last year, and its biggest quarterly loss to date. Revenue was marked at 5.06 billion yuan (US$693.7 million) which was in line with market expectations, albeit it still represented 31% decline year-on-year.
Whilst down some 6.5% in Friday’s premarket, trading at US$14.63 with two hours to go until the opening bell, the Chinese stock retains significant gains for 2023 to date. XPeng stock is up more than 50% since starting January at around US$10.00 per share.
Estee Lauder earnings disappoint
Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) confirmed it had been a tough year for the perfume, makeup and skincare group, though things started to improve in the final three months.
Revenues fell 10% to US$15.9 billion in the year to end June 2023 with Asia travel the major weak spot and overshadowing good performances elsewhere in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Net earnings fell 57% to US$1.01 billion, with adverse currency movements adding to the decline.
The stock fell US$10.06 or 6.2% in early deals, at US$152.
Vipshop in decline despite earnings beat
Vipshop Holdings Ltd (NYSE:VIPS) has reported second-quarter revenue and earnings that beat expectations as more customers shopped for value for money.
The online discount retailer for brands in China grew revenue by 13.6% to $3.84 billion for the three months to June 30, 2023, just above analysts’ consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per ADR jumped 76% to $0.59, above the Street’s forecast of $0.44.
At US$15.00 this morning, Vipshop stock was down US$1.23 or 7.58%.
FarFetch’s expectations were a stretch
Farfetch Limited (NYSE:FTCH) stock plummeted, losing more than a third, after reporting underwhelming second-quarter revenue.
The luxury brands e-commerce platform posted revenue of $579.34 million, up 1.2% year over year but well behind Street expectations of $649.17 million. Its loss was narrower than expected, at $0.21 per share, versus consensus forecasts of $0.42.
Nevertheless, the market’s reaction was unflinchingly negative with FarFetch stock down some 38% in premarket deals, changing hands at US$2.99, down from Thursday’s close of US$4.76.
Ross Stores sees discounter boost
Elsewhere, at the other end of the retail spectrum, the owner of the Ross Dress For Less discount department store chain saw its stock rising thanks to better-than-expected financials, as its customers “responded well to improved value offerings” amidst the easing inflationary pressures.
Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ:ROST) reported earnings of $1.32 per share, compared to $1.11 a year earlier and expectations of $1.16. Revenue came in at $4.9 billion, up from $4.6 billion and compared to projections of $4.75 billion.
Shares in Ross Stores rose US$5.84 or 5.17% to trade at US$118.90 in early premarket dealing.
Applied Materials shows better-than-feared revenue
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) stock starts Friday on the front foot as the supplier to the semiconductor sector reported third-quarter 2023 revenue that surpassed market forecasts of $6.15 billion – albeit at $6.43 billion the figure did represent a 1% decline on the prior year comparative.
The semiconductor materials provider also posted earnings per share (EPS) for the period of $1.90, $0.16 better than expectations.
“Applied Materials executed well in our fiscal third quarter, with revenue and earnings at the high end of our guidance range,” Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson said in a statement.
In Friday’s early deals, Applied Materials stock was up US$4.99 or 3.63%, trading at US$142.58.
Elon Musk sends Bitcoin and crypto stocks plummeting
SpaceX, the spacecraft engineering company owned by Elon Musk, has sold all its holdings in Bitcoin, a Wall Street Journal report revealed, leading to a sharp sell-off late on Thursday and into early Friday trading.
Bitcoin dropped below US$25,000 after the sale was revealed, causing a ripple effect across cryptos with Bitcoin-related stocks such as Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) also impacted.
Having completely divested its Bitcoin holdings after two consecutive years of markdowns in the value of its holdings, SpaceX followed in the footsteps of Musk’s Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which, according to its 2022 third-quarter update, sold approximately 75% of its initial US$1.5 billion investment.
Coinbase extended Thursday’s 4.3% decline, giving up another 3.3% in premarket deals to trade at US$73.05.
This morning, crypto miner Marathon Digital dropped another 5% on top of the 9% it lost yesterday, changing hands at US$11.64 in early trade.
Riot, another miner, saw its stock down another 4%, extending Thursday’s 10% loss, trading this morning at US$11.24.