WMT - US Stocks Set For Weaker Open On Mixed Retail Earnings But Analyst Shrugs Off Weakness As 'Scary Moments' In Great Years | Benzinga
Early indications point to a dour mood as Wall Street reopens after the President’s Day public holiday, with all three major index futures trading moderately lower. Home Depot, Inc.‘s (NYSE:HD) results disappointed as the home-improvement retailer reported a sales decline for 2023, while Walmart, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) rose after the company agreed to buy VIZIO Holding Corp. (NYSE:VZIO) and reported solid quarterly results.
Traders will likely stay cautious ahead of earnings from Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), due Wednesday, as the recent market run-up has been premised on AI-spending that will justify the stretched valuations of tech stocks. “Nvidia's earnings announcement this week and its guidance should signal that the AI dominance will continue,” said fund manager Louis Navellier.
“Frankly, with 215.8% forecasted sales growth, plus 387.5% forecasted earnings growth, Nvidia is expected to post spectacular quarterly results and issue positive guidance.”
Cues From Past Week’s Trading:
The two inflation reports released last week spooked investors in the week ended Feb. 16, forcing them to revise their odds of a March rate cut. In the process, the major indices, namely the Dow Industrials, the S&P 500 Index, and the Nasdaq Composite snapped their five-week winning run. The only consolidation is that the S&P 500 held the 5,000 level.
On the other hand, small-cap stocks bucked the downtrend and ended notably higher for the week.
US Index Performance In Week Ended Feb. 16
Index Performance (+/-) Value
Nasdaq Composite -1.35% 15,775.65
S&P 500 Index -0.42% 5,005.57
Dow Industrials -0.11 38,627.99
Russell 2000 +1.75% 2,045.14
Analyst Color:
The past week’s pullback did not deter a bullish analyst, who continues to bet on another year of solid performance for the stock market.
While the S&P 500 Index gained close to 25% ...