TUE, JUL 25, 2023

Tomorrow's Top CNBC Stories Tonight

Robert Half dips in after-hours trading

Robert Half is down double-digits in the extended session after the staffing and recruitment firm missed on the top and bottom lines. The company’s CEO says results were impacted by elongated client hiring cycles resulting from ongoing macro uncertainty. The stock has underperformed the broader S&P 500 so far this year, with tonight’s move sending it into negative territory.

Chubb rises on results

And Chubb is ticking higher after hours. The insurer’s quarterly results topped analyst estimates, and CNBC’s Contessa Brewer notes that catastrophe losses were not as bad as other P&C insurers like Allstate and Travelers. All three stocks remain in negative territory for the year. Contessa will be listening to Chubb’s call Wednesday morning and reporting throughout the day.

AT&T results are almost here

AT&T is set to report before the bell on Wednesday. The stock has been under pressure in recent weeks over concerns related to its use of lead cables (it’s around 10% off its worst levels but still tracking for a sharp monthly decline). While the company has already pushed back on those concerns, we’re likely to hear more about it on Wednesday’s earnings call.

A standout in the materials sector

Lots of storylines out of the materials sector today, with Packaging Corporation of America posting its best day since March 2020 and hitting a 52-week high. The paper and packaging giant topped earnings estimates and said it expects higher volumes in its current quarter (though it noted lower prices). That lifted shares of International Paper and WestRock, as well. International Paper is set to report earnings on Thursday, and WestRock will report next week.

A stronger outlook lifts Sherwin-Williams to a 52-week high

Elsewhere, Sherwin-Williams also notched a 52-week high after raising its outlook, thanks in large part to strong sales and higher prices during the previous quarter. The company cautioned that demand is likely to “vary widely” in the months ahead and comparisons in the second half of the year would remain challenging.

Avery Dennison shares slip

One of the sector’s holdouts was Avery Dennison, which reported an 11% decline in sales year-over-year. CEO Mitch Butier said the company’s recovery from soft market conditions has been “slower than anticipated.” The stock finished the day in negative territory and almost 15% off its recent high.

Get off of my cloud

Microsoft’s cloud division Azure came in above expectations. Cloud revenue at Alphabet jumped 28% from a year ago.
After the bell, Microsoft is down 3%. Alphabet is up 6%. Microsoft is up 45% this year. Alphabet is up 39% this year.
Here are some other top names in the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) and Global X Cloud Computing ETF (CLOU). None seem to be moving too much this evening in after-hours trading.
MongoDB is up 97% in three months.
Digital Ocean is up 55% in three months. The stock is 10% from a 52-week high.
Trade Desk is up 40% in three months. The stock is 10% from a 52-week high.
Salesforce is up about 19% in three months.
Asana is up 34% in three months. The stock is 25% from a 52-week high.
Amazon is up 26% in three months. The stock is 12% from a 52-week high.
Fastly is up 15% in three months. The stock is 13% from a 52-week high.
Snowflake is up 32% in three months. The stock is 13% from a 52-week high.
Cloudflare is up 15.5% in three months. The stock is 17% from a 52-week high.
Atlassian is up about 25% in three months. The stock is 40% from a 52-week high.

Aerospace

Ahead of Boeing’s report tomorrow, CEO Dave Calhoun will be on CNBC in the 9 a.m. hour Eastern with Phil LeBeau. The iShares US Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) dropped 2% today. The ETF is down nearly 1.5% in a week compared to the Dow which is up 1.4% in that period.
The ITA is up 2% year to date.
Boeing is up nearly 6% over the past three months.
The top-performing stock in the ETF this year is Archer Aviation, up 155% year to date. The company manufactures electrical vertical take-off and landing aircraft, but it doesn’t make money so far.
Rocket Lab has doubled so far this year.
Mercury Systems, Northrop Grumman and RTX are at the bottom of the ITA ETF. They are down between 13% and 18% so far this year.

Other big corporate earnings reports Wednesday

Meta is up in the afternoon. The stock is up 42% in the past three months.
AT&T reports. The stock is down 15.5% over the past three months and near a 20-year low. Due to that low stock price, the dividend is now up to 7.5% as of today’s close. More on that from Ethan above.
ServiceNow is up 32% over the past three months.
Chipotle is up 17.5% in the past three months.
Mattel is up 26% over the past three months.
Coca-Cola is down 2.5% in the past three months. The dividend yield is about 3%.

Banc of California will merge with regional bank PacWest

Banc of California was up 11% on the news today and then another 8% after hours. Year to date, the stock is down 8%.
The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) is down 20% year to date.
PacWest is the weakest stock in the bunch, down 66% in 2023.
First Horizon is second worst, down 47% this year. Heritage Financial is down 40% in 2023.
Customers Bancorp is at the top of the list, up 43% this year.
New York Community Bancorp is up 40% year to date.
Triumph Financial is up 40% year to date as well.

Texas Instruments

The stock is down 3.5% after hours on a less-than-hoped-for outlook. But it hit a new 52-week high during the regular session.
It still ranks last in the widely followed VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) so far this year, which tracks the semiconductors. The stock is up 12.6% in 2023.
Nvidia is at the top of the list, up 212% this year.
AMD ranks second, up 75% in 2023. Marvell Technology is up 72.5%.

The Dow

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now up 12 straight days. The record is 13 days, so watch CNBC tomorrow.
During those 12 days, the index is up 5.05%. The energy sector is the leader during these last 12 days, up 6.5%. The financials are up 5.6%.
Consumer discretionary is at the bottom of the sector pile in the last 12 days, up 1.1%.