MON, JUL 31, 2023

Tomorrow's Top CNBC Stories Tonight

ZoomInfo craters on lackluster forecast

ZoomInfo fell as much as 19% in the extended session as its current-quarter and full-year guidance disappoints, overshadowing an earnings beat and buyback program. Including the after-hours move, the stock is off by about 30% this year. If tonight’s losses hold through the opening bell tomorrow, the stock will be in all-time low territory.

Arista Networks rises on earnings beats

On the other hand, Arista Networks is firmly higher after hours, fueled by an earnings and revenue beat. The company’s Q3 and full-year outlook also topped analyst estimates. The extended session jump follows a 12% dive last week, which had been driven by concerns over slowing data center spending, including from Arista clients like Microsoft and Meta.

Summer travel is still looking good

Avis Budget is slightly higher after the bell. The company handily beat earnings estimates, though revenues came in below expectations. In the release, CEO Joe Ferraro says summer travel remains robust, echoing similar sentiments from rival Hertz last week. So far this year, Avis Budget is up more than 30%, while Hertz is up just 10%.

Caterpillar's fresh high

Looking ahead, Caterpillar is among the many names set to report earnings tomorrow. The industrial giant closed at an all-time high today (and just 0.3% shy of its intraday record). Heading into the print, just 42% of analysts tracked by FactSet have a buy rating on the stock, while half have a hold rating. Over the past month, Caterpillar has gained around 7.8%, outperforming the broader industrial sector.

Big corporate reports Tuesday

Caterpillar is up 21% from three months ago. It is near a 52-week high.
Merck is is down 7.6% over the past three months. The stock is 11% from a 52-week high.
Pfizer is also down, off by 7.3% in the past three months. The stock is 35% off the 52-week high.
Norwegian Cruise Line is up 65% in the last three months. This stock is 3% from a high hit just last week.
JetBlue is up about 9% since three months ago, but it's 18% from a 52-week high.
AMD is up 28% in the past three months. Shares are 14% from a 52 week high.

Oil and oil stocks

West Texas Intermediate crude gained about 16% in July.
The S&P Energy sector was up 7.3% in July.
Of the 23 components in the S&P Energy sector, 19 underperformed oil’s 16% gain.
Exxon Mobil is flat in the last month (the worst-performing energy stock in the sector). It is down almost 10% in three months.
Kinder Morgan was up 3% in July. The stock has a 6.4% dividend right now.
Chevron was up 4% in July. It is down 3% in three months.
Pioneer Natural Resources reports after the bell tomorrow. The stock was up 9% in July. The dividend is 10.3%.
Top in the sector in July: SLB, APA and Halliburton. All three are up 18%.

Archer Aviation

CNBC's Phil LeBeau as the first to report today the stock shot up after the company got a new contract from the U.S. Air Force.
Archer makes EVTOLs, electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles.
Archer was up 40% at the end of the day, hitting a new 52-week high.
Joby was up roughly 10% today, but it's still 25% from the 52-week high hit last month.
Blade Air Mobility was up nearly 6% today, but it is 40% from the 52-week high.

Industrials

Downgrades this morning for CSX, Southwest Airlines, Ford, GE and UPS. All are in the S&P Industrials except for Ford.
The S&P Industrials are up 10.4% in three months and have gained 12% year to date.
Ford was down 12.7% in July.
GE was up 4% in July.
CSX was down 2.3% in July.
UPS was up 4.4% in July.
Southwest was down 5.6% in July.
The top industrials in July: Carrier Global gained 20%. Textron added up 15%, and Paycom was up 15%.
The worst performing industrials: Equifax fell 13% in July. RTX lost 10%, and Alaska Air was down 8.5% in July.

Palantir and AI

I think it’s still unclear what an artificial intelligence stock is, but a bunch of the names deemed "AI stocks" by many on Wall Street got a bit of a jump today.
Palantir jumped 11.4% today. On Friday, Wall Street firm Wedbush started coverage of the stock and said it would be an AI leader. The stock is at a 52-week high and up nearly 210% in 2023.
C3.ai, which CNBC reported on earlier this year to find out more about the company’s sales, jumped 5.6% today. It’s 14% from the 52-week high set on June 16 and up 275% this year.
BigBear.ai was up 7.5% today. It’s up about 200% in 2023. The company’s website says it “provides decision intelligence solutions for supply chains and logistics.” The stock is 70% from the high set back in February.

July

We heard a lot about the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s surge in July amid 13 straight days of gains, but the Russell 2000 was the big winner in the month, up 6%.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 4% in July.
The Dow was up 3.35%, and the S&P 500 was up 3.1%.
The top sector was energy up 7.3%.
Telecom was the worst performing sector in July, down almost 7%. AT&T and Verizon both fell more than 8%.