What Happened In The Stock Market This Week?
This was a relatively calm week in the stock market. Only a handful of major companies released earnings, there wasn't any major macroeconomic news that came out this week, the primary indexes traded relatively flat, and not many large companies made headlines this week. Also, it was a shortened trading week due to Good Friday.
Two large companies that released earnings this week were spice maker, McCormick & Company Inc. ($MKC), and corporate uniform provider, Cintas Corporation ($CTAS), with both companies delivering solid results and jumping in share price because of it. The original meme-stock, GameStop Corporation ($GME) also released earnings this week, and the results sent share prices tumbling because of it.
Lastly, we'll discuss the small-cap highlights of the week, including Altamira Therapeutics Ltd. ($CYTO), iBio Inc. ($IBIO), and Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. ($LIXT)
Make sure to subscribe to the newsletter so you don't miss a single Traders' Recap!
Let's get into it, traders!
McCormick & Company Inc. ($MKC):
We'll start with one of the larger companies who released earnings this week, McCormick & Company Inc. ($MKC). Shares of $MKC rose more than 10% during the morning session on Tuesday, after the release of the company's most recent earnings report. The spice maker beat analyst expectations on sales, adjusted net income, and adjusted EPS (earnings per share). McCormick was able to achieve higher sales of 3% through the company raising prices on its products, rendering flat demand neutral in the latest quarter. In Q1 of fiscal 2024, the company posted sales of $1.6B, adjusted net income of $169 million, and adjusted EPS (earnings per share) of $0.63, all which were higher than what the company posted in Q1 of 2023.The company also posted a 140 basis-point profit margin expansion in the most recent quarter and attributed it to cost-cutting initiatives and a favorable product mix. The company reaffirmed its full year guidance for 2024, projecting sales to be in a 2% decline to flat, compared to a 5% increase in 2023. The company is also projecting adjusted EPS to fall between $2.80 and $2.85, this would top the figure they posted last year of $2.70. Company CEO, Brendan Foley, said in a statement regarding the latest earnings report, "As we look ahead, we are pleased with the momentum we are seeing in the business and continue to expect improved volume performance, which will build throughout the year...Our business fundamentals are strong, and we are confident we will continue to deliver long-term profitable growth and drive value for shareholders."
Cintas Corporation ($CTAS):
The second large company that released earnings this week was Cintas Corporation ($CTAS). Shares of $CTAS rose by more than 10% during the morning session on Wednesday after the release of the company's latest earnings report. If you're not familiar with the company, Cintas provides corporate identity uniforms throughout North America and operates in multiple segments including, uniform rental, facility services, first aid, and safety services. The company was founded in 1968, and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company reported Q3 earnings of $3.84 per share, beating analyst expectations of $3.56 per share. The company's bottom line increased 22.3% year-over-year in spite of an increase in operating costs. Cintas now has cash and cash equivalents on hand of roughly $128.5 million compared to $124.1 million at the end of fiscal 2023. Long-term debt for Cintas was at roughly $2.48B compared to $2.49B at the end of fiscal 2023. After the solid earnings report, company leadership issued optimistic guidance for fiscal 2024 and raised revenue expectations from the range of $9.48B-$9.56B to $9.57B-$9.60B. They also raised EPS expectations to $14.80-$15.00 compared with previous expectations of $14.35-$14.65. The mid-point of which would represent a year-over-year increase of 14.7%. Company President and CEO, Todd Schneider, said in a statement to investors, "Our third quarter results reflect the outstanding dedication and execution of our employees, whom we call partners. Each of our operating segments continue to execute at a high level, which led to robust revenue growth of 9.9%, record high gross margin of 49.4%, record high operating margin of 21.6% and diluted EPS growth of 22.3%."
GameStop Corporation ($GME):
It wouldn't be a proper Traders' Recap if we didn't discuss the original meme-stock, GameStop ($GME). Shares of $GME fell more than 15% during the morning session on Wednesday. This came after the release of the company's latest earnings report during the post-market session from the previous day. A 10-K filing revealed that the company has slashed jobs and exited several international markets in order to achieve profitability. The original meme stock, and video game retailer posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.22, falling well below analyst expectations of $0.30 per share. Revenue for the most recent quarter also fell to $1.79B, compared to $2.23B during the same quarter from the previous year. Hardware and accessory sales brought in $1.09B, a 12% year-over-year decline, while software sales fell by a whopping 31% to $465 million. As stated previously, the company also slashed jobs, citing increased online competition, and softening consumer spending. The company cut more than 20% of its full-time workforce, and laid off a substantial portion of its part-time workforce as well. The company did not hold a conference call so there was no comment from the CEO regarding full-year guidance, current quarterly guidance, or long-term outlook for the company.
Altamira Therapeutics Ltd. ($CYTO):
We'll kick off the small-cap highlights of the week with the small-cap that made moves to start the week, Altamira Therapeutics Ltd. ($CYTO). Shares of $CYTO jumped more than 100% during the morning session on Monday. The rise in share price came after news broke that the company, a provider of nanoparticle-based technology for efficient RNA delivery, announced that they had entered into an agreement with Univercells Group to evaluate the use of the company's proprietary SemaPhore platform for the delivery of mRNA vaccines. Univercells is a global life sciences company that creates platforms for developing and manufacturing biologics in a simple, scalable, and cost-efficient way. Should the collaboration prove successful, both companies intend to discuss and negotiate a commercial agreement for the development and manufacturing of nanoparticle-based mRNA vaccines. Altamira's CTO, Jose Castillo PhD, said in a statement regarding the news, "mRNA vaccines and mRNA in general, have proven to be a game-changer in how we prevent, treat, and cure diseases in a range of fields from oncology to infectious diseases. To unlock its full potential, however, we need constant innovation to make mRNA products more effective, efficient, and affordable. One key step is to develop platforms that use lower doses of mRNA." The stock was trading at roughly $2.35 per share as of Thursday morning.
iBio, Inc. ($IBIO):
In what was one of the major risers of the week in the market, we'll discuss iBio, inc. ($IBIO). Shares of $IBIO spiked more than 200% during the market session on Wednesday. The rise in share prices came after news broke that the the company (iBio, Inc.) had entered into an agreement with AstralBio, Inc., to discover, engineer, and develop novel antibodies to treat obesity and other cardiometabolic conditions. On Tuesday, iBio announced the closing of a $15 million private placement. The company plans to use a portion of the net proceeds to support new partnerships such as this one. The goal of this collaboration is to rapidly build a novel, "best-in-class", cardiometabolic disease portfolio by combining iBio's ability to create antibodies against hard-to-drug targets with AstralBio's significant biologics experience and drug development expertise. iBio granted an exclusive license to its AI-powered technology to identify and engineer four targets for the treatment of cardiometabolic disease. iBio's CEO, Martin Brenner DVM, PhD, said in a statement regarding the news, "We are confident our AI-enabled technology is exceptionally well positioned to develop antibodies against challenging targets in the cardiometabolic space." Shares of $IBIO were trading at roughly $4.10 per share as of Thursday morning.
Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. ($LIXT):
To conclude the Traders' Recap presented by Lightspeed Financial, we'll discuss Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. ($LIXT). Shares of $LIXT soared more than 100% during the market session on Wednesday after news broke the company announced the publication of pre-clinical data on its lead clinical compound, LB-100. LB-100, according to the company, can force cancer cells to give up their cancer-causing properties in a paper entitled "paradoxical activation of oncogenic signaling as a cancer treatment strategy.". Company CEO, Bas van der Baan, said regarding the news, "The effect of LB-100 on cancer cells is unique in that the only way for cancer cells to escape death is to evolve toward a less cancerous behavior.". Shares of $LIXT were trading at roughly $3.45 per share as of Thursday morning.
Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC is not affiliated with these third-party market commentators/educators or service providers. Data, information, and material (“Content”) are provided for informational and educational purposes only. This content neither is, nor should be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any securities or contracts. Any investment decisions made by the user through the use of such content are solely based on the user's independent analysis taking into consideration your financial circumstances, investment objectives, and risk tolerance. Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC does not endorse, offer or recommend any of the services or commentary provided by any of the market commentators/educators or service providers, and any information used to execute any trading strategies are solely based on the independent analysis of the user.
Futures trading involves the substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.
Each investor must consider whether this is a suitable investment since you may lose all of or more than your initial investment.
Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Resources:
$MKC:
$CTAS:
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CTAS/profile/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cintas-ctas-q3-earnings-revenues-164600763.html
$GME:
$CYTO:
$IBIO:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibio-astralbio-announce-transformative-ai-110000784.html
$LIXT:
https://www.tradingview.com/news/benzinga:d92b2522b094b:0-why-lixte-biotechnology-stock-is-soaring/
Latest posts
Never miss a beat
Stay on top of the latest news and market insights
Trade stock, options and futures
Lightspeed offers active and professional traders highly accurate market data, complex order management, fast executions, and multiple order types and routing destinations.
Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC is not affiliated with these third-party market commentators/educators or service providers. Data, information, and material (“Content”) are provided for informational and educational purposes only. This content neither is, nor should be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any securities or contracts. Any investment decisions made by the user through the use of such content are solely based on the user's independent analysis taking into consideration your financial circumstances, investment objectives, and risk tolerance. Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC does not endorse, offer or recommend any of the services or commentary provided by any of the market commentators/educators or service providers, and any information used to execute any trading strategies are solely based on the independent analysis of the user.
© 2024 Lightspeed Financial Services Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Equities, equities options, and commodity futures products and services are offered by Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC (Member FINRA, NFA and SIPC). Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC’s SIPC coverage is available only for securities, and for cash held in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, in equities and equities options accounts. You may check the background of Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.
Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk. Before trading options, please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options
ETFs are subject to market fluctuation and the risks of their underlying investments. ETFs are subject to management fees and other expenses.
