Market indices closed at or near session lows today in what was a mixed day overall. We looked good in the morning hours, but slowly saw gains erode away by late afternoon. The Dow closed higher, +13 points or +0.04%, while the S&P 500 slipped only 4 points, -0.095%. The Nasdaq was the big loser on the day and still only fell -0.16%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 won the day with a whopping +0.61%.
We are now one day from the close of the month of November, and gains up to this point have been excellent: the Dow + 7.22%, the S&P + 8.73%, the Nasdaq + 10.84% and the Russell + 8.59%. It helps that cyclical lows came at the end of October so that markets could gain some real traction as the new month began. But where do we go from here?
The Beige Book for November the Fed gave us a good synopsis, with seven of the 12 selected regions experiencing slightly downward growth for the month, with only Richmond, Atlanta and Chicago slightly growing. Demand for labor continued to ease slightly, and most regions saw flat to modestly up overall employment. Prices moderated during the month, but historically remained at higher levels. Slowing demand for a relatively flat price seems to be the main story here.
Salesforce.com CRM beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines for its Q3 earnings report today, with earnings of $2.1 per share topping the $2.06 in the Zacks consensus. Revenues were slightly higher than expected to $8.72 billion in the quarter. Guidance for the next quarter was raised on both the top and bottom lines, beyond current consensus on the high end of the range for both. The company has no negative earnings surprises until our recalibration of stock earnings compensations. Shares rise +7% in late trading on the news.
Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated Snowflake SNOW shares perform even better: rose +12% in the aftermarket on earnings of 25 cents per share on $734.2 million in quarterly revenue, compared to 16 cents per share on $710.5 million in sales, respectively. Revenues also grew +32% year over year on +34% product revenue growth. The Bozeman, MT-based cloud data-as-a-service company has now beaten earnings estimates for 10 straight quarters.
PVH PVH, the Zacks Rank #2-based parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, posted mixed results this afternoon for its Q3 earnings report. The company reported earnings of $2.90 per share, which topped the Zacks consensus estimate of $2.72, on $2.36 billion in quarterly sales, which fell short of the $2.39 billion expected. Quarterly revenue guidance is slightly below expectations for Q4, but slightly above for the full year from what analysts expected. Shares are trading -4% lower on the news.
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