Markets jump Tuesday morning
U.S. stocks were in the green at market open onTuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 550 points, or 2.38%, to 25,047, while the S&P 500 index rose 1.88% to 3,011 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.46% to 9,460.
​Merck (MRK, Financial) announced two agreements with other institutions to work toward developing a Covid-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment.
Gainers
• Alliance Data Systems Corp (ADS, Financial) +15.5%
• Carnival Corp (CCL, Financial) +12%
• Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL, Financial) +12%
• Southwest Airlines Co (LUV, Financial) +10.4%
• Ralph Lauren Corp (RL, Financial) +10.3%
• Coty Inc (COTY, Financial) +9.6%
• Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL, Financial) +9.4%
Losers
• Newmont Corporation (NEM, Financial) -3.7%
• Campbell Soup Co (CPB) -2.6%
• Becton Dickinson and Co (BDX) -1.6%
• Hormel Foods Corp (HRL, Financial) -1.4%
• Kroger Co (KR, Financial) -1.7%
• Hershey Co (HSY, Financial) -0.95%
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in the green. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.89%, France's CAC 40 jumped 1.22%, Germany's Dax advanced 0.83% and Spain's Ibex 35 was up 1.68%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 2.55%, India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.21%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.88% and China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.01%.
AutoZone releases earnings report
Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (AZO, Financial) gained more than 2% on Tuesday after the company announced its fiscal third-quarter results. The company posted $14.39 in earnigns per share, beating estimates by 81 cents. Revenue of $2.78 billion was flat year-over-year and beat expectations by $130 million.
For the first three quarters of the fiscal year, the gross profit as a percentage of sales was 53.6%, which is flat when compared to last year. However, the operating expenses rose 200 basis points to 35.9% of sales, primarily explained by $75 million of costs incurred due to Covid-19. Further, the operating profit decreased 10.2% to $491.7 million compared to $547.5 million in the same quarter of 2019.
The company repurchased 156 thousand shares of its common stock for $166.1 million at an average price of $1,064 per share. It has temporarily suspended its share repurchase program.
Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) initiated a new position of 20,141 shares in Autozone. First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) bought 17,000 shares, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) reduced his holding in the company by 56% to 7,555 shares and Simons' firm cut its position by 75% to 35,500 shares.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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