US Markets
U.S. stocks were in the green on Wednesday morning. The Dow advanced more than 300 points, or 1.19%, to 28,102, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.10% to 3,397 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.17%, to 11,286.
Gainers
• Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX, Financial) +5.5%
• Gap Inc (GPS, Financial) +4.5%
• Celanese Corp (CE, Financial) +4.1%
• Tapestry Inc (TPR, Financial) +3.9%
• PVH Corp (PVH, Financial) 2.8%
Losers
• DraftKings Inc. (DKNG, Financial) -7.3%
• Halliburton Company (HAL, Financial) -1.2%
• Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC, Financial) -0.3%
• Ventas Inc (VTR, Financial) -0.2%
Global Markets
The main European stock markets traded in the red. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.07%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.41%, Germany's Dax was down 0.38% and Spain's Ibex 35 retreated 0.25%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.05%, India's BSE Sensex advanced 0.77%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.09% and China's Shanghai Composite wasdown 0.20%.
Levi Strauss releases earnings report
Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI, Financial) gained 9% on Wednesday morning after the company announced financial results for its third quarter of fiscal 2020. It posted earnings per share of 8 cents, beating analysts' estimates by 30 cents. Revenue of $1.06 billion declined 26.9% year-over-year but beat expectations by $237.75 million.
President and CEO Chip Bergh had the following to say:
"These investments (diversification across geographies, product categories and distribution channels) are already paying off- we exceeded our expectations for the third quarter, our total digital business has doubled as a share of total net revenues, and Levi's remains the global leader in denim, where our women's business continues to take market share. And the brand has gotten even stronger during the pandemic."
The gross margin rose 130 basis points to 54.3%, higher than 53.0% in the same quarter of the prior year. The adjusted gross margin increased 60 basis points to 53.6%.
Further, the adjusted Ebit was $84 million, and adjusted Ebit margin was 8%, due to the company's cost-reduction initiatives and higher gross margin. The operating income reached $92 million, down from $171 million in the same quarter of the previous year. Levi's generated $183 million of adjusted free cash flow.
Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) initiated a new stock position in the stock during the second quarter with 35,733 shares.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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