| | | A retail giant is tumbling on weak 2025 guidance, an e-commerce powerhouse is surging on AI-driven cloud growth, and an EV company is soaring 32% after one of its charging solutions received GSA approval. Here’s what you need to know. | |
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| | | | | What to Watch | Earnings: | Booking Holdings Inc. [BKNG]: Aftermarket Nu Holdings Ltd. [NU]: Aftermarket Copart, Inc. [CPRT]: Aftermarket Newmont Corporation [NEM]: Aftermarket Block, Inc. [SQ]: Aftermarket Cheniere Energy, Inc. [LNG]: Aftermarket | Economic Reports: | Initial jobless claims [Feb. 15]: 8:30 a.m. Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey [Feb]: 8:30 a.m. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks: 9:30 a.m. U.S. leading economic indicators [Jan]: 10:00 a.m. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr speaks at 2:30 p.m. Fed Governor Adriana Kugler speaks at 5:00 p.m. |
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| | Retail | Walmart’s Stock Falling Despite Surpassing Q4 Estimates Due to Weak 2025 Outlook | | Walmart [NYSE: WMT] reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, including a 5.3% rise in revenue to $182.6 billion, surpassing Wall Street projections today. | Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are up 10% year-over-year to $0.66, which is also slightly above analysts’ expectations of $0.65. | Same-store sales in the U.S. climbed 4.6%, fueled by strong foot traffic and the continued growth of high-income shoppers looking for value. | Walmart’s e-commerce business rose 20%, driven by in-store pickup, delivery, and its expanding online marketplace. | Its subscription service, Walmart+, also experienced double-digit growth, while its advertising and membership revenue jumped 33%. | Grocery sales, which account for 60% of Walmart’s total revenue, recorded mid-single-digit growth, supported by rising online orders and in-store visits. | Meanwhile, the company’s health and wellness division saw mid-teens growth, boosted by pharmacy sales, same-day delivery, and increased demand for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. | However, sales of discretionary items, such as toys and apparel, posted only modest gains. | Walmart's net sales grew 5.6% to $684.2 billion for the full fiscal year, exceeding both its own forecasts and analysts’ expectations. | However, its cautious 2025 outlook is weighing on investor sentiment. The retailer projects net sales growth of 3% to 4% for fiscal 2026, which is being viewed as conservative. | Despite its strong performance, Walmart’s stock is down 8.8% in premarket trading, with investors focusing more on its subdued future guidance. |
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| | E-Commerce | Alibaba Beating Expectations with AI-Powered Cloud Growth | | Chinese tech giant Alibaba [NYSE: BABA] reported a significant jump in quarterly profit today, driven by strong performance in its Cloud Intelligence and e-commerce divisions. | The e-commerce firm posted a net income of 48.95 billion yuan ($6.72B) for the quarter ending December 31, surpassing analyst expectations of 40.6 billion yuan ($5.57B) and significantly outpacing the 14.43 billion yuan ($1.98B) reported a year earlier. | Revenue reached 280.15 billion yuan ($38.46B), slightly ahead of estimates of 279.34 billion yuan ($38.35B). Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares are surging 9.2% during premarket trading. | CEO Eddie Wu is confident that artificial intelligence will continue to drive expansion in the Cloud Intelligence segment, asserting, “Our Cloud revenue growth reignited to double digits at 13%, with AI-related product revenue achieving triple-digit growth for the sixth consecutive quarter.” | Alibaba’s cloud division reported a 13% year-over-year revenue increase, reaching 31.74 billion yuan ($4.35B), while its Taobao and Tmall Group saw a 5% rise in revenue to 136.09 billion yuan ($18.68B). | International e-commerce platforms like AliExpress and Lazada performed even stronger, with a 32% revenue jump to 37.76 billion yuan ($5.18B), fueled by cross-border demand. | The company’s AI initiatives remain in focus, particularly after its latest Qwen 2.5 model claimed an edge over Chinese rival DeepSeek. | Meanwhile, founder Jack Ma made a rare public appearance at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, signaling renewed government support for private businesses. |
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| | | | Technology | NetEase Sees Earnings Growth as Gaming Division Outperforms | | NetEase, Inc. [NASDAQ: NTES] reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings despite a slight decline in revenue. | The Chinese gaming and internet services provider achieved a quarterly profit of RMB8.8 billion ($1.2B), up from RMB6.6 billion ($906M) in the same period last year. | Earnings per share increased to $0.38, or $1.89 per American Depositary Share (ADS), from $0.28 and $1.40 per ADS, respectively. | On an adjusted basis, the company posted earnings of RMB9.7 billion ($1.3B), compared to RMB7.4 billion ($1.01B) a year earlier. | Adjusted earnings per share are $0.42, or $2.09 per ADS, up from $0.32 and $1.57 per ADS in the fourth quarter of the previous year. | Revenue for the quarter totaled RMB26.7 billion ($3.7 billion), down 1.4% from RMB27.1 billion ($3.72B) last year. | The decline is driven by weaker performances in the Youdao and Cloud Music divisions. | Revenue from Youdao dropped to RMB1.3 billion ($183.6M) from RMB1.5 billion ($205M), while NetEase Cloud Music saw a decline to RMB1.9 billion ($257.6M) from RMB2.0 billion ($274M) a year earlier. | The company’s board has approved a dividend of $0.24405 per share ($1.22025 per ADS) for Q4 2024. |
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| | Movers and Shakers | | Xos, Inc. [XOS] - Last Close: $3.13 | Xos is a commercial electric vehicle (EV) company specializing in fleet electrification and charging solutions. | Its shares are surging 32% during premarket trading after announcing that its Xos Hub, a trailer-mounted EV charging unit, has been added to the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule. | My Take: Xos’ GSA listing is a big win for expanding into government contracts. If federal agencies and commercial fleets adopt the Xos Hub at scale, the company could see strong long-term growth. Keep this stock on your radar. |
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| Herbalife Ltd. [HLF] - Last Close: $5.62 | Herbalife Ltd. is a global nutrition and direct-selling company. | Its shares are rising before the opening bell today after reporting Q4 net sales at the high end of its guidance, posting $1.2 billion in revenue, with a 2.7% year-over-year increase on a constant currency basis. | Adjusted EBITDA of $150 million is also above expectations, and new distributor signups are up 22% year-over-year. | My Take: Herbalife’s distributor growth and cost-cutting are stabilizing its business, but its net sales haven’t been growing, which is a cause of concern. Keep a close eye on whether distributor growth translates to better net sales. |
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| Amplitude, Inc. [AMPL] - Last Close: $11.85 | Amplitude, Inc., is a leading digital analytics platform. | Its shares are soaring during premarket after the company beat Q4 estimates, growing revenue 9.4% yearly to $78.13 million and surpassing analyst expectations of $76.69 million. | It also projected FY25 revenue between $324.8 million and $330.8 million, slightly higher than consensus estimates. | My Take: Amplitude’s resilient growth and bullish guidance signal improving demand for digital analytics. However, stiff competition from Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics remains a challenge. Keep this stock in your wait and watch bucket. |
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| | | | | | That’s all for today. Thank you for reading. If you have any feedback, please reply to this email. | Best Regards, | — Adam Garcia Elite Trade Club |
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