Advertisement

Stimulus or No? Plus News from GILD, Earnings from INTC & MAT

Market indexes swung to positive closes after yet another day where news on Capitol Hill brought promise of a stimulus relief package agreement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. On the one hand, we must credit the work being put into finding a compromise, especially so close to a General Election. On the other — haven’t we been here before? Like, over and over?

Of course everyone hopes an agreement can be reached with how many struggling small businesses and family units are in danger of insolvency. Thus, The Dow rose 0.54% on the day, +153 points; the S&P 500 was up 0.52%, +18%; the Nasdaq pulled up the rear, +0.19% or 21.3 points. This was another day we saw the small-cap Russell 2000 index outpace the larger indexes, +1.65% on the day, which is its best single trading day in more than two weeks.

Gilead GILD shares are up 4% in late trading on an announcement that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted full approval to its remdesivir treatment, which is used in the treatment of Covid-19. The treatment, with the brand name Viklury, was one of the drugs President Trump had received in his remarkable recovery from the coronavirus three weeks ago, in which he displayed symptoms of the disease but only for a handful of days. Viklury had initially only won FDA approval for emergency use.

If this news comes as something of a surprise, you may be remembering the recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO) in its study of remdesivir, which called into question the treatment’s overall effectiveness. Yet the FDA’s news today is providing a boost to Gilead, which remains well off its late-April peak on the first reports released in association with the company’s Covid-19 treatment.

Intel INTC shares, on the other hand, have sold off 10% in late trading on a slight beat on the bottom line and surpassing revenue estimates. Earnings of $1.11 per share topped the Zacks consensus by a penny, while $18.33 billion in sales was neatly above the $18.21 billion analysts had expected. Guidance for Q4 earnings were also slightly ahead of current estimates for the company. So why the sell-off?

The devil is in the details, as they say: while its PC units rose in the quarter, to $9.8 billion, this is the more antiquated business to which Intel caters. The Data Center business, at $5.9 billion in the quarter, was lower than analysts were looking for. Gross Margin fell notably and Server ASPs were way off pace. Also consider Intel has not missed on earnings in almost seven years; a one-cent beat might be considered a miss to a company with that level of performance. For more in INTC’s earnings, click here.

Mattel MAT, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated toy manufacturer, has a different story to tell: 95 cents per share was about 2.5x the 38 cents expected, with sales of $1.63 billion blowing the doors off the $1.46 billion in the Zacks consensus. Low inventories, with growth in Dolls and Games in the quarter, helped spur the good news ahead of Q4 holiday season. Shares are up 6% on the earnings report. For more on MAT’s earnings, click here.

Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

 

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

 

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

 

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> 


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Mattel, Inc. (MAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Intel Corporation (INTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research
 
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report