In today’s briefing:
- [ACM Research (ACMR US, BUY, TP US$30) Review]: Beat on Order Pull-In and Favorable Foreign Exchange
- Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.: Discovering the Key Factors Behind The Recent Results! – Financial Forecasts
- US Oil Inventories Log Biggest Ever Weekly Decline
- First Solar Inc.: Can The New Bifacial Solar Panel Power The Future? – Major Drivers
- Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings: Does It Have A Sustainable Competitive Advantage? – Key Drivers
- Southwest Airlines Company: 4 Key Factors Driving Their Future Growth – Financial Forecasts
- Bots In The Backroom
- Tractor Supply Company: How They’re Continuing To Have Positive Comps! – Major Drivers
- VeriSign Inc.: 4 Reasons Behind the Sustained Strength! – Financial Forecasts
- Tether Imbalance on Curve Raises Questions
[ACM Research (ACMR US, BUY, TP US$30) Review]: Beat on Order Pull-In and Favorable Foreign Exchange
- ACMR reported C2Q23 top-line, non-GAAP EBIT, and non-GAAP net profit 22%, 130%, and 209% vs. our est., and 25%, 228%, and 248%, respectively.
- As FY guidance was unchanged, we suggest that the revenue beat was due to tool delivery faster than expected (i.e., order pull-in).
- We maintain our FY23 revenue estimate, but raise our net margin estimate to reflect the better-than-expected impact of USD appreciation on profitability.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.: Discovering the Key Factors Behind The Recent Results! – Financial Forecasts
- Reliance Steel & Aluminum’s results were a major disappointment as the company failed to meet the revenue and earnings expectations of Wall Street.
- Stainless steel and aluminum products represented more than 30% of the total sales of the quarter, with stainless and aluminum aerospace products comprising around 9%.
- We give Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co an ‘Underperform’ rating with a revised target price.
US Oil Inventories Log Biggest Ever Weekly Decline
- US Oil Inventories Log Biggest Ever Weekly Decline US weekly oil inventories (ex SPR) fell by over 17 million barrels, as last weeks EIA data showed.
- This draw marked the largest weekly drop in history and shows that the US demand for oil remains strong – this fits an (at least in the mid-term) improving economic momentum picture that we painted in our latest macro outlook.
- Meanwhile, the divergence between the price of crude (reversed line in red) and the inventory data (black line) remains quite large.
First Solar Inc.: Can The New Bifacial Solar Panel Power The Future? – Major Drivers
- First Solar delivered an all-around beat in the most recent quarterly results.
- Driven by supportive industrial and trade policies, compelling market fundamentals, and robust customer demand, First Solar continued investing and expanding in U.S. domestic manufacturing.
- First Solar purchases Evolar AB in the search for next-generation solar cells.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings: Does It Have A Sustainable Competitive Advantage? – Key Drivers
- Laboratory Corporation of America delivered a disappointing set of results as the company was unable to meet the revenue expectations as well as the earnings expectations of Wall Street.
- Base business revenue and base business revenue of Diagnostic Laboratories grew driven by strong base business volume and Ascension.
- Labcorp, a segment of the company’s laboratory services business, delivered exceptional growth in its Diagnostic Laboratories and generated strong progress in Central Laboratories.
Southwest Airlines Company: 4 Key Factors Driving Their Future Growth – Financial Forecasts
- Southwest Airlines managed to exceed analyst expectations in terms of revenue as well as earnings.
- The demand environment, particularly for leisure travel, is resilient as it sees solid bookings all over this busy summer travel season.
- We give Southwest Airlines a ‘Hold’ rating with a revised target price.
Bots In The Backroom
- In the aftermath of a stellar third-quarter earnings release, Symbotic, a warehouse automation company, exceeded the expectations of even the most bullish earnings forecasts.
- Propelled by the encouraging financial performance, the company’s stock value skyrocketed to over $62 per share, catapulting the company’s market cap to over $35 billion.
- There are several reasons to be optimistic, given that the company is riding multiple tailwinds.
Tractor Supply Company: How They’re Continuing To Have Positive Comps! – Major Drivers
- Tractor Supply Company’s results were a major disappointment as the company failed to meet Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations.
- Consumer spending continues spending in favor of services and they continue pulling back on discretionary purchases.
- On the real estate front, TSCO opened seventeen new Tractor supply stores in the quarter and 3 Petsense by Tractor supply stores.
VeriSign Inc.: 4 Reasons Behind the Sustained Strength! – Financial Forecasts
- VeriSign managed to exceed analyst expectations in terms of revenue as well as earnings.
- The quarter included solid financial results and renewing the.net registry agreement with ICANN.
- The financial results in the quarter showed continued strength of its business during the uncertain macroeconomic period.
Tether Imbalance on Curve Raises Questions
- Curve’s 3pool and Uniswap V3’s main USDT-USDC pool both became imbalanced heading into the weekend as USDT selling escalated.
- However, this trend actually started in mid-July, with $100mn net selling on Uniswap from July 15 to July 22.
- While the net selling eased in the last few weeks of July, it picked up again on July 31, the day after the Curve exploit (these two events seem to be unrelated).