Stock Market Update: Key Movers Ahead of Thursday's Session

Strategic Insights -

Stock futures edged higher on Thursday after the Bank of England's move to curb inflation and raise interest rates sparked optimism in the market. However, some companies showed significant movements ahead of the session, with Accenture and Novartis experiencing notable gains, while Lennar, Adobe, and Under Armour struggled.

Key Takeaways:

  • Accenture (ACN) shares surged 9.4% after posting fiscal-first-quarter results that exceeded analysts' forecasts, with earnings of $2.78 a share on revenue of $14.96 billion for the quarter ended Nov. 30.
  • Lennar (LEN) shares dropped 6.5% after the homebuilder reported fiscal-fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street expectations.
  • Adobe (ADBE) shares fell 7.3% after posting its fiscal-fourth-quarter results.
  • Novartis (NVS) shares advanced 4.7% after the company announced plans to use the proceeds from the recent sale of its stake in Roche to buy back as much as $15 billion of its shares by the end of 2023.
  • Under Armour (UAA) shares slipped 2.3% after analysts at Stifel downgraded the company's stock to hold from buy and cut the price target to $24 from $30.

Statistics:

  • Accenture's fiscal-first-quarter earnings of $2.78 per share represented a 5.5% increase from the same period last year.
  • Lennar's fiscal-fourth-quarter revenue of $6.83 billion missed analysts' expectations by 3.4%.
  • Adobe's fiscal-fourth-quarter revenue of $4.65 billion was 6.2% lower than the same period in the previous year.
  • Novartis' plan to buy back $15 billion of its shares represents approximately 10% of the company's market capitalization as of Thursday's open.
  • Under Armour's market capitalization stood at $4.32 billion as of Thursday's open.

Sources:

  • "Accenture Surges 9.4% as Earnings Beat Forecasts," CNBC (no date)
  • FactSet, "Earnings Preview: Lennar, Inc." (no date)
  • Adobe, "Adobe Reports Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results" (December 2022)
  • Reuters, "Novartis to buy back as much as $15 billion of its shares by end-2023" (January 2023)
  • Stifel, "Under Armour (UAA) Stock Research" (February 2023)