Markets have been hit by the latest job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers showed better than expected job numbers and that means the Fed is likely to continue its aggressive stance on interest rates for a while yet. And that’s not great news for stock markets – the S&P 500 is currently down 2.4% at 3,564.
As stock prices fall, the oil price has continued to rise. That’s helped oil stocks. Today we look at two oil stocks on the rise as well as a big faller in the tech sector, down 11%. Even that fall was eclipsed by a 17% stock price crash for a marijuana business. And there's bad news for an American healthcare giant. Read on for Friday's early risers and fallers.
Dexcom (DXCOM) is by far the biggest riser today. Shares in the glucose monitoring company have soared 11% to $102.95 on good news from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A new update on the agency’s website is very positive about using glucose measurement systems like Dexcom’s G7 for Type 2 diabetic patients.
As a result Stifel has raised its price target for Dexcom from $112 to $120. Today’s news follows a boost earlier this week when Dexcom revealed that it was launching its latest G7 product in the UK, Germany and Australia. The shares are up 25% this week, and likely there will be more rises to come.
The beauty of Dexcom’s technology is that it means diabetics no longer have to produce a blood sample several times a day to test for glucose levels. Instead you can attach Dexcom’s sensor to your arm for ten days and the sensor then sends regular updates on glucose levels to the user’s device.
APA (APA)’s stock price is up 3% at $43.56. The oil company owns Apache Petroleum and has risen along with most of the oil sector today. Investors are continuing to buy oil stocks following the OPEC+ announcement on Wednesday that it would cut oil production by two million barrels a day.
AstraZeneca (AZN), the Anglo-Swedish drugs giant, has had a good day both on the London and US markets. On Nasdaq, it’s currently up $1.10 to $56.01.
The company has quietly built up a very strong portfolio of new and fairly new drugs that will be patent-protected for several years to come. One example is Farxiga, a heart failure medication that may generate $9 billion in peak annual sales by 2028.
Astra’s stock price performed strongly in the first half of this year but started to fall back in the summer for no obvious good reason. Perhaps some bargain hunters have come out and bought stock today.
Halliburton (HAL) is another oil business having a good day. The stock price is up almost 4% at $31.06.
Unlike APA, it doesn’t produce oil or explore for it. It provides services to oil companies such as rigs and 2023 should be a great year for the company if the oil price can stay high.
It’s been a terrible day for chipmaker stocks. The semiconductor giant AMD (AMD) warned this morning that third-quarter revenue would be about $1 billion below the previous forecast of $6.7 billion. AMD blamed weakening demand for PCs for the sales miss, and the shares have tumbled 11% to $60.38.
Sentiment in the sector was also hit by a warning from the Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronic that it expected earnings to fall 30% this quarter due to reduced demand. In fairness, Samsung is much more than a chipmaker but most of its products need chips.
Shares in two other chip businesses fell today: Intel (INTC) is down 5% at $25.97, and Nvidia (NVDA) is down 6% at $122.58.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid has been making a big stock market impact today. Not only has it boosted Dexcom’s share price, it’s also hit CVS Health (CVS). The Center has downgraded its rating for CVS’s largest health insurance plan – down from 4.5 stars to 3.5 stars. That means CVS won’t receive performance based bonus payments that were previously expected in 2024. CVS’s stock price is down 11% at $88.16.
Regardless of today’s bad news, CVS does offer some attractions. It generated $16 billion in free cash last year and the dividend yield is now close to 2.5%.
Generac (GNRC) operates in a business sweet spot that looks sure to grow. It makes standby generators for homes and businesses, as well as inverters that convert solar energy into electricity. On top of that it provides ‘advanced power grid software solutions,' which sounds like a nice growth area given the poor state of the US power grid.
However, Generac’s stock price is down 9% today at $154 after Bank of America Securities downgraded the stock from ‘Buy’ to ‘Neutral’ and also cut the price target to $192.
Tilray (TLRY) has seen its stock price crashed 17% today to $3.23 after the marijuana company said that its third-quarter numbers would miss forecasts for both revenue and earnings. Today’s fall follows a 40% jump in the stock price yesterday after President Biden said that the federal government would review the status for marijuana as a schedule 1 controlled substance.