Editor’s note: The market is closed Monday in observance of Presidents’ Day, so the Wall-Street Wake-Up will return Tuesday morning.
Tesla prices its new offering, the U.S. government indicts Huawei plus stocks to watch today in the Money and Markets Wall Street Wake-Up.
The Morning Open
U.S. markets were mixed during Friday’s opening bell.
As of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.04%. The S&P 500 moved up 0.06% while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% higher.
The Top Story
A day after saying it will attempt to raise $2 billion with a common stock sale, Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) put a price on those shares.
The company said it will offer 2.65 million shares at a price of $767 per share — a 4.6% discount to its Thursday close price.
In its announcement, the company said CEO Elon Musk will purchase $10 million worth of the new shares while Oracle billionaire and Tesla board member Larry Ellison will buy $1 million worth of the new offering.
Following the announcement, shares of Tesla dipped but then gained nearly 5% in afternoon trading.
Tesla shares were down 1.6% in Friday premarket trading.
The news of the new offering came just two weeks after Musk declared the company would not need to raise capital to fund operations or production. Musk said the company would be able to fund operations and still keep a positive balance sheet.
Stocks to Watch Today
Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) — The technology company beat its earnings-per-share forecast by $0.22 per share. It also beat analyst expectations on revenue and said it continues to see strong demand heading in to the next quarter. Shares of Nvidia were up 6.4% Friday morning. (Note: We recommended Nvidia as one of our 4 artificial intelligence stocks to watch.)
Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) — Shares of the Canadian cannabis company rose 22% in premarket trading Friday after it reported losses of $0.35 per share. That was less than the expected $0.50 loss. Revenue also came in above analyst estimates.
Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) — The digital media player manufacturer reported a loss of $0.13 per share in the last quarter. That was less than analysts expected as its sales were also above forecasts. Shares of Roku were up 9.5% early Friday morning.
In the News
The U.S. government has indicted Chinese-based Huawei Technologies Inc. and two of its subsidiaries on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the indictment alleges Huawei committed financial fraud and violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. Federal prosecutors said the charges relate to a decades long effort by Huawei and its subsidiaries to steal intellectual property, including from six U.S. companies.
Prosecutors said the company was successful in getting nonpublic intellectual property regarding robotics, cellular antenna technology and internet router source code.
Numbers Suggest Green Investing ‘Mega Trend’ Is Here to Stay
Whether it’s investing in equities or exchange-traded funds, investors are on the lookout for trading socially and environmentally conscious options, according to CNBC.
“For the first time since WWII we sense a shift in which climate and the environment — not growth — will become the priority of governments and their citizens, as shortages of food, clean water and air become existential questions,” Saxo Bank Chief Economist Steen Jakobsen said in his latest quarterly outlook report.
A study published in January by Augustin Landier of HEC Paris Business School, Jean-François Bonnefon of Toulouse School of Economics, and Parinitha Sastry and David Thesmar of MIT Sloan, showed that investors are willing to pay $0.7 more for a share in a company giving one more dollar per share to charity.
Wayfair is Cutting 550 Jobs
Online retailer Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) is cutting 3% of its workforce in an effort to reduce its overall costs, according to The Boston Globe.
The company has reported slumping sales in recent quarters. It joins Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) and Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) in announcing job cuts. Macy’s said it was slashing 2,000 jobs and closing 125 stores while Kohl’s plans to eliminate 250 jobs.
Other Morning Reads
How to Trade Options: A Complete Guide (Money and Markets)
European Shares Hit Record Even As Coronavirus Shows No Signs of Peaking (Reuters)
Munger Calls Out Wall Street’s BS Earnings, “Wretched Excess” Threatens Markets (Money and Markets)
Earnings Report
Here are the companies releasing earnings reports today:
AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN)
Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC)
Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE; ESNT)
Newell Brands Inc. (Nasdaq: NWL)
Triton International Ltd. (NYSE: TRTN)
Chart of the Day
Today is Valentine’s Day.
With that in mind, researchers at Stanford University examined how couples are meeting. And online meeting is rising in popularity.
Researchers found that 39% of heterosexual couples met online — up from just 2% in 1995. Meeting through friends went down to 20% from 33% while meeting at a bar or restaurant jumped to 27% from 19%.
Check back each morning before the opening bell for stocks to watch today with the Wall Street Wake-Up, here on Money and Markets.
Remember, the markets are closed Monday, Feb. 17 in observation of Presidents Day. There will be no Wall Street Wake-Up. We will resume on Tuesday.
