Shares of PDD Holdings (PDD, Financial) soared approximately 14% in pre-market trading after the company reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations. The Chinese e-commerce giant's revenue surged nearly 94% year-over-year, with significant growth in both online marketing and transaction services. PDD's non-GAAP earnings per American depositary share grew by 34.7% from the previous year. The company's leadership emphasized ongoing investments in technology and user engagement as key drivers of their strategy.
Meanwhile, Zscaler (ZS, Financial) experienced a premarket dip of nearly 5% despite reporting first-quarter results that surpassed analyst predictions. The cybersecurity firm's billings forecast, however, prompted some disappointment among investors. Analysts from Wedbush Securities highlighted Zscaler's impressive deal momentum and cost management, suggesting the company's billings guidance for fiscal 2024 is conservative and indicative of underlying strength.
Avidity Biosciences (RNA, Financial) announced an expansion of its partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY, Financial), aiming to develop and commercialize multiple cardiovascular drugs. The deal, potentially worth up to $2.3 billion, builds upon a previous collaboration and will focus on exploring antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) in cardiac tissue. Avidity's shares surged around 20% in pre-market trading following the news, while Bristol Myers saw a modest increase of about 1%.
Bank of America downgraded American Axle & Manufacturing (AXL, Financial) to Underperform, causing the stock to fall over 4% in pre-market trading. The downgrade was based on a lack of positive catalysts until 2024 and potential near-term volume pressure. The company had previously reported a quarterly bottom line miss but managed a top line beat.
Micron Technology (MU, Financial) updated its first-quarter earnings guidance, citing improved supply and demand dynamics. The company now expects revenue to be around $4.7 billion, up from previous estimates. Despite the positive guidance update, Micron shares fell 3.5% in pre-market trading. Executives from Micron are scheduled to provide further updates at an upcoming technology conference.
Consumer spending remained robust over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, with Square (SQ, Financial) and Afterpay sellers recording a record 70 million transactions, a 14% increase from the previous year. In-person shopping rose by 15%, and online cart sizes were significantly larger than in-person purchases. The data also showed notable increases in transactions for restaurants and beauty and wellness sellers.
Amazon (AMZN, Financial) is reportedly on track to surpass its rivals in the U.S. logistics industry, with projections to deliver around 5.9 billion packages by the end of 2023. This would mark the first time Amazon has taken the lead in annual deliveries, outpacing both UPS (UPS, Financial) and FedEx (FDX, Financial).
Edwards Lifesciences (EW, Financial) saw its shares trade lower after Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to Underperform. The downgrade was influenced by emerging competition in the market for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR), with new products expected from Abbott Laboratories (ABT, Financial) and Boston Scientific (BSX, Financial).
Eli Lilly (LLY, Financial) remained in the spotlight as a real-world study found its anti-obesity medication tirzepatide to be significantly more effective than Novo Nordisk's (NVO, Financial) semaglutide. The study, which included over 40,000 overweight or obese adults, showed that tirzepatide was three times more likely to result in a 15% weight reduction.
Barclays raised its 2024 year-end price target for the S&P 500 (SP500) to 4,800, suggesting a potential upside from the current level. The bank also adjusted its earnings per share estimate for the year, while expressing caution about the consensus for double-digit EPS growth.
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS, Financial) reported its fourth-quarter earnings, with non-GAAP EPS of C$1.26 and revenue growth of 8.9% year-over-year. The bank also saw an increase in its provision for credit losses, which rose significantly compared to the previous year.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index indicated a continued rise in home prices in September, marking the eighth consecutive month of gains. The index showed a slight deceleration in growth compared to August, with a year-over-year increase of 3.9%.
Hedge funds have been unwinding long positions in tech stocks, with significant net selling in the sector. Goldman Sachs noted that last week saw the most net selling in tech, media, and telecom stocks since July, driven largely by sales in software, chips, and interactive media services.
