Stocks opened higher and remain up at midday amid stimulus hopes and expectations for more solid earnings following a number of high-profile beats last night and this morning. Potential investor concerns over a disorderly transfer of power have eased with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris being sworn in as president and vice president today.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the NAHB housing market index fell 3 points to 83 in January
TOP NEWS: Shares of Netflix (NFLX) are up 14% at midday after the company reported fourth quarter results and said it had surpassed 200M subscribers for the first time. The better than expected subscriber growth last quarter, as well as management commentary that the company no longer needs outside capital to fund its business, prompted upgrades of Netflix to Overweight at Wells Fargo and to Buy at UBS along with a wealth of price target hikes from other Wall Street firms.
In other earnings news, Procter & Gamble (PG) reported fiscal Q2 core EPS and revenue that topped consensus and raised its FY21 core EPS view, UnitedHealth (UNH) beat expectations on the top and bottom lines and backed its FY21 outlook and Morgan Stanley's (MS) headline earnings and revenue topped consensus forecasts.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Collectors Universe (CLCT), which jumped 18% after it amended its merger agreement with an investor group to $92 per share. Also higher was Aptorum Group (APM), which gained 21% after receiving clearance from the Public Health Agency of Canada regarding the clinical trial application to commence a Phase 1 study of ALS-4, an orally administered small molecule drug intended to treat infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus including MRSA.
Among the notable losers was Gevo (GEVO), which declined 23% after pricing a 43.75M share registered direct offering at $8.00. Also lower was U.S. Bancorp (USB), which fell 5% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 188.37, or 0.61%, to 31,118.89, the Nasdaq was up 225.55, or 1.71%, to 13,422.73, and the S&P 500 was up 42.46, or 1.12%, to 3,841.37.
Netflix
+71.07 (+14.16%)
Procter & Gamble
-1.37 (-1.03%)
UnitedHealth
-1.29 (-0.37%)
Morgan Stanley
-0.09 (-0.12%)
Collectors Universe
+13.83 (+17.77%)
Aptorum Group
+0.645 (+20.31%)
Gevo
-2.525 (-22.93%)
U.S. Bancorp
-2.27 (-4.72%)