Plus, the S&P 500 is hovering near its record ahead of a busy earnings week with some of tech’s biggest names reporting, Bitcoin surged to nearly $39,000 on speculation that Amazon may soon accept cryptocurrencies as payment, and BioNTech said it plans to develop an mRNA vaccine for malaria.
Stocks were lower at the open on Monday with the Dow trading just below the flatline. The S&P 500 slid less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.1%.
Hasbro shares are up more than 11% at the time of writing after the toymaker posted a better-than-expected 54% jump in quarterly revenue as its Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment revenue more than doubled. “Hasbro delivered an excellent second quarter, with revenues up 54% versus the second quarter of last year and 9% versus pro forma second quarter 2019,” CEO Brian Goldner said in the earnings release. “Wizards continued to generate outstanding results behind a compelling analog and digital release schedule for MAGIC: THE GATHERING. Consumer products revenue increased as demand remains robust for Hasbro toys and games and entertainment revenue grew as we are producing entertainment with strong deliveries. The Hasbro team is performing at a high level and Supercharging our Brand Blueprint to drive demand for our brands and content slate as we track to our target of double-digit revenue growth for the full-year and position us for profitable growth not just this year but also in future years.”
The S&P 500 is hovering around its record this morning ahead of a busy week for earnings, with names like Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Tesla all gearing up to report. “I’m going to be watching four stocks very specifically,” said Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, pointing to Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. “Those four stocks represent 20% of the entire weight of the S&P 500. Those four mega cap stocks are really going to be key to see whether this market continues to keep pressing ahead because we already know the earnings estimates look great and a narrative of ‘peak everything’ is kind of floating around among investors right now. So we continue to hope that these numbers are going to be great on the top and bottom line.”
Bitcoin has risen nearly 13% to $38,383.23 this morning climbing towards its highest level in early 6 weeks. The surge comes amid speculation over Amazon’s involvement in the crypto industry. A job posting from the retail giant said it is seeking an executive to develop the Amazon’s “digital currency and blockchain strategy,” stirring questions over whether the post indicates Amazon may accept Bitcoin as a method of payment in the future. Amazon said in a press release after reporters picked up on the posting, “We’re inspired by the innovation happening in the cryptocurrency space and are exploring what this could look like on Amazon. We believe the future will be built on new technologies that enable modern, fast and inexpensive payments, and hope to bring that future to Amazon customers as soon as possible.”
U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba, Tencent, and Meituan as well as Chinese education stocks are all lower this morning after their Hong Kong-listed shares plummeted on increased regulatory pressure from China. China’s antitrust regulator ordered Tencent to give up its exclusive music licensing rights and issued a fine on it for anti-competitive behavior, and separately announced a broad set of reforms for education companies, saying that the sector has been “hijacked by capital.” “I see panic selling in the market now as investors are pricing in a possibility that Beijing will tighten regulation on all sectors that have seen robust growth in recent years,” said Castro Pang, head of research at Core Pacific Yamaichi. “I don’t think investors can do any bottom fishing at this point. We don’t know where the bottom is.”
And BioNTech said it plans to develop an mRNA-based vaccine for malaria following the success of its COVID-19 vaccine developed with Pfizer. Malaria kills around 400,000 people per year and has been a notoriously tricky target for vaccine makers. BioNTech said it plans to begin trials for a malaria shot by the end of next year. “The response to the pandemic has shown that science and innovation can transform people’s lives when all key stakeholders work together towards a common goal. We are committed to bringing our innovations to those who need them most,” said BioNTech CEO Dr. Ugur Sahin in a press release. “Together with our partners, we will do whatever it takes to develop a safe and effective mRNA-based Malaria vaccine that will prevent the disease, reduce mortality and ensure a sustainable solution for the African continent and other regions affected by this diseases.”
Stocks We’re Watching
ClearPoint Neuro Inc (NASDAQ: CLPT): ClearPoint Neuro announced on Friday a joint agreement with Blackrock Neurotech to develop an automated surgical solution for implanting Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) into patients with a range of neurological disorders including paralysis, ALS, blindness, and hearing loss. “The partnership with Blackrock will allow us to leverage our expertise in neuro-navigation and robotic delivery to create a system capable of assisting surgeons to implant these BCI arrays in a predictable and replicable manner,” ClearPoint Neuro President and CEO Joe Burnett said in a statement. “Automation and predictability are crucial to getting a sophisticated device like the Blackrock BCI out of the research domain and into the clinic. We are thrilled to be an enabling partner to Blackrock and the BCI market in a similar fashion to what we are doing in Biologics and Drug Delivery and Medical Devices as well.”