Plus, Ethereum hit a new all-time high, Chipotle said it is raising the pay for its restaurant workers, and The Trade Desk shares are down after the company reported earnings and announced a 10-for-1 stock split.
Stocks were mixed at the open on Monday with the Dow adding just 7 points, or less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% lower, while the Nasdaq dropped nearly 0.5%.
Gasoline futures rose to their highest levels in nearly three years overnight on news that the largest pipeline in the U.S. remains closed today following a cybersecurity attack on Friday. Colonial Pipeline said on Sunday that it is still working on a plan for restarting the pipeline and would only bring it back online when it is “safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations.” Colonial halted all operations on its system late Friday after suffering a ransomware attack allegedly by hacker group DarkSide, which affected some of its IT systems, marking the latest example of critical infrastructure being targeted by ransomeware. “It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort right now,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as the shutdown continues. “We are working closely with [Colonial], state and local officials to make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there aren’t disruptions in supply.”
Ethereum rose above $4,100 for the first time this morning, hitting an all-time high of $4,172.10. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency has now reached a market cap of $475.93 billion, less than half Bitcoin’s market cap of $1.08 trillion. While Ether hits new highs, Dogecoin’s priced has collapsed to $0.50 at the time of writing after surging to nearly $0.75 this weekend ahead of self-proclaimed “Dogefather” Elon Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live. Dogecoin dropped nearly 30% during Musk’s SNL stint after the Tesla CEO said the cryptocurrency was a “hustle.”
Chipotle shares are down nearly 2% this morning after the burrito chain announced this morning that it is raising pay for its restaurant workers, with the goal to reach an average of $15 an hour by the end of June. Chipotle has also introduced an employee referral bonus of $200 for crew members and $750 for apprentices or general managers as the company looks to recruit 20,000 new workers across the country to support its peak season and new restaurant openings. “We are sharing with people that it’s not just a job right now, but it’s actually a job that can lead to a meaningful career,” said CEO Brian Niccol. “I’m glad that we’re a company that’s got the growth, and frankly the strength, to increase wages and start talking more about how the job leads to your future growth with our company.”
BioNTech shares are up more than 7% today following the company’s announcement that it will set up its Southeast Asia headquarters in Singapore. The new production site could be operational as early as 2023 and will create as many as 80 jobs in Singapore. “Having multiple nodes in our production network is an important strategic step in building out our global footprint and capabilities,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech in a statement. “With this planned mRNA production facility, we will increase our overall network capacity and expand our ability to manufacture and deliver our mRNA vaccines and therapies to people around the world.”
And shares of The Trade Desk have sunk more than 20% this morning following its first quarter earnings report and announcement of a 10-for-1 stock split. The company reported earnings per share of $1.41 on revenue of $219.8 million, compared to estimates for earnings of $0.77 per share on revenue of $217 million. Citi analysts said that while revenue came in above consensus, the beat wasn’t as big as investors were hoping for. “We believe investors were looking for [a] bigger beat given solid 1Q results for GOOGL and ROKU,” Citi analysts wrote on Monday. For the 10-for-1 stock split, investors who hold shares as of June 9 will receive nine additional shares of common stock that will be distributed after the close of trading on June 16, with the company trading on a stock split-adjusted basis on June 17.
Stocks We’re Watching
Revolve Group Inc (NYSE: RVLV): Revolve Group shares jumped nearly 16% on Friday after the retailer reported first quarter results. “We delivered record quarterly net sales in the first quarter of 2021, highlighted by growth of 22% year-over-year and 30% over the first quarter of 2019, with meaningful acceleration in growth during March,” co-founder and co-CEO Mike Karanikolas said in the earnings release. “We also delivered record net income of $22 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, and $33 million in cash flow generated from operating activities, a more than 400% and 300% increase over the prior year, respectively. Our exceptional results for the first quarter reinforce our belief that REVOLVE is uniquely positioned for the reopening of economies and the post-COVID world as a brand consumers associate with living an active social lifestyle. We are excited to re-accelerate our investment in the business to support our next phase of growth.”