Plus, Virgin Galactic shares skyrocketed after the FAA granted the company the license it needs to fly passengers on future spaceflights, Microsoft unveiled its Windows 11 operating system, and Google announced it is pushing back its timeline to kill third-party tracking cookies to 2023.
Stocks were higher at the open on Friday with the Dow adding 131 points, or nearly 0.4%. The S&P 500 rose by just under 0.2%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.2%.
Nike shares are up more than 13% this morning to a new record high after the sneaker maker forecast full-year sales topping $50 billion for the first time, benefiting from rebounding growth in North America. The company also reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, posting earnings per share of $0.93 on revenue of $12.34 billion versus estimates for earnings per share of $0.51 on revenue of $11.01 billion. “Nike is one of the best brands on the planet, the global consumer is very strong, the company is furthering its connection with its consumer through tech, and the company’s distribution model is moving away from wholesale,” said Jefferies analyst Randal Konik. “Shares should rise another 50% from here.”
A key inflation indicator used by the Fed to set policy rose 3.4% in May, according to the Commerce Department. That marks the biggest gain since April 1992. Though the reading of the core personal consumption expenditures price index could add to inflation concerns, Fed officials are likely to continue to insist the current situation is transitory and likely to abate as conditions return to normal. A separate report from Thursday showed that consumer spending was flat for May, versus economists’ estimates for a 0.4% increase, while personal income declined 2%.
Virgin Galactic shares are up more than 38% today after the FAA granted the company the license it needs to fly passengers on future spaceflights. “The commercial license that we have had in place since 2016 remains in place, but is now cleared to allow us to carry commercial passengers when we’re ready to do so,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said. “This is obviously an exciting milestone and a huge compliment to the team.” With the new license, the company will be able to fly what the regulator calls “spaceflight participants.” Virgin Galactic’s Unity spacecraft is designed to hold up to six passengers along with two pilots. The company already has around 600 reservations for tickets on future flights that were sold between $200,000 and $250,000 each.
Microsoft unveiled its Windows 11 operating system Thursday afternoon, the first new version of its flagship operating system in more than five years. As part of the upgrade, Microsoft will integrate its Teams chat and videoconferencing software directly into the operating system, and will support apps that run Google’s Android operating system, among other updates. After unveiling Windows 11, Microsoft shares rose to close at a $2 trillion valuation for the first time, joining an exclusive club with iPhone-maker Apple. “Microsoft checks all the boxes: it is in the markets that investors favor, it offers strong and sustainable growth, and it remains very well positioned to capitalize on the long-term secular trends we see in technology,” said Logan Purk, an analyst at Edward Jones, who added that the $2 trillion valuation “is warranted, given how it has pivoted toward the cloud, and it remains attractively valued even given the strong performance.”
And speaking of Google, the search giant said it is pushing back its timeline to kill third-party tracking cookies from 2022 to 2023, giving the digital advertising industry more time to plan for more privacy-conscious targeted ads. Google first pledged to remove third-party cookies within two years in 2020, barring the software trackers that let marketers use browsing data from other websites. “While there’s considerable progress with this initiative, it’s become clear that more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right,” said Vinay Goel, a Chrome engineering director.
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Inspired Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ: INSE): Inspired Entertainment announced yesterday that it has joined with OPAP S.A., the leading Greek betting and lottery operator, to launch V-Play Soccer 3.0 and Matchday 3.0 with enhanced graphics, new features and European Tournament, which offers never-before-seen functionality, across OPAP’s retail estate throughout Greece. “We are thrilled to introduce these brand-new Virtual Sports products to OPAP’s customer base across Greece,” Steve Rogers, Chief Commercial Officer Virtual Sports for Inspired, said in a press release. “Our Virtual Sports have proven to be successful in Greece, and we know these soccer products will deliver the engaging betting experience OPAP customers expect, further complementing their gaming and sports betting businesses. It’s particularly exciting to launch these products as retail betting returns to Greece and right in time for the European Football Championships.”