US stock markets were a little quieter this week following the election excitement of the prior week with ‘Trump trade’ stocks and sectors giving back some of their gains.
Cautious comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell (15 Nov) on the cadence of further interest rate cuts sent markets lower with the benchmark S&P 500 index off 0.7% and the small-cap Russell index losing 2%.
One exception was continued interest in crypto currencies with Bitcoin surging a further 11% to close to $70,000, taking gains over the last month to 38%.
Economic data was mixed with consumer price inflation coming in a touch lower than expected on Wednesday (13 Nov), and slightly hotter than forecast producer prices data. Weekly jobless claims data continue to suggest a resilient labour market.
Later today (15 Nov) sees the release of October’s retail sales with consensus expectations looking for the month-on-month increase of 0.3%, down from 0.4% the prior month.
One of the best gainers was Disney (DIS:NYSE) which surged 10% after the House of Mouse beat quarterly earnings estimates and guided for double-digit EPS (earnings per share) growth for both fiscal 2026 and 2027.
SHOPIFY
It had been a pretty flat year for Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify (SHOP:NYSE), until it wasn’t.
The company, which builds software for businesses to run online storefronts, gave a rosy forecast for the holiday quarter that sent analysts scurrying away to rethink their forecasts. Investors loved it, meanwhile, sending the stock surging 26% to $110 highs not seen since early 2022.
Shopify said it expected revenue in the current quarter to grow at a percentage in the mid- to high-twenties.
The icing on the cake was news that Shopify is attracting a growing number of large customers to the platform, and not just retailers either. Lionsgate Entertainment joined its roster in Q3, alongside shoemaker Reebok, luxury fashion brand Off-White, handbag company Vera Bradley and Hanes.
‘We are well positioned for extensive growth across different merchant segments, size, geographies, channels and products’, said, Shopify president Harley Finkelstein.
This is exciting. Shopify cut its teeth by helping small enterprises tap the power of the internet for sales, providing a software package of products including payments, shipping, marketing, customer engagement and much else.
That larger retail stores are tapping its platform strengths is a huge vote of confidence and promises a larger Shopify growth opportunity than previously thought.
TYSON FOODS
There was a meaty weekly gain for Tyson Foods (TSN:NYSE), shares in the beef, chicken and pork processor fattening up more than 8% to $63.4 on news (12 November) of a juicy fourth quarter earnings beat.
Investors were also relieved as the protein powerhouse behind the Tyson, Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm brands insisted its chicken business, now benefiting from low feed costs and increased plant efficiency, should cushion the blow from ongoing struggles in the beef division in the year ahead.
Quarterly sales at the protein powerhouse were up 1.6% year-on-year at $13.57 billion, while adjusted earnings per share surged 150% to 92 cents, exceeding the 69 cents Wall Street analysts were expecting.
‘Our multi-protein, multi-channel portfolio, combined with our best-in-class team, iconic brands and focus on operational excellence positions us well for fiscal 2025 and beyond,’ commented chief executive Donnie King.
WALT DISNEY
Walt Disney’s (DIS:NYSE) CEO Bob Iger has made a breakthrough with the entertainment giant’s latest set of results sending shares up over 10% this week to $109.
Total revenue was up by 6.3% year-on-year to $22.6 billion beating Wall Street estimates of $22.47 billion. Iger who has been at the helm of the House of Mouse since 2022 said that this year was ‘pivotal’ and ‘successful,’ adding that the company is ‘well positioned for growth.’
The company ended the quarter with 174 million Disney+ Core and Hulu subscriptions, and more than 120 million Disney+ Core paid subscribers, an increase of 4.4 million compared with the last quarter.
Disney also became the first film studio to cross $4 billion globally in 2024.Disney Pixar’s Inside Out 2 became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time this summer, surpassing Disney’s Frozen II at the box office.
The films added $316 million of profit for the entertainment segment during the quarter. Overall, the entertainment segment reported nearly $1.1 billion in profit.Disney anticipates double-digit growth in operating income for its entertainment business for fiscal 2025 and double-digit adjusted EPS growth in fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027.
