Before the Open (Aug 18)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Japan, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, Austria, Singapore and the Philippines dropped the most. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently mostly down. The UK, France, Greece, Finland, Russia, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Austria and Sweden are posting the biggest losses; Saudi Arabia is up. Futures in the States point towards a slight up open for the cash market.
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eBook: High Probability Setups for Stocks and Options
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The dollar is down a small amount. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are up.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Transocean (RIG -3.96%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Pareto Securities with a 12-month target price of $11.
Deere & Co. (DE -2.09%) fell nearly 5% in pre-market trading after it reported Q3 net sales of $6.83 billion, weaker than consensus of $6.91 billion.
Foot Locker (FL -1.79%) plunged 11% in pre-market trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 62 cents, well below consensus of 90 cents.
Valero Energy Partners (VLP -0.97%) was downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Overweight’ at U.S. Capital Advisors.
United Rentals (URI -0.13%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Stifel with a 12-month target price of $133.
Ross Stores (ROST -1.91%) jumped over 10% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 EPS of 82 cents, higher than consensus of 77 cents, and then raised guidance on full-year EPS to $3.16-$3.23 from a prior view of $3.07-$3.17, above consensus of $3.16.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (JAZZ -0.94%) lost over 1% in after-hours trading after it announced an offering of $500 million of exchangeable senior notes due 2024.
Applied Materials (AMAT -3.01%) rose 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 86 cents, better than consensus of 84 cents, and then said it sees Q4 adjusted EPS of 86 cents-94 cents, above consensus of 82 cents.
The Gap (GPS +0.49%) climbed over 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 58 cents, better than consensus of 52 cents.
Zoe’s Kitchen (ZOES +8.32%) fell 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 revenue of $74.3 million, below consensus of $75 million.
OPKO Health (OPK -2.97%) gained almost 2% in after-hours trading after it was initiated a new ‘Overweight’ at Cantor Fitzgerald with a 12-month target price of $20.
Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings (SPWH -3.35%) surged 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q2 adjusted EPS of 15 cents, above consensus of 12 cents, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of 60 cents-66 cents, the midpoint above consensus of 61 cents.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Zoe’s Kitchen (NYSE:ZOES) -4.4% AH on earnings miss, fall in number of transactions.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) +4.9% AH on earnings beat.
Gap (NYSE:GPS) +5.5% AH on earnings beat, improved FY guidance.
Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) +10% AH on earnings and revenue growth.
Today’s Economic Calendar
10:00 Consumer Sentiment
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY