Before the Open (Mar 2)

Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand dropped more than 1%. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently mostly down. The UK, France, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Finland, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and Sweden are down more than 1%. Futures in the States point towards a relatively big gap down open for the cash market.
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VIDEO: Long Term Trades for the Market’s Net Leg Up
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The dollar is down. Bitcoin is up. Oil is down; copper is up. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
WalMart (WMT -1.03%) was downgraded to ‘Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ at Oppenheimer due to gross margin headwinds and cost pressures.
ICU Medical (ICUI -3.52%) rose 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $2.98, well above consensus of $1.04, and then said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of $6.60 to 7.30, higher than consensus of $6.49.
Splunk (SPLK +0.47%) rallied 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $419.7 million, better than consensus of $390.7 million, and said it sees Q1 revenue of $295 million to $297 million, higher than consensus of $294.8 million.
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR -2.32%) climbed almost 4% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 loss per share of -21 cents, narrower than consensus of -36 cents.;
Microchip Technology (MCHP +0.10%) rose 5% in after-hours trading after it bought Microsemi for $8.35 billion. Microsemi MSCC=}) also rallied 5% on the news.
Nordstrom (JWN -1.62%) lost nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 gross margin of +35.6%, below consensus of +36.0%.
Ambarella (AMBA -5.01%) gained 4% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 45 cents, above consensus of 37 cents.
The Gap (GPS +0.38%) climbed nearly 9% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 61 cents, better than consensus of 59 cents, and forecast full-year EPS of $2.55 to $2.70, above consensus of $2.41.
Pure Storage (PSTG +0.51%) slumped 9% in after-hours trading after it said it sees Q1 adjusted gross margins 63.5%-66.5%, the midpoint below consensus of 65.7%.
Intrexon (XON -0.92%) jumped 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $77.0 million, well above consensus of $48.2 million.
American Outdoor Brands (AOBC +4.56%) sank 16% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 net sales of $157.4 million, weaker than consensus of $172.4 million, and said it sees full-year adjusted EPS of 31 cents to 33 cents, well below consensus of 60 cents.
Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW -4.25%) plunged over 15% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 revenue of $408.1 million, weaker than consensus of $431.7 million.
Southwestern Energy ({=SWN =}) rose almost 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 12 cents, higher than consensus of 9 cents.
OPKO Health (OPK -6.19%) tumbled almost 13% in after-hours trading after it reported a Q4 loss of -38 cents a share, a much wider loss than consensus of -8 cents a share.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
OPKO Health (NYSEMKT:OPK) -16.7% AH on Q4 earnings miss.
VMware (NYSE:VMW) -2.6% AH on Q4 earnings beat, reverse-merger talks.
Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA) +5.1% AH on Q4 earnings beat, downside guidance.
Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) +3.3% AH on Q4 earnings beat.
Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) +1.2% AH on Q4 earnings beat and revenue growth.
Synergy Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SGYP) +6.3% AH on Q4 earnings.
Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK) +6.2% AH on Q4 earnings beat, upside guidance.
American Outdoor Brands (NASDAQ:AOBC) -11.6% AH on plunging revenue, lower guidance.
Intrexon (NYSE:XON) +6% AH on Q4 revenue growth.
Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) -3.6% AH on Q4 earnings miss, increased expenses.
The Gap (NYSE:GPS) +8.8% AH on jump in Q4 comparable sales.
Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX) +3% AH on Q2 beats, upside guidance, acquisition announcement.
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