Before the Open (Jun 1)

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed with a lean to the upside. Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines did well; China, Indonesia and Thailand were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently sporting big gains. France, Germany, the UAE, Greece, Denmark, South Africa, Finland, Switzerland, Hungary, Spain, the Netherlands, Sauid Arabia, Italy, Belgium and Portugal are up 1% or more. Only Turkey is down 1%. Futures in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
Here are the employment figures.
unemployment rate: 3.8% (was 3.9% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: +223K
private payrolls:
average workweek: flat at 34.5 hours
hourly wages: up 8 cents to $26.92
labor participation rate:
March job gain raised from 135K to 155K.
April job gain reduced from 164KK to 159K.
Overnight Stock Movers from barchart.com…
Navistar International (NAV +1.98%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at Longbow Research with a price target of $50.
American Airlines Group (AAL +0.55%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘In-Line’ at Imperial Capital LLC with a price target of $56.
Lululemon Athletica (LULU +6.81%) rose nearly 7% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 net revenue of $649.7 million, better than consensus of $617.7 million, and then forecast full-year net revenue of $3.04 billion to $3.08 billion, well above consensus of $2.63 billion.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA -5.08%) fell more than 4% in after-hours trading after it forecast Q2 EPS of $2.35 to $2.40, below consensus of $2.48.
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (MDGL +3.91%) was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Oppenheimer.
Costco Wholesale (COST -1.90%) fell more than 3% in after-hours trading after it reported Q3 gross margin ex-items of 11%, weaker than consensus of 11.4%.
Westar Energy, to be renamed Evergy (EVRG) ,will replace Navient in the S&P 500 prior to the open of trading on Tuesday, June 5.
VMware (VMW +2.93%) rose more than 2% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 total billings of $1.925 billion, stronger than consensus of $1.727 billion.
Pratt & Whitney (UTX -1.09%) was awarded a $2 billion contract from the U.S. Department of Defense for 135 F135 engines to power all three variants of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
Caleres (CAL -5.53%) dropped almost 5% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 net sales of $632.1 million, weaker than consensus of $645.0 million.
Orthofix International NV (OFIX -0.47%) was rated a new ‘Overweight’ at Cantor Fitzgerald with a price target of $62.
Ambac Financial Group (AMBC +6.85%) gained more than 4% in after-hours trading after it was announced that it will replace Integra Lifesciences Holdings in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index prior to the open of trading on Tuesday, June 5.
Xenia Hotels & Resorts (XHR +0.08%) was rated a new ‘Outperform’ at Baird with a price target of $27.
Kirkland’s (KIRK +16.21%) climbed 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 net sales of $142.5 million, better than consensus of $140.0 million.
GameStop (GME -0.83%) dropped almost 6% in after-hours trading after it reported Q1 comparable sales fell -5.3%, weaker than consensus of -5.0%.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Costco (NASDAQ:COST) -2% AH raising minimum wage to $14/hour.
Dollar General (NYSE:DG) -9.4% battling a drop in traffic.
Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) -14.3% after weak profit guidance.
GameStop (NYSE:GME) -3.3% AH following a tough quarter.
Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) +6.2% AH posting dazzling sales growth.
VMware (NYSE:VMW) +3.3% AH amid upside revenue guidance.
Workday (NYSE:WDAY) -3.3% AH despite beating estimates.
Today’s Economic Calendar
Auto Sales
8:30 Non-farm payrolls
9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index
10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 Construction Spending
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