US actress Madison Thompson, wearing Polo Ralph Lauren at a California event this month. Photo / Phillip Faraone, Getty Images for ELLE
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden.
International
US
Yesterday after market close, technology company Nvidia, which designs and develops graphics processing units and central processing units, reported first quarter fiscal 2024 results.
At the time of writing, the share price was 26.9 per cent higher on stronger than expected guidance.
Revenue came in at US$7.19 billion, down 13 per cent from a year ago and up 19 per cent from the previous quarter.
Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) earnings per diluted share for the quarter were US$0.82, up 28 per cent from a year ago and up 44 per cent from the previous quarter.
The big news was the outlook. For the current quarter, revenue is expected to be US$11b, plus or minus 2.0 per cent – surpassing market expectations of US$7.2b.
Nvidia shares are now up 164.8 per cent so far this year, mostly driven by optimism stemming from the company’s leading position in the market for AI chips.
Ralph Lauren reported revenue and earnings per share (EPS) that both exceeded market expectations.
Revenue for the quarter ended March 2023 came in at US$1.54b (vs expectations of US$1.47b).
EPS was 38.5 per cent higher than expected, coming in at US$0.90, with expectations of US$0.65.
Geographically, Ralph Lauren achieved strong year-on-year net revenue growth in Asia (+12.7 per cent) but saw minor declines in North American (-2.8 per cent), Europe (-1.4 per cent) and other geographical segments (-1.4 per cent).
Ralph Lauren was up 6.0 per cent at the time of writing.
Overnight the Bureau of Economic Analysis released gross domestic product (GDP) data, the broadest measure of economic output.
In the first quarter of 2023 GDP increased at an annualised rate of 1.3 per cent, faster than previously estimated. Despite high inflation, consumer spending growth accelerated to 3.8 per cent (vs 3.7 per cent estimate). Upward revisions were also seen for non-residential fixed investment growth and public spending. Q1 2023 GDP growth remains the weakest since Q2 2022.
Commodities
Oil prices fell overnight after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak played down the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts at its meeting next week. Brent crude futures were down 3.3 per cent, to US$75.80 a barrel.
New Zealand
Mainfreight reported financial results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2023 yesterday.
Results in the company’s second half fell short of expectations as the company’s freight volumes deteriorate due to slowing economic conditions, declining inventory activity, and less international supply chain congestion.
Despite the headwinds, the result represents the company’s 13th year of increasing revenue growth and profitability increases – with revenue up 8.8 per cent to $5.68 billion and net profit up 20.0 per cent to $426.5 million.
A final dividend of 87.0 cents per share was authorised by the Board of Directors, payable on 21 July 2023. The share price finished down 3.3 per cent, at $68.41.
After a third quarter 2023 Investor briefing yesterday, Fonterra announced an opening 2023/24 season forecast Farmgate Milk Price of $7.25 to $8.75 per kgMS, with a midpoint of $8.00 per kgMS, reflecting an expectation that China’s demand for whole milk powder will lift over the medium term.
The current season forecast for farmgate milk price was narrowed to $8.10 to $8.30 per kgMS, with a reduced midpoint from of $8.20 per kgMS from $8.30 per kgMS.
Fonterra also increased its full year normalised earnings guidance to $0.65-$0.80 per share from $0.55-$0.75 per share due to strong performance in the company’s Ingredients channel, with continued higher margins in their cheese and protein portfolio, particularly casein and caseinate. Fonterra closed 4.1 per cent higher.
It was announced yesterday that Contact Energy signed a 10-year renewable energy agreement with Microsoft in September 2022 that is supporting the development of new renewable energy capacity in New Zealand.
The arrangement will see Contact Energy provide Microsoft with all the renewable energy attributes generated by Contact’s new 51.4MW Te Huka Unit 3 geothermal power station. Contact Energy declined 0.8 per cent.
Australia
The ASX200 declined 1.1 per cent, dragged down by the financial and material sectors, declining 1.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.
Concerns over China’s economic recovery impacted metal prices. Steel was down 2.15 per cent, while iron ore continued its decline – now back below US$100 a tonne (-3.40 per cent).
Behemoths BHP Group and Rio Tinto both fell 1.6 per cent. Fortescue Metals declined 3.2 per cent to hit its lowest level since November 2022.
Costa Group, Australia’s leading grower, packer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, held its AGM yesterday, finishing the day 6.7 per cent higher.
The company indicated strong future growth in the international segment from new blueberry variety plantings in China and Morocco. The company is targeting 700 planted hectares by calendar year 2026 in China. In Morocco, the company is replanting its northern farms with premium Costa blueberry varieties and planned further expansion in the south at Agadir.
Grocery delivery service Milkrun, which ceased operations six weeks ago with the redundancy of all 400 staff members, has been granted a second chance.
Supermarket giant Woolworths has acquired the brand and decided to integrate it into the company’s existing framework. Woolworths confirmed it will relaunch its current Metro60 service with Milkrun’s blue branding, name and customer list from today. Woolworths’ share price was unimpacted, rising 0.1 per cent.
Coming up today
US: Personal Income/Spending, PCE Deflator
UK: Retail Sales
Japan: Tokyo CPI
Australia: Retail Sales, InvoCare AGM
NZ: ANZ Consumer Confidence, Earnings: Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Stride Property.
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All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX. NZ Herald
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NZ GDP falls 1% in September quarter; analysts expected 0.4% decline.