Markets Tear Off the Lid in Hump-Day Trading

Wednesday, November 6, 2024Markets were looking for some closure on the election, and boy did they get it! A decisive win for Donald Trump and the Republican Party in both the White House and Congress will likely usher in very aggressive pro-business policies.As a result, new all-time closing highs across the board: the Dow rose +1508 points, or +3.57%, the S&P 500 was up +146 points, +2.53%, the Nasdaq +544, +2.95% and the small-cap Russell 2000 an astonishing +131 points, or +5.83%! Bond yields remained heated at 4.439% on the 10-year and 4.278% on the 2-year.Normally when you see small-cap stocks shoot up like this, you don’t see bond yields rising, too. But the bond yields are pricing in a more expensive reality than what we saw not two months ago (3.64% on the 10-year on September 16th), and small-caps appear to have some built-in advantages based on Trump campaign promises.For instance, because small-cap stocks are almost always domestic in origin and market, tariffs on goods coming from elsewhere won’t be affected. Also, a deregulatory environment for industries like regional banks and biotech — both well-represented in the Russell 2000 — will also provide a tailwind for small-caps. Q3 Earnings Reports at a Glance: QCOM, SHOP, ELF, GILDQualcomm QCOM reported solid fiscal Q4 beats on both top and bottom lines this afternoon. Earnings of $2.69 per share easily surpassed the $2.56 in the Zacks consensus. Revenues of $10.24 billion outperformed the $9.90 billion analysts were looking for, +18% year over year.Guidance for next quarter is also good: a range of $2.85-3.05 per share nicely usurped the $2.79 estimates, with $10.5-11.3 billion expected on the top line, ahead of the $10.50 billion expected. The company has $1 billion left on its previous stock repurchase program, and will be adding another $15 billion for the next tranche. Shares are up +7% in early trading.Check out the updated Zacks Earnings Calendar here.e.l.f. Beauty ELF reported eye-popping outperformances this afternoon, as well. A headline of 77 cents per share outshined the 45 cents expected, or revenues of $301 million that was far superior to the $291.2 million anticipated, +40% year over year. Full-year guidance remained in-line with earlier Zacks estimates, but shares are up +9% in late trading. Gilead Sciences GILD also posted superior results in its Q3 report after the bell. Earnings of $2.02 per share went beyond the expected $1.58, with $7.5 billion in revenues outpacing the $7.5 billion. The company also raised product sales guidance and saw double-digit growth in its HIV line across the board. Shares are up +3.3% in the after-market.Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM): Free Stock Analysis Report Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD): Free Stock Analysis Report e.l.f. Beauty (ELF): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks