Overnight Summary: The S&P 500 closed Wednesday lower by -0.16% at 3991.05 from  Tuesday lower by -2.00% at 3997.34.  The overnight high of 4023.25 was hit at 3:40 a.m. EST. The low was hit at 3998 at 4:05 p.m. EST, a range of ~25 points high to low.  At 7:25 a.m. EST, the S&P 500 (mini) was higher by +19.75 points which is +0.49%.

Earnings Out After The Close: 

• IPOs Priced or News: None of note.
• New SPACs launched/News: None of note.
• Secondaries Priced:
  • APRE offering priced at $5.25 per share.
• Notes Priced of note:
  • EMN: Announces Pricing of $500 Million 5.750% Notes due 2033 in Inaugural Green Bond Offering.
• Common Stock filings/Notes:
  • APGN: Filed Form S-1.. Primary Offering of 2,095,493 Shares of Common Stock Issuable Upon Exercise of Warrants Secondary Offering of 1,995,708 Shares of Common Stock and 2,095,493 Shares of Common Stock Issuable Upon Exercise of Warrants.
  • APRE: Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock.
  • VNRX: Announces Closing of $8.7 Million Underwritten Public Offering of Common Stock.
• Direct Offering:
  • OMGA: Announces $40 Million Registered Direct Offering of Common Stock.
• Selling Shareholders of note: None of note.
• Private Placement of Public Entity (PIPE): None of note.
• Mixed Shelf Offerings:
  • IART: Filed Form S-3ASR.. Mixed Shelf.
  • MCO: Filed Form S-3ASR.. Mixed Shelf.
  • TXT: Files mixed securities shelf offering.
• Debt Filing/Notes: None of note.
• Tender Offer: None of note.
• Convertible Offering & Notes Filed:
  • ON: Announces Proposed Private Offering of $1.1 Billion of Convertible Senior Notes.
  • SO: Announces offering of $1.5 billion in aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due December 15, 2025.

Capital Raise Summary From The TradeXchange, bringing traders and investors real time news and Squawk Box, and other sources.

News After The Close:

• After Hours: 
  • Trading Up: GRPH +18%, TMDX +15%, RXT +12%, NVDA +9%, RELY +7%, ANSS +7%, JOBY +7%, LUNG +6%, OLO +5%, ETSY +5%, RGR +5%, PDCE +5%, FPI +4%, MMSI +4%, EPR +4%, TPIC +4%, LXU +4% of note.
  • Trading Down:  MGNI -11%, AMWL -9%, TDOC -9%, LCID -8%, U -8%, BROS -6%, FIVN -6%, TNDM -5%, UCTT -5%, EBAY -5%, SNBR -4%, NTAP -4%, ATUS -4%, UIS -4% of note.
• News After The Close:   
  • Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: NVDA, ETSY, LCID, BMBL, MRNA, EBAY, MOS (CNBC)
  • Nvidia (NVDA) stock rises after slight beat driven by A.I. chips. (CNBC)
  • EBay (EBAY) stock falls as sales and profit decline, though revenue and outlook beat estimates. (MarketWatch)
  • DOJ pushes ahead with Google (GOOGL) Maps antitrust probe. (Politico)
  • Moderna (MRNA) stock pops after cancer-vaccine candidate gets FDA breakthrough designation. (MarketWatch)

• Exchange/Listing/Company Reorg and Personnel News:
  • Altice USA (ATUS) Announces New Appointments to Its Leadership Team to Sharpen Focus on Company’s Customer-Centric Strategy and Drive Growth.
  • Belden (BDC) announces that Ashish Chand has been appointed President and CEO.
  • City Office REIT (CIO) announces new board member and board role changes.
  • Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (GNTY) Announces Transfer of Listing of Common Stock Shares To the New York Stock Exchange.
  • HYZN receives extended stay of delisting from Nasdaq.
  • Kohl’s (KSS) Board member Stephanie Streeter will not stand for re-election.
  • OXY: Ken Robinson Elected to Occidental Board of Directors.
  • Prudential Plc (PUK) joins Anil Wadhwani as Chief Executive.
  • Rent-A-Center (RCII) changes parent company name to Upbound Group, Inc, will trade under ticker UPBD on February 27.
  • Tandem Diabetes Care (TNDM) announces the appointment of Rebecca Robertson as Chair of its Board of Directors.
• Buyback Announcements or News:
  • Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR) increases share buyback authorization to $1.2 billion from prior level of $1 billion. (see Dividends)
  • Civitas Resources (CIVI) announced Board approval for the repurchase of up to $1 billion of additional Common Stock.
  • Coterra Energy (CTRA) Board approved a new $2.0 billion authorization. (see Dividends)
  • ONB $200 Million stock repurchase program.
  • Option Care Health (OPCH) announces that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase up to $250 million shares.
• Stock Splits or News: 
  • RELI trading reverse split price.
• Dividends Announcements or News:
  • Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR) increases quarterly dividend $0.022 to $0.44 from $0.418 per share.
  • B. Riley Financial (RILY) Declares $1.00 Dividend.
  • B2Gold’s (BTG) Board of Directors declared a cash dividend for the first quarter of 2023 of $0.04 per common share.
  • Comfort Systems (FIX) increases quarterly dividend to $0.175 per share.
  • Constellation Brands (STZ) is targeting a dividend payment ratio of approximately 30%.
  • Coterra Energy (CTRA) approved a 33% increase to the annual base dividend to $0.80 per share from $0.60 per share.
  • Danaher (DHR) increases quarterly cash dividend $0.02 to $0.27 per share.
  • Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) approves a 10% increase to the quarterly dividend $1.21 per share.
  • EMCOR Group (EME) announced that its Board of Directors has approved an increase to the Company’s regular quarterly dividend by $0.03 to $0.18 per share.
  • EBAY increased its quarterly dividend by 14% to $0.25 per share.
  • The Hartford (HIG) Declares Quarterly Dividends Of $0.425 Per Share Of Common Stock And $375 Per Share Of Series G Preferred Stock.
  • LKQ Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.275 per share of common stock.
  • M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) Announces Increased Common Stock Dividend.
  • McGrath RentCorp (MGRC) board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.465 per share.
  • Corp Office Props (OFC) increases quarterly dividend 3.6% to $0.285 per share.
  • Newmount (NEM) announced annualized dividend payout range of $1.40-1.80 per share subject to quarterly approval.
  • Old Republic (ORI) increases quarterly cash dividend to $0.245 per share.
  • Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD): For the first quarter of 2023, the Company declared a quarterly base-plus-variable dividend of $5.58 per share, comprised of a $1.10 base dividend and $4.48 variable dividend.
  • Primo Water (PRMW) increases quarterly dividend $0.01 to $0.08 per share.
  • SAP SE (SAP) recommends shareholders approve dividend of €2.05 per share for FY22, which represents a 5% increase.
  • Stantec (STN) raises dividend by 8.3%
  • Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (RGR) Declares Dividend of 42¢ Per Share.
  • Thermo Fisher (TMO) increases quarterly cash dividend $0.05 to $0.35 per share.
  • United Comm Banks (UCBI) increases quarterly cash dividend $0.01 to $0.23 per share.
  • Xcel Energy (XEL) raises quarterly dividend by 6.7% to $0.52 per share.

What’s Happening This Morning: Futures value reflects the change with fair value.

Sector Action – (1/3/6/12/YTD Updated Weekly with Monday release):  

• Daily Positive Sectors:  Consumer Cyclical of note.
• Daily Negative Sectors: Real Estate, Energy, Basic Materials of note.
• One Month Winners:  Technology, Consumer Cyclical, Industrials of note.
• Three Month Winners: Consumer Cyclical, Technology, Basic Materials  of note.
• Six Month Winners: Basic Materials, Energy, Financial of note.
• Twelve Month Winners: Energy, Utilities, Industrial of note.
• Year to Date Winners: Consumer Cyclical, Technology, Communication Services of note.

Worries about rising interest rates sent the S&P 500 to a fourth consecutive session of declines on Wednesday, notching its longest losing streak of the year.  The S&P 500 fell 6.29 points, or 0.2%, to 3991.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 84.50 points, or 0.3%, to 33045.09.  The Nasdaq Composite slipped in early trading and pared those losses to finish up 14.77 points, or 0.1%, to 11507.07.  (WSJ – edited by QPI)

Click here for a video explanation of Erlanger Value Lines.

Upcoming Earnings Of Note: (From Chartroom Software – sorted by market cap, highest to lowest with most visible names)

• Gap Up: TMDX +13%, RELY +12%, GRPH +10%, RXT +8%, LUNG +8%, NVDA +8%, UIS +7%, ETSY +6%, RGR +6%, GRAB +5%, ACVA +5%, MMSI +5%, USPH +5%, PDCE +5%, JOBY +5%, FOLD +5%, CIVI +5%, FPI +4%, VIPS +4%, TPIC +4%, ANSS +4%, LXU +4% of note.
• Gap Down: LCID -10%, MGNI -9%, SUI -8%, AMWL -7%, TNDM -7%, UCTT -7%, U -7%, YETI -7%, GFI -6%, BROS -6%, CCRN -5%, TDOC -5%, EBAY -5%, FIVN -5%, ORA -5%, IMAX -5%, GKOS -5%, FNF -4%, NICE -4%, NTAP -4% of note.

Insider Action: NWL, NEE sees Insider buying with dumb short selling.  No stock sees Insider buying with smart short sellers.

Rags & Mags: Repeated stories from prior days never listed, i.e. “rehashed news”. Sorted by Global, U.S. and stock specific.

• Stocks Making the Biggest Pre-Market Moves: LCID, NVDA, DG, EBAY, ETSY, BBWI, BMBL, MOS, BABA, RUN, MRNA, INTC (CNBC)
• 5 things to know before the stock market opens today. (CNBC)
• 5 Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day. (Bloomberg)
• Bloomberg Lead Story: Russians Still Supporting Putin’s War in Ukraine. (Bloomberg)
• Bloomberg Most Read Story: Value of the U.S. Housing Market Drops by $2.3 trillion, largest drop since 2008.  (Bloomberg)
• Jerome Powell’s worst fear could come true in southern job market, wages up and product prices up. (Bloomberg)
• Janus Henderson (JHG) bets big on hedge funds. (Bloomberg)
• Alibaba (BABA) has massive earnings beat, shares up 6%. (CNBC)
• Wells Fargo (WFC) lays off 1,000 mortgage bankers after inviting them to a retreat. (CNBC)
• Brutal winter storms move across the country. Southern California under a blizzard warning. (Apple News)
• Moderna (MRNA) forecasts Covid vaccine sales of $5 billion which is lower than expected, but gets approval on cancer protocol. (Reuters)

Moving Average Update:

• Score remains at 37%.

Geopolitical: 

M&A Activity:

• indie Semiconductor (INDI) acquires Silicon Radar GmbH.
• LINKBANCORP (LNKB) and Partners Bancorp (PTRS) enter into a definitive agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock combination, valued at ~$167.8 million.

• Company Meetings: BORR, THMO, WULF
• Fireside Chat: None of note.
• Investor/Analyst Day/Calls: ADTN, ATA, BAND, CNO, ENLC, ESPR, FCNC.A, FDX, HUM, LNKB, NGVT, STZ, UNM
• Update: None of note.
• R&D Day: None of note.
• Company Event: None of note.
• Industry Meetings:
  • American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) Combined Sections Meeting (CSM) 2023 (02/23/23-02/25/23)
  • American Society of Transplantation Cutting Edge of Transplantation (CEoT) Meeting 2023 (02/23/23-02/25/23)
  • European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Gynaecological Cancers Congress 2023 (02/23/23-02/24/23)
  • ACTRIMS Forum 2023 (02/23/23-02/25/23)
    • Previously posted and ongoing conferences:
      • • Boao Food for Health Forum and Expo 2023 (02/22/23-02/25/23)
        • 16th International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) 2023 (02/22/23-02/25/23)
        • WORLD 19th Annual Symposium 2023 (02/22/23-02/26/23)
        • 11th Annual Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Drug Development Summit 2023 (02/21/23-02/23/23)
        • Retinal Vascular Disease Drug Development Summit 2023 (02/21/23-02/23/23)
        • Daniel Energy Partners (DEP) Thrive Conference 2023 (02/21/23-02/23/23)
        • SpaceCom 49th Space Congress 2023 (02/21/23-02/23/23)
        • Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference (02/20/23-02/24/23)
        • NAATBatt 14th Annual Meeting & Conference 2023 – Batteries (02/20/23-02/23/23)

Top Tier Sell-side Upgrades & Downgrades:

The recommendations listed below in this “Upgrade/Downgrade” section are compiled from what we believe are Tier I, II and III firms. Recommendations posted are taken from a variety of sources each day and we only post upgrades or significant initiations as well as downgrades to underweight or sell. The purpose of this posting it to make the reader aware of market moving recommendations. None of these recommendations should be interpreted as actual recommendations from CAPIS or its employees.

Today’s Upgrades and Downgrades:

Previous Day’s Upgrades and Downgrades: