Micron shares fall as stocks reel after key data

live5 updates

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  June 27, 2024 (Thursday) 10:08 a.m. EDT

  Pending home sales fall in May

  Rising home prices and rising mortgage costs are keeping would-be buyers out of the housing market.

  Pending home sales, a measure of future home sales based on the number of contracts signed, fell 2.1% in May from the previous month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Year-over-year, they’re down 6.6%, data released Thursday showed.

  The Midwest and South saw fewer contract signings in May compared to the previous month. The Northeast and West saw increases. All regions of the country saw activity decline on an annual basis.

  “The housing market finds itself in an interesting position with rising inventory and declining demand,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Demand and supply dynamics suggest that home price growth will slow in the coming months. More inventory in a job-creating economy inevitably leads to more homebuying, especially as mortgage rates fall.”

  Mortgage rates are at their lowest average level in three months, but that’s still not enough to lure buyers. About 95% of mortgage borrowers are borrowing at rates below current market rates, and about 80% are borrowing at rates more than 2 percentage points below market rates, according to data from Goldman Sachs.

  Looking ahead, Yoon predicts that “mortgage interest rates will decline gradually, home sales will increase and home prices will stabilize.”

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  June 27, 2024 (Thursday) 10:05 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time)

  Walgreens slid 24% after lowering its guidance due to “challenging” trends in the pharmacy industry and consumer weakness.

  Shares of Walgreens plunged 24% to their lowest level since 1997 after the drugstore chain lowered its fiscal 2024 profit outlook, citing “challenging pharmacy industry trends and a weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer environment.”

  “Our customers are becoming increasingly selective and price-sensitive when making purchases,” Tim Wentworth, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, said during the company’s earnings conference call Thursday morning.

  Management noted that 25% of the company’s stores currently do not contribute to its long-term strategy and “change is imminent.”

  Walgreens said it plans to close a “significant portion” of its underperforming stores over the next three years.

  The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of $2.80 to $2.95 for the fiscal year, down from its previous forecast of $3.20 to $3.35.

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  June 27, 2024 (Thursday) 9:48 AM EDT

  Netflix and Meta Push Nasdaq Into Green Territory

  Communications stocks helped lift the Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) into positive territory, rising 0.3% shortly after the market opened on Thursday.

  Netflix (NFLX) and Meta (META) both rose more than 1%, helping lift the tech-heavy sector, which had previously been trading just below flat.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) also rose 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was little changed.

  Meanwhile, semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA) fell slightly after Micron (MU)’s revenue forecast failed to excite investors with the AI ​​boom that has driven the overall market rally this year.

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  June 27, 2024 (Thursday) 9:35 a.m. EDT

  Stocks shaky at open as investors focus on economic data, Micron curbs tech gains

  Stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday morning as investors assessed the released economic data.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was little changed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was down 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) was just less than flat.

  The Economic Development Department’s third estimate, released Thursday morning, showed real gross domestic product (GDP) growing at a 1.4% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2024, up slightly from the previous 1.3% estimate but still the slowest growth rate since 2022.

  According to data from the Labor Department, new weekly unemployment claims were 233,000, down 6,000 from the previous week.

  On the corporate side, chipmaker Micron (MU) reported a current-quarter sales outlook that was in line with expectations, but that didn’t satisfy investors hoping for better results from AI companies. The company’s shares fell about 4% at the open. AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) also fell about 1% at the open.

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  June 27, 2024 (Thursday) 5:24 AM EDT

  Why are Levi’s quarters so popular?

  Levi’s (LEVI) shares fell 15% in premarket trading after the earnings report.

  And I think that’s natural for two reasons.

  First, sales in China were down 10% year over year. I’ve spoken to a number of people who’ve been to China recently, and the common thread is that Chinese consumers are feeling pessimistic and just not spending as much as they have in years past. That mood is impacting demand for Levi’s jeans, Starbucks (SBUX) coffee, and, according to General Mills (GIS) earnings report yesterday, Häagen-Dazs ice cream.

  It is difficult to see a turning point in China.

  The same is true for Levi’s wholesale business, which sells to department stores: Sales fell 4% from a year ago, and the company said wholesale demand may not pick up until 2025.

  I’ll be airing some of my concerns with Levi’s CFO Harmit Singh on Yahoo Finance today at 10:30am ET, so tune in!