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Luke Kawa

That’s the amount of fresh money Corporate America has allocated to buy back their own stocks this year.

“US Corporates authorized $1.009 trillion worth of stock year-to-date as of today, 10/18/24,” wrote Scott Rubner, managing director for global markets at Goldman Sachs. “This the largest year-to-date authorizations year on record, according to Birinyi.” 

Stock repurchases, obviously, help provide some support for the share price by acting as a source of demand — a key one, per Rubner, who also flagged that November tends to be the busiest month for buybacks.  

“US Corporates are the largest net buyer of US equities in 2024 and are ready to return from the blackout window with dry powder,” he said. 

The “blackout window” is a reference to a period of time ahead of the release of quarterly results where corporates can’t carry out stock repurchases on a discretionary basis.

Buybacks are also a way to flatter operating performance on a per-share basis — in an environment where total profits stay the same but management is shrinking the share count, that’s more earnings to be spread out over each share.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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