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Luke Kawa12/19/24

Frozen-potato demand is even colder than frozen potatoes

Shares of frozen-potato purveyor Lamb Weston are “spuddering,” down 20% after slashing its full-year earnings-per-share outlook along with the release of poor quarterly results.

Management lowered its fiscal 2025 guidance (that is, for the upcoming two quarters) on net sales, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EPS, with CEO Tom Werner saying, “We expect challenging conditions to persist through the remainder of fiscal 2025 and into fiscal 2026, driven primarily by an accelerating rate of capacity additions and continued near-term softening of global frozen-potato demand below historical rates.”

Net sales growth is now expected to be flat, at best, for this fiscal year. The cut to its full-year adjusted-earnings-per-share guidance was particularly dramatic, down from a range of $4.15-$4.35 to $3.05-$3.20.

Telling the world how the company is doing hasn’t exactly been a fun time for management. The stock has slumped double digits in the wake of three of its last four quarterly reports. The company has also recently been the target of a price-fixing lawsuit along with other members of “Big Potato.”

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Max Knoblauch5h

American Eagle posts stronger-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue

If American Eagle has seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of Sydney Sweeney.

The jeans seller posted adjusted earnings of $0.84 per share, ahead of the $0.71 expected by analysts polled by FactSet. It booked $1.76 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, versus the $1.74 billion consensus.

Shares initially climbed more than 5% after-hours before paring gains to about 2%.

“Compelling new product collections, supported by fresh marketing campaigns, led to higher demand trends in the quarter,” said CEO Jay Schottenstein.

American Eagle said it’s expecting same-store sales to grow by high single digits in the first quarter.

Marketing controversy has proved to be a powerful mover of denim for AE. In its third-quarter earnings call in December, AE said its partnership with Sydney Sweeney — together with a Travis Kelce partnership — had garnered more than 44 billion impressions. The retailer hit meme stock status last July when it initially launched its “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” campaign.

As of Wednesday’s close, American Eagle shares had climbed 120% since the Sweeney ad first landed.

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The custom chip specialist just reported Q1 results.

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The quantum computing firm just posted Q4 results.

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Tasha Matsumoto

Stocks rebound as investors’ risk appetite resumes

Investors shifted their focus from the war in Iran, resuming a risk-on mood amid surprise economic data.

Josh Giddey #3 of the Chicago Bulls grabs a rebound during the second half against the Detroit Pistons on October 22, 2025 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

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Investors are itching to buy the dip in memory stocks

The intense drubbing in South Korean stocks, with the benchmark Korean index (KOSPI) falling nearly 20% in its first two trading days of the week following a Monday holiday, represented a serious threat to the hottest AI trade: memory stocks.

South Korea’s market is dominated by two high-bandwidth memory giants: SK Hynix and Samsung.

After Tuesday’s tumble, US investors seemingly said enough is enough: it’s a buy-the-dip opportunity.

US memory stocks like Micron, Sandisk, Western Digital, and Seagate Technology Holdings are posting massive gains on the day. The advance comes amid positive commentary at a Morgan Stanley conference on demand for memory chips.

Even more interestingly, the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is up big today despite the KOSPI falling 12% overnight, its largest drop on record. The ETF’s outperformance of the South Korean equity gauge is the largest since 2008, as the global financial crisis raged.

The daily performance of these two can differ materially since they trade at different times and don’t track precisely the same things. US investors are making the bet that a potential break in this momentum trade and the potential for an unwind of retail leverage in South Korean markets be damned, big drops in memory stocks are meant to be bought.

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