Mid-Day Market Update: Superior Energy Services Jumps Following Upbeat Q4 Results; Windstream Shares Slide

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.14 percent to 25,920.19 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.33 percent to 7,497.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24 percent to 2,782.24.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the consumer staples shares climbed 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pyxus International, Inc. PYX up 7 percent, and Avon Products, Inc. AVP up 9 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, financial shares fell 0.2 percent.

Top Headline

Walmart Inc WMT reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Walmart said it earned $1.41 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $138.8 billion, which came in better than the $1.33 per share and $138.66 billion Street analysts were expecting. Comparable store sales in the U.S. rose by 6.8 percent on a two-year stack, which marks the strongest performance seen in nine years.

The company also lifted its annual cash dividend from $2.08 per share paid in the last year to $2.12 per share for fiscal year 2020.

Equities Trading UP

Shares of Kraton Corporation KRA shot up 28 percent to $37.21 after the company initiated a process to review strategic alternatives for its cariflex business and the company announced a $50 million stock buyback.

Superior Energy Services, Inc. SPN shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $5.38 after the company reported upbeat Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Windstream Holdings, Inc. WIN shares dropped 62 percent to $1.2799 after losing a debt-default trial related to the spin-off of assets into Uniti. Cowen & Co. downgraded Windstream from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $8 to $1.

Shares of Uniti Group Inc. UNIT were down 37 percent to $12.58 after its largest customer, Windstream, lost a debt-default trial related to Windstream's spin off of assets into Uniti. Cowen & Co. downgraded Uniti Group from Outperform to Market Perform.

Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. PTX was down, falling around 64 percent to $0.4070 after the company voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced the sale of all assets valued at $75.6 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4 percent to $55.83 while gold traded up 1.4 percent to $1,340.60.

Silver traded up 1.1 percent Tuesday to $15.91, while copper rose 2.6 percent to $2.875.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.25 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.24 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.49 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.03 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.16 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.56 percent.

Economics

The NAHB housing market index rose 4 points to a reading of 62 in February. However, economists were expecting a reading of 59.