Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Campbell Soup Tops Q3 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.5 percent to 25,459 while the NASDAQ rose 0.03 percent to 7,529. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.22 percent to 2,809.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 1.2 percent on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pure Cycle Corporation PCYO, up 3 percent, and Just Energy Group Inc. JE, up 3 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.1 percent.

Top Headline

Campbell Soup CPB reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised FY19 earnings guidance.

The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.56 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $0.47 per share. Campbell’s reported quarterly sales of $2.388 billion exceeded the analyst consensus estimate of $2.36 billion.

Campbell Soup raised its FY19 adjusted EPS guidance from $2.45-$2.53 to $2.50-$2.55. However, the company lowered its net sales guidance from $9.975 billion-$10.10 billion to $9.075 billion-$9.125 billion.

Equities Trading UP

ReWalk Robotics Ltd. RWLK shares shot up 172 percent to $9.03 following news the FDA issued clearance for the company's ReStore Exo-Suit. ReWalk Robotics announced exercise of warrants resulting in cash proceeds of $10.8 million through agreement for investors to purchase shares at $7.50 per share.

Shares of Sientra, Inc. SIEN got a boost, shooting up 9 percent to $6.69 after the company reported pricing of upsized public offering of common stock. Analysts at Wells Fargo upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform and raises the price target from $8 to $10.

Camber Energy, Inc. CEI shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $0.2650 after the company regained compliance with all NYSE American continued listing standards.

Equities Trading DOWN

InflaRx N.V. IFRX shares tumbled 89 percent to $4.03 after the company reported IFX-1 did not demonstrate statistical significance.

Shares of Pivotal Software, Inc. PVTL were down 40 percent to $11.05 after the company issued Q2 and FY20 sales guidance below analyst estimates.

GameStop Corp. GME was down, falling 35 percent to $5.07. Gamestop reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views. The company sees 2019 comparable sales down 5-10 percent.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1 percent to $52.95, while gold traded up 0.8 percent to $1,339.20.

Silver traded up 0.5 percent Wednesday to $14.84, while copper fell 0.7 percent to $2.6495.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.6 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.5 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.5 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.6 percent while UK shares rose 0.3 percent.

Economics

Private sector employers added 27,000 jobs in May, ADP reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 180,000 jobs.

The IHS Markit services PMI came in at 50.9 in May, versus economists’ expectations for a reading of 50.9.

The ISM non-manufacturing index increased to 56.9 in May, versus previous reading of 55.5.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren will speak in Chicago, IL at 1:15 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.