Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine Turns Profitable In Third Quarter

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.25% to 36,012.29 while the NASDAQ rose 0.24% to 15,741.23. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.14% to 4,655.99.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 47,693,510 cases with around 780,770 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,414,180 cases and 462,690 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,926,520 COVID-19 cases with 610,320 deaths. In total, there were at least 252,785,840 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,098,390 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares gained by 0.7% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Roblox Corporation RBLX, up 6% and Kanzhun Limited BZ up 4%.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

AstraZeneca PLC AZN said its COVID-19 vaccine made a small contribution to earnings in Q3. It expects the shot to move to "modest profitability" on new orders.

AstraZeneca reported quarterly core earnings of $1.08 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.62 per share. Total revenue jumped 50% year-over-year to $9.87 billion, in line with the consensus. In Q3, the Company posted $1.05 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales.

AstraZeneca reaffirmed its FY21 adjusted EPS guidance at $5.05 - $5.40.

 

Equities Trading UP

Everspin Technologies, Inc. MRAM shares shot up 43% to $9.39 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3results and issued Q4 sales guidance above estimates.

Shares of Hyzon Motors Inc. HYZN got a boost, shooting 19% to $7.47 after the company reported third-quarter revenue of $0.962 million and EPS of $0.13. The company had recorded first vehicle revenues during the quarter.

Stran & Company, Inc.. STRN shares were also up, gaining 21% to $5.88. The company recently priced its IPO at $4.15 per unit.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Team, Inc. TISI shares tumbled 42% to $1.5650 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results.

Shares of Acutus Medical, Inc. AFIB were down 40% to $3.9896. Acutus Medical reported third-quarter revenues of $4.6 million, up from $3.2 million a year ago. The non-GAAP loss per share narrowed from 90 cents to 87 cents. The results trailed expectations. Citing COVID-19 related uncertainty, the company lowered its full-year revenues guidance to $17 million to $17.5 million, below the $22.46 million consensus estimates.

Oncorus, Inc. ONCR was down, falling 41% to $6.55. Oncorus reported initial safety, tolerability, immune activation and positive clinical response data from its ongoing Phase 1 clinical study of ONCR-177, its lead viral immunotherapy candidate, at the SITC 2021.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5% to $80.41, while gold traded down 0.6% to $1,852.20.

Silver traded down 1.3% Friday to $24.985 while copper fell 0.3% to $4.3850.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly flat today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5%, French CAC 40 rose 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.1%.

Spain's annual inflation accelerated for a fourth consecutive month to 5.4% in October, while wholesale prices in Germany surged 15.2% year-over-year in October.

Economics

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped to 66.8 in November from 71.7 in October.

The number of job openings fell by 191,000 from a month ago to 10.4 million in September.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 12:10 p.m. ET.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here