>>> US After Hours Summary: TTD +19.2%, AMAT +12.9%, COIN +12.4%, TXRH +8% highe

After Hours Summary: TTD +19.2%, AMAT +12.9%, COIN +12.4%, TXRH +8% higher on earnings; BE -14%, ROKU -13.7%, TRUP -10.1%, YELP -9.1%, DASH -8.7% lower on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: TTD +19.2% (also increases share repurchase authorization to $700 mln), AMAT +12.9%, COIN +12.4%, TXRH +8% (also increases dividend), BIO +6.7%, TVTX +6.4%, SWAV +4.9%, HASI +4.9% (also increases dividend), IR +4.8%, KNSL +4.3%, EIG +3.6%, ATRC +2.6%, LBTYA +2.4%, CORT +2.2%, TNET +2.2% (also CEO retires, names new CEO; also initiates dividend), TOST +1.4% (also announces $250 mln buyback auth and restructuring including 550 layoffs), AEM +1%, SKT +1%, ED +0.9%, HTGC +0.7%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: MNR +8.2% (provides production guidance), MGNI +5.7% (in sympathy with TTD earnings), CORT +2.2% (reports preliminary results from CATALYST trial), WNC +2.2% (authorizes new $150 mln share repurchase program), PUBM +1.8% (in sympathy with TTD earnings), HUT +1.2% (completes transaction to acquire four power generation facilities), PATH +0.8% (announces further expansion of strategic alliance with Deloitte), EFXT +0.7% (names new CFO), MUSA +0.6% (increases dividend)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: BE -14% (also CFO to step down), ROKU -13.7%, TRUP -10.1%, YELP -9.1% (also approves $500 mln increase to buyback plan), DASH -8.7%, AMN -7.5%, PACB -6.3%, DLR -4.5%, DBX -4.4%, TROX -4.3%, MERC -3.8%, ELME -2.7%, PCOR -2%, BJRI -1.9% (also approves $50 mln increase to buyback plan), OPEN -1.8%, GLOB -1.6%, LNT -1.6%, DKNG -1.5% (also to acquire Jackpocket for $750 mln), LTC -1.2%, PRTA -0.1%, TXG -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: IREN -7.6% (stock offering by selling shareholders), GEHC -2.3% (files for 61,581,302 shares of common stock; commences secondary offering of 13 mln shares), WEST -1.9% (provides business update; prelim FY23 results; FY24 outlook), XOM -0.1% (obtains exemption from Canadian Oil and Gas reporting obligations), NPO -0.1% (increases dividend), AMZN -0.1% (Bezos discloses another ~12 mln share sale worth $2.03 bln)

FT : Ursula von der Leyen calls on EU to subsidise defence production

Ursula von der Leyen calls on EU to subsidise defence production
Brussels must fortify sector for a ‘rougher world’, commission president warns in interview with FT

Brussels should incentivise Europe’s defence industry to ramp up production and promote consolidation, the president of the European Commission has said, as she warned that the “world has got rougher”.

Ursula von der Leyen said the commission was developing its defence industry strategy informed by the experience of using taxpayer cash to boost the production of Covid-19 vaccines and for joint purchases of gas.

“We have to spend more, we have to spend better, we have to spend European,” von der Leyen said in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday.

The plan to gear up Europe’s military industrial complex in the face of rising threats from Russia is due to be released this month; it will need to be approved by national capitals, some of which may resist efforts by the commission to centralise decisions on defence investments.

EU officials are keen to maximise member states’ significant increase in military spending since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to create a larger, more robust and more efficient European defence industry. 

“We have a very fragmented defence market and that needs to change,” von der Leyen said. “What is the competence of the commission? It’s industry. This is our core business. We are an enabler, not a buyer.”

Speaking on the eve of the Munich Security Conference, von der Leyen said that Brussels needed to ensure the continent’s defence industry could respond to the raised geopolitical threat.

Proposals in the commission’s plan include using the EU budget to increase financing to supplement joint contracts for weapons signed by member states, as well as guaranteeing that production will be bought, officials said. 

That borrows from the commission’s push to roll out coronavirus vaccines, which ultimately resulted in a surge in European production.

“We did this for vaccines and gas,” von der Leyen said.

Von der Leyen’s proposal would help streamline the continent’s defence industry, which is largely divided on national lines, and encourage more spending on European products rather than buying from third countries such as the US.

“We need to improve the return on investment here in the EU,” said von der Leyen. “We need a fair share of European taxpayer money spent inside the European Union.

“We should work with incentives so that it is better for member states to work together. Say you want a new tank? Well, huddle up!”

Almost two years of Russia’s war against Ukraine has shattered decades of peace on the continent and a generation of political thinking that defence budgets could be cut.

European Nato members, the majority of which are in the EU, will together spend a record $380bn this year on defence, Nato said this week, up from less than $230bn in 2014.

The potential re-election of Donald Trump as US president, a Nato sceptic and foreign policy isolationist, has also spooked Europeans alarmed about the possible weakening of the US defence guarantee to the continent through Nato’s Article 5 mutual defence clause.

“It is the element of protection that matters . . . For 20, 30, 40 years, our peace was about integration and peace within Europe. Now for the first time we are speaking about protection from outside,” said von der Leyen.

“We understand the warning signs and we must be prepared,” she added. “The call to step up . . . is there and has to be answered.”

The short-term “critical focus” of the defence ramp-up would be to keep supplying Ukraine with weapons, von der Leyen said. But an EU defence industries strategy is also designed to bolster the long-term security of Europe. 

It would build on pilot programmes already in place, such as a €300mn fund to support joint procurement of military products launched last year to help member states replenish stocks depleted by supplying weapons to Ukraine. 

It could also be complemented by the EU’s Coordinated Annual Review on Defence, which since 2017 has monitored the defence plans of its member states to try to encourage collaboration on spending and investments, and works closely with Nato’s own initiatives to co-ordinate joint development and purchase of weapons.

>>> US Close Dow +0.91% S&P +0.58% Nasdaq +0.30% Russell +2.45%

Closing Stock Market Summary
The stock market saw ongoing rebound action today, which began late Tuesday following the CPI-induced sell-off. Some of the heaviest stocks were left out, though, falling under some profit-taking activity and limiting index level moves for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Still, today's upside moves left the S&P 500 higher than Monday's close (5021.84) ahead of the CPI report.

The Russell 2000, which jumped 2.4% today, also recovered all the ground it lost after sliding 4% on Tuesday in response to the CPI report.

Apple (AAPL 183.86, -0.29, -0.2%), Microsoft (MSFT 406.56, -2.93, -0.7%), Alphabet (GOOG 143.94, -3.20, -2.2%), Amazon.com (AMZN 169.79, -1.18, -0.7%), and NVIDIA (NVDA 726.58, -12.42, -1.7%) were among the influential losers today.

Losses in some of the aforementioned names left the S&P 500 information technology sector alone in negative territory at the close with a 0.4% decline. Cisco (CSCO 49.06, -1.22, -2.4%) was another notable loser from the sector after reporting fiscal Q2 results and issuing a disappointing outlook that featured a plan to reduce its workforce by approximately 5%.

Broad based buying activity left the ten remaining S&P 500 sectors higher today, and five of them gained more than 1.0%. The energy sector, which rose alongside WTI crude oil futures ($78.00/bbl, +1.36, +1.8%), and the real estate sector, which benefitted from another pullback in market rates, each jumped more than 2.0%.

A slight moderation in interest rates provided a measure of support to the stock market today, but Treasuries settled off their highs, which were reached following a slate of economic releases. This morning's data showed below-consensus Retail Sales for January (actual -0.8%; consensus -0.2%), an unexpected drop in jobless claims to 212,000 (consensus 221,000), and better than expected readings of manufacturing surveys from New York (actual -2.4; consensus -9.0) and Philadelphia (actual 5.2; Briefing.com consensus -9.0).

The 2-yr note yield fell two basis points to 4.56% after hitting 4.50% after the economic releases. The 10-yr note yield fell three basis points to 4.24% after hitting 4.19% earlier.
  • Nasdaq Composite: +6.0% YTD
  • S&P 500: +5.5% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: +2.9% YTD
  • S&P Midcap 400: +2.6% YTD
  • Russell 2000: +1.7% YTD

Reviewing today's economic data:
  • Retail sales declined 0.8% month-over-month in January (consensus -0.2%) following a downwardly revised 0.4% increase (from 0.6%) in December. Excluding autos, retail sales declined 0.6% month-over-month (consensus 0.1%) following an unrevised 0.4% increase in December.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that it reflects a slowdown in spending on goods in January. Some brutally cold weather during the month will get some blame for the slowdown, but that excuse falls short as the primary driver knowing that sales at nonstore retailers (the bulk of which are online retailers) declined 0.8% month-over-month.
  • Initial jobless claims for the week ending February 10 decreased 8,000 to 212,000 (consensus 221,000). Continuing jobless claims for the week ending February 3 increased 30,000 to 1.895 million.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that the low level of initial claims support an economy operating in growth mode; however, the rising level of continuing jobless claims underscores a rising level of challenge in finding a new job after a layoff.
  • January import prices increased 0.8% month-over-month. Excluding fuel, import prices were up 0.7%. Export prices also increased 0.8% month-over-month. Excluding agricultural products, export prices were up 0.9%.
    • The key takeaway from the report was the deflation seen in year-over-year readings. Import prices were down 1.3% (and down 0.3% excluding fuel) while export prices were down 2.4% (and down 1.6% excluding agricultural products).
  • The February New York Empire State Manufacturing Index checked in at -2.4 (consensus -9.0) following a -43.7 reading for January. The dividing line between expansion and contraction for this series is 0.0, so the February reading connotes an ongoing contraction, albeit at a much slower pace than what was seen in January.
  • The February Philadelphia Fed Index checked in at 5.2 (Bconsensus -9.0) versus -10.6 in January. The dividing line between expansion and contraction for this series is 0.0, so the February reading reflects an expansion in manufacturing activity in February.
  • Total industrial production decreased 0.1% month-over-month in January (consensus 0.4%) after a revised unchanged reading (from 0.1%) in December. The capacity utilization rate was 78.5% ( consensus 78.9%), versus an upwardly revised 78.7% (from 78.6%) for December. Total industrial production was flat yr/yr while the capacity utilization rate was 1.1 percentage points below its long-run average.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that the drop in industrial production in January was unduly influenced by weather-related issues, so the decline isn't necessarily as bad as the headline suggests.
  • Business inventories increased 0.4% in December (consensus 0.4%) following a revised 0.1% decline in November.
  • The NAHB Housing Market Index jumped to 48 in February (consensus 46) from 44 in January.
  • Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories showed a draw of 49 versus a draw of 75 bcf last week

Looking ahead, Friday's economic calendar features:
  • 8:30 ET: January Housing Starts (consensus 1.47 million; prior 1.46 million) and Building Permits (consensus 1.51 million; prior 1.495 million); January PPI (consensus 0.1%; prior -0.2%) and core-PPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%; prior 0.0%)
  • 10:00 ET: February preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey (consensus 79.3; prior 79.0)

>>> Qiagen earns ACT Label for new eco-friendlier QIAwave products and achieves

Qiagen earns ACT Label for new eco-friendlier QIAwave products and achieves first My Green Lab Platinum certification (42.72 -0.16)
  • The Co. announces two significant achievements in sustainability through recognitions by My Green Lab, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability in scientific research.
    • Two newly launched environmentally friendlier QIAwave nucleic-acid extraction kits have received the prestigious ACT Environmental Impact Factor Label, bringing the number of QIAGEN products with this recognition to eight. These new kits are the QIAwave RNA Plus Mini Kit and QIAwave DNA/RNA Mini Kit that are used in labs around the world.
  • In awarding the ACT (Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency) labels, My Green Lab found that the two new QIAwave products had an up to 27% improvement in the Environmental Impact Factor when compared to the respective QIAGEN standard kits.
    • QIAGEN's R&D lab for Sample technologies at its European operational headquarters in Hilden, Germany, has achieved the Platinum certification level in a review by My Green Lab. This certification provides scientists and lab-supporting teams with actionable ways to make meaningful changes, reduce costs, preserve resources, and ensure a safe, healthy environment in support of science. QIAGEN has set a roadmap to have all of its Life Sciences labs at the Hilden site certified by My Green Lab.