CrunchBase : The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Lambda Leads Massive Week For

The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Lambda Leads Massive Week For Megadeals

Check the calendar — is it 2021 again? Sure seemed that way this week, as there were 10 rounds of $100 million or more raised by U.S.-based startups. That may not have happened since the early part of 2022 — if then. Not just that, but three rounds were for a quarter-billion dollars or more. Not exactly sure what was in the water this week, but AI and biotech led the way as happens often.

1. Lambda, $320M, artificial intelligence: In a big week, this was the biggest round. Lambda hit unicorn status after a $320 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation. The company offers cloud computing services and hardware for training artificial intelligence software. The startup is a provider of Nvidia’s latest GPUs, which are highly sought after by AI developers. The round was led by Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund. The San Jose, California-based startup’s customer list includes Microsoft and Amazon. The round marks the largest by an AI startup this year, per Crunchbase data. In general, the sector seems to be picking up after a slow start to the year with AI startups now raking in more than $3 billion for the current calendar year.

2. Freenome, $254M, biotech: This is just the first of many big biotech raises this week. Blood-test developer Freenome raised a $254 million round led by drugmaker Roche. The South San Francisco-based startup is developing tests that can potentially detect multiple early-stage cancers — currently focused on colorectal and lung cancers. Founded in 2014, the company has raised $1.4 billion, per Crunchbase.

3. Cinq Music, $250M, music: It’s weird to say a $250 million funding round may have slipped through the cracks, but this one may have. Los Angeles-based Cinq Music, an independent record label and subsidiary of GoDigital Media Group, locked up $250 million in funding to acquire music rights. The company plans to use the cash to grow its diverse catalog, including in the genres of reggaeton, Música Mexicana, Afrobeat and country. Cinq has previously raised $160 million since 2017, per the company.

4. (tied) BioAge Labs, $170M, biotech: You didn’t think we were done with biotech for the week did you? This week continued with multiple big rounds for the industry. BioAge Labs, a Richmond, California-based firm taking on obesity and metabolic diseases, raised a $170 million Series D led by Sofinnova Investments. The company will use the cash infusion to help advance the Phase 2 clinical development of its weight-loss drug Azelaprag. The oral drug has been shown to decrease body mass but not make the patient lose muscle. Founded in 2015, the company has raised nearly $294 million, per Crunchbase.

4. (tied) Lilac Solutions, $170M, advanced materials: This round is interesting for a couple reasons. First, while a lot of companies from San Francisco and Silicon Valley make this list, we don’t get a lot from the East Bay of the Bay Area. However, Lilac Solutions — which raised $145 million this week — is based in Oakland, California. Another interesting thing is just what the company does. Lilac is one of a growing handful of startups specializing in lithium extraction technology. Of course, efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly lithium extraction is needed for the exploding EV market. That’s likely why while the round was led by Mercuria, Lowercarbon Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, it also featured BMW i Ventures and Mitsubishi Corp. With the close of the Series C, Lilac says it has now raised $315 million since being founded in 2016.

6. Latigo Biotherapeutics, $135M, biotech: Thousand Oaks, California-based Latigo Biotherapeutics locked up a $135 million Series A financing co-led by Westlake Village BioPartners, 5AM Ventures and Foresite Capital. Founded in 2018, Latigo is a clinical-stage biotechnology startup developing nonopioid pain medicines. The company has raised $150 million, per Crunchbase.

7. ProfoundBio, $112M, biotech: Seattle-based ProfoundBio, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing antibody-drug conjugate therapeutics for patients with cancer, raised a $112 million Series B led by Ally Bridge Group. Founded in 2018, the company has raised $247 million, per Crunchbase.

8. Sierra, $110M, artificial intelligence: San Francisco-based Sierra, a conversational AI company, raised $110 million led by Sequoia Capital and Benchmark at a reported valuation of nearly $1 billion. This is the company’s first announced fundraise.

9. Bugcrowd, $102M, cybersecurity: Hackers-for-hire platform Bugcrowd locked up $102 million in fresh funding led by General Catalyst. The San Francisco-based platform allows companies of all sorts to hire freelance hackers and coders for “bug bounty” programs, helping those companies find problems in software code. The company plans to use the new cash to accelerate growth across the globe — including in the U.S. — and leverage opportunities for strategic M&A. Founded in 2012, the company has raised more than $180 million, per Crunchbase.

10. Alys Pharmaceuticals, $100M, biotech: Investment firm Medicxi merged six of its dermatology-focused portfolio companies to launch Alys Pharmaceuticals this week with $100 million in funding. The immunodermatology-focused startup is based in both Boston and Geneva, Switzerland. Alys will concentrate on dermatological advancements, including programs focused on mastocytosis, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and prevention of skin side effects of oncology therapies.


Big global deals
While it was hard to keep up with all the big deals in the U.S., things were quiet elsewhere. In fact there was just one raise of $100 million outside the country.
  • Netherlands-based Omnetic, a web-based services provider, raised a round worth approximately $108 million.

TechCrunch : A peek inside Alphabet’s $7 billion growth-stage investing arm, Cap

A peek inside Alphabet’s $7 billion growth-stage investing arm, CapitalG

Almost a year ago, Alphabet’s growth stage venture arm, CapitalG, named partner Laela Sturdy as its new head, just as the unit’s founder, David Lawee, stepped down.

Few were surprised Sturdy was promoted to the post. She joined Google in 2007 in a marketing role, was pulled into a number of departments in the following years, and when CapitalG was launched in 2013, she was recruited by Lawlee, who told CNBC in 2021, “I kind of made it a point to know who all the stars were inside of Google, and Laela’s name came up a lot.”

Of course, for many investors, the last year has been among the toughest in their career. We wondered if the same is true for Sturdy, a former college basketball star who is quick to note that 60% of her team comes from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds. To find out more, we reached her earlier this week at CapitalG’s bright, airy office in San Francisco’s Ferry Building; excerpts of our chat are edited lightly for length and clarity below.

Belated congratulations on taking over the helm. How does your management style differ from that of your predecessor, David?
I’m still leading investments and still on a bunch of boards, but I’ve loved being able to also put increasing attention on the team and figure out how we can continue to build out the firm. There’s [now] many more incredible investors that we have at CapitalG.

You have around 50 people on your team; how many of these are investors versus otherwise?
Our model is to find ways that Google and Alphabet can help our portfolio companies, so not only the individuals on this team, but to give you an idea [of what I mean], over the last couple of years, we’ve had over 3500 different senior advisors inside of Alphabet help partner with our portfolio companies [to help with] pricing analysis, scaling infrastructure, marketing and setting up sales incentives. There are all these different technical and business questions that come up for growth-stage companies, which is where we specialize.

Access to 3500 different senior advisors! How does that work?
An example is over the last couple of years, we’ve partnered with the Google training team who does AI and ML training for Google engineers. We said ‘Hey, this training is really effective and gets really high ratings internally.’ And we have a lot of our portfolio companies asking us, ‘How can we up level the talent of our engineering and our organizations and get them ready to fully take advantage of the trends in AI?’ So we partnered with the training team and got our portfolio companies access to the exact same training, and we’ve now had hundreds of engineers inside our portfolio go through that training. I worked at Google for a long time before I came to CapitalG, and one of the amazing things about the culture of Google from the beginning is a real culture of knowledge sharing.

The market for AI talent is so competitive. What can you tell portfolio companies that might feel nervous about the information that’s going into and out of Alphabet through you?
Everything is opt-in from the portfolio companies’ standpoint. We don’t share anything; we operate totally separately. We don’t share any portfolio company data with Alphabet and we don’t share any Alphabet data back to the portfolio companies. We exist as the intermediary to find win-wins where they exist.

As an example, [Google Cloud] has been an incredible go-to-market partner [and] all the other cloud providers are also important and great partners, so we don’t push anything on anyone. We help facilitate the right introductions and marketing partnerships and product discussions where it’s relevant.

How are decisions made inside CapitalG? Do you have final say over who sees a check?
We have an investment committee [composed of] myself and three other general partners who are really incredible investors. For example, my partner Gene Frantz, who I’ve been working with for the last 10 years – since almost the beginning of CapitalG – is a longtime investor who was at TPG and other places before [joining the outfit]. So we’ve built a GP bench that’s really strong, and these GPs bring deals to our investment committee, and we make the decision as a committee.

How many bets per year are you making? And what size checks are you writing?
We typically invest between $50 million and $200 million in each company. We’re very thesis driven, so we spend a lot of time going deep on sectors . . and we’re investing in about seven or eight new companies a year and then typically [many] more follow-on [rounds] for our existing portfolio.

How much of a company do you aim to own?
We’re flexible on ownership percentage. What we’re thinking about is our money-on-money returns in these companies. For example, I led the Series D round in Stripe back in 2017. I think that was a $9 billion valuation. [We closed] a recent AI investment that was on the earlier side – it had a sub $500 million valuation – so we’re very focused on the market, how much we think the business is differentiated, and whether we can invest a significant amount of capital to scale.

What are your cash-on-cash returns?
We don’t share those publicly. We don’t share any of the returns publicly.

At $9 billion, you’re going to do great with that investment in Stripe, whose valuation ran all the way up to $95 billion before it was reset at $50 billion last year. Do you think that valuation swing was in response to market trends or its performance?
Stripe is an incredible company and [tackling] absolutely one of the biggest market opportunities out there, so I’m very bullish on their performance to date and all that’s ahead. When you look at any valuations, public or private, across the last 18 to 24 months, all of them had some sort of reset based coming out of the COVID . . .so I wouldn’t read anything into the company’s performance.

Does Alphabet allocate a discrete fund to you every year?
Yes, we invest out of discrete funds, so yearly annual funds.

How big are they?
We have $7 billion in assets under management [dating back to 2013].

So you have a lot of money in a market where others have less. With the IPO market stalled and other late-stage investors investing less, are you buying up secondary shares?
We’re very focused on partnerships with the CEO and the management team. We will only invest if we have engagement with the CEO and we have direct data from the company. Our model is we want to be the best partners to these founders so that they refer us to the next best companies down the line. So we always have direct engagement

What secondary shares have you bought?
I won’t share specific companies because that hasn’t been [publicly disclosed by the companies]. And a lot of secondary sales end up structured as primary anyway. But the broader trend that you’re referring to is interesting because it is early-stage investors looking for liquidity. And I think that’s right in line with our strategy of finding the best growth-stage companies and at what we believe is very early in their long-term compounding [trajectory], so we’re super excited to get on the cap table of those types of companies. . . Our strategy is to partner with these companies early and then hold them for a long period of time.

You do eventually distribute shares back to Alphabet, though.
We definitely distribute, but I’d say we have a long-term orientation.

Does Alphabet really care if you deliver returns? Are these bets mostly strategic?
We focus on delivering returns, and we focus on the mission of using the expertise and experience of Google and Alphabet to be world-class partners to these generational tech companies.

Google is obviously going big on AI. Tell me a bit about your own AI strategy.
We’re as excited about AI as everyone else. We have a really wonderful team of people focused on it within CapitalG, and that’s another area where we have some really great advisors within Google who have enabled us to lean into even more technical bets. Cybersecurity is a good example here. We were in CrowdStrike in the Series B when they had $15 million in revenue or something, and a big part of making some of those early cybersecurity bets was a differentiated technical point of view. So we’re bringing that same rigor to the AI space.

One of the things that we think is really interesting in the AI space is, when we look across enterprise use cases, we actually think a lot of the incumbents are quite well-positioned, because they have distribution, they have customers, they have workflows . . .so where we’ve been looking a bit more is places where there’s real technical differentiation and where workflow and existing distribution is less important. One company that we’ve backed that we believe has a strong, technical differentiation is Magic, which is focused on building an AI software engineer.

You’re also on the board of Duolingo, which parted ways with 10% of its contractors last month. A spokesperson said at the time that the company didn’t really need as many people to do the type of work that they were doing, in part because of AI. Is that something that you’re seeing across your portfolio companies?
I won’t comment on Duolingo specifically, but I will say that across our portfolio companies, they are looking at how AI can enhance the customer experience, and enhance their other systems and processes. I think there’s a lot of surprise and delight around that. There’s a lot of rethinking of the marketing stack. There’s a lot of rethinking of customer support and services. We’re still in very early innings. But the same way I see enterprise customers excited to experiment with how they can use AI in their workflow, I see startup and growth-stage companies really excited to experiment with how they can use AI to rethink how they’re building the organization and get all of their employees focused on the most high-value opportunities. There’s a lot of interesting work happening there.

FootWearNews : Nike Denied ‘Footware’ Trademark as It Seeks to Add More Tech Ele

Nike Denied ‘Footware’ Trademark as It Seeks to Add More Tech Elements to Shoes

The Nike Adapt BB Mag shoes seen on Jay Huff of the Virginia Cavaliers on Feb. 8, 2020.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board halted Nike’s attempt to secure a U.S. trademark registration for the term “Footware” following an opposition by San Antonio Shoes on Monday.

According to documents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, San Antonio Shoes argued that “footware” is merely a descriptive word for foot-worn wearable technology and thus not a term that could be owned my one company.

San Antonio Shoes also argued that that the words “footware” and “footwear” are often used interchangeably, which renders the term merely descriptive, because phonetically identical words or simple misspellings do not remove the merely descriptive aspect of the word.

The Board agreed with San Antonio Shoes’ argument in a decision issued on Monday, stating, “as a whole, this combination of ‘Foot’ + ‘Ware’ does not result in a separate distinctive meaning.

Even if applicant is the first to use this particular combination of merely descriptive terms, that does not justify registration if the only significance conveyed by the term is merely descriptive.”

“We are glad that the Board agreed with our position that ‘footware’ is merely descriptive of the foot-worn wearable technologies that are becoming more common in the footwear marketplace,” said Joe Lawlor, partner at Haynes and Boone – the law firm that represented San Antonio Shoes in this matter. “This is a helpful decision for brands and consumers, because as smart shoe technologies become more prevalent, no one brand will have a monopoly on this descriptor.”
The Nike Adapt BB shoes seen on Golden State Warriors Center Jordan Bell.
ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES

As a result of Monday’s ruling, Nike will not receive a registration for the term. However, Nike could technically appeal the Board’s decision in the coming months. “There’s a few different appeal avenues Nike could take,” Lawlor told FN. “Basically, over the next month or two, we’ll learn whether or not they’ve decided to appeal. It’s certainly possible that they appeal, but it probably is not a worthwhile endeavor for them. But it’s possible they do it anyway.”

According to Lawlor, Puma filed a similar appeal to Nike’s trademark request to register “footware” in the UK and EU. While Puma was not successful in its appeal, Nike’s loss in the States on Monday will most likely hinder its usage of the term – if the company chooses to use it at all.


Nike first filed its “footware” trademark request back in 2019. At the time, the athletic company was seeking to expand its range of “smart” sneakers, such as the self-lacing Adapt BB that released earlier that same year. In the application, Nike sought to register the term in referring to various types of computer hardware and software applications to use in connection with its shoes. San Antonio filed its initial opposition back in July 2020.

“San Antonio Shoes believes that it is important for everyone in the industry to have the right to use generic descriptive terms, even when the spelling might be altered,” a representative of San Antonio Shoes said in a statement.

FN has reached out to Nike for comment.

WWD : Guess and WHP Cut Deal to Buy Rag & Bone

Guess and WHP Cut Deal to Buy Rag & Bone
The jeans company and the brand management firm are joining forces to acquire Rag & Bone.

Rag & Bone is headed in a new direction.

The brand — which started in premium denim and aspired to a more designer or luxury positioning — agreed to sell itself to Guess Inc. and brand management firm WHP Global.

Under terms of the deal, Guess will buy all of the operating assets of the New York-based business. Separately, a 50/50 joint venture controlled by Guess and WHP will acquire the brand’s intellectual property.

The full purchase price was not disclosed, but Guess’ portion of the deal tallies $56.5 million, plus an earn out that could add as much as $12.8 million to the purchase price.

That puts the full price to buy the business well below its sales, which last year came in at $250 million, driving adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $18 million. The brand has 34 stores in the U.S., two doors in the U.K. and numerous wholesale accounts.

The sale is the latest major development at the brand in the last eight months: Marcus Wainwright, who cofounded the business with David Neville in 2002, stepped down as chief brand officer last July.

Rag & Bone has continued to evolve and last month hired the well-respected Robert Geller to design its menswear.

But now the table is being reset.

One source familiar with the company said: “This is not an elevation of where Rag & Bone was a decade ago or where the market expected it to go when Robbert Geller was named” to his design role.

But another source — who said Rag & Bone got a “good price” but not a “great price” — said the business is being positioned to win.

“You don’t buy this brand and dumb it down, you buy it to invest in and grow it and that’s really the objective,” the source said. “This should be a $500 million brand and I think they see that.”

Much remains to be seen.

Guess executives were not available to comment on Friday, but under the company’s umbrella, Rag & Bone will certainly have new resources and access to new skill sets to realize its potential.

Investors liked the deal and traded shares of Guess up 3.9 percent to $25.01.

Eric Beder, an analyst at Small Cap Consumer Research, said: “Guess looks at this as a premium denim brand they can leverage in terms of expanding it internally, in terms of expanding the assortments and in terms of actually expanding in the U.S., in terms of having more stores, maybe in some malls or beyond where they are right now.

“They’re going to let the Rag & Bone guys do their thing,” Beder said. “The Rag & Bone people are going to be independent in the organization.”

The structure of the deal — with an operating company teaming up with a brand management firm — is becoming more common, with WHP similarly working with Express to buy Bonobos from Walmart last year.

“This is a very easy way for a brand licensor to buy a brand without having to get their hands dirty and own stores,” Beder said. “Brand licensors don’t want to own the assets. It’s also a way of founders to cash out.”

The deal, the first in Guess’ 43-year history, shows just how the market for smaller fashion brands is evolving. The traditional buyers, including private equity companies, were already shying away from the space before higher interest rates made everything more expensive.

Now, there are more sellers than buyers in the market, but the bankers who play matchmaker say they’re keeping busy as players on both sides feel their way forward. Rag & Bone was advised by investment bank Solomon Partners while Guess worked with The Sage Group.

Paul Marciano, cofounder and chief creative officer, of Guess, said: “Rag & Bone is a brand I have always loved and respected. It is a brand well known for its preeminence in American fashion that over the years has stayed true to its roots and founding values, with an unwavering commitment to quality and authenticity.

“I look forward to working with Andrew Rosen and the talented team at Rag & Bone to pursue the brand’s product and market expansion internationally,” Marciano said.

Rosen, a fashion and investment veteran who is chairman of Rag & Bone, said: “Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as Rag & Bone joins forces with a much larger international fashion company. It’s a great opportunity for our team to take the brand to the next level, blending our unique styles and respective expertise to create new possibilities for Rag & Bone on a global scale.”

And Carlos Alberini, chief executive officer of Guess, said the transaction would diversify the company’s portfolio with complementary price points.

“We look forward to partnering with WHP Global to build on Rag & Bone’s heritage,” Alberini said. “Guess has an incredible platform with a strong global distribution network and outstanding licensee partners that will enable us to power the growth and expansion of the Rag & Bone business. We expect the transaction to deliver earnings per share accretion in the first year and strong value creation for our shareholders for years to come.”

WSJ : The British ‘King of Trainers’ Takes On the Land of Sneakers

The British ‘King of Trainers’ Takes On the Land of Sneakers
Retailer JD Sports thinks it can conquer a depressed U.S. market with its sportswear-as-fashion concept

Americans’ waning demand for sneakers and sportswear has major players like Nike, Adidas and Foot Locker in a rut. British newcomer JD Sports JD 2.05%increase; green up pointing triangle Fashion sees the U.S. market’s weakness as the moment to pounce.

With a fashion-first approach that the company says sets it apart from its rivals, JD Sports is doubling down on American sports retail, opening hundreds of U.S. stores even as incumbents contend with disengaged consumers.

“The U.S. customer wanted something new. I think they’d gotten tired,” Chief Executive Régis Schultz said in an interview. “They have plenty of sneaker stores, which all look the same.”

JD Sports has bought a trio of U.S. retailers in recent years and is targeting more than 1,300 U.S. stores by 2028, up from about 900 today.

The retailer has established itself as Gen-Z’s go-to sportswear store in Britain thanks to its youthful vibe and exclusive drops of the latest sneakers. By Schultz’s admission, it sells much the same sneakers and branded clothing as other sports stores but has differentiated itself by marketing its products as youth fashion rather than performance sportswear.

JD Sports’ stores have a more contemporary, streetwise feel that is more akin to a fashion label than a typical sports shop. The music tends to be loud, the staff young, and the in-store imagery shows sneakers and apparel in a street context rather than being used to run or play sports.

It positions Nike and Adidas products alongside labels such as Juicy Couture, Hugo Boss and Polo Ralph Lauren, as well as its own brands that include Hoodrich and Supply & Demand.

The formula has resonated with younger consumers and big sports brands. Through an arrangement with Nike, for example, JD Sports secures exclusives or early releases of new sneakers and other products, which in turn generate buzz and drive sales.

“The music’s cooler, the staff are cooler,” said Jonathan Pritchard, an analyst at investment bank Peel Hunt, adding that JD Sports’ focus on casual wear over serious sports products has proved fruitful. “For every guy that runs past the pub, there are 10 that go into the pub,” he said.

Annual sales at the self-styled “Undisputed King of Trainers”—the British term for sneakers—more than tripled over five years to reach £10.1 billion, equivalent to $12.8 billion, in 2022. The company said sales for the financial year ended Feb. 3 likely grew about 8% over the year before.

That contrasts with its chief U.S. competitors. Foot Locker’s sales fell 10% in the first nine months of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022, having declined 2.3% the year before. At Dick’s Sporting Goods sales increased 3.8% in the first nine months of 2023, having fallen slightly in 2022.

Major athletic brands are also slowing. Nike recently downgraded its outlook to 1% sales growth for the financial year ending in May, citing cautious consumer spending. Adidas said it expects its 2023 revenue to have declined slightly, and Under Armour forecast a similar decline for its financial year ending in March.

While the sporting-goods market is weak globally, high inventory levels in the U.S. will make it especially tough for brands and retailers until at least the second half of 2024, according to analysts at HSBC.

JD Sports lowered its profits forecast in January, saying cautious consumer spending had led to more discounting than it anticipated. A warm end to 2023 also hurt sales of its cold-weather clothing, including its top-selling product, the Nike Tech Fleece.

Analysts said the new profit guidance, which prompted JD Sports’ shares to shed a quarter of their value, shouldn’t affect the company’s long-term ambitions. Its shares are now trading at roughly half the price of their peak in late 2021.

Though the U.S. market has recently been sluggish, retailers with edgier concepts are still doing well and that gives JD Sports scope to expand, said footwear industry analyst Matt Powell.

The British company’s youth-fashion identity is unique in the U.S., Powell said, contrasting with Foot Locker, which is “first and foremost a sneaker store,” and Dick’s Sporting Goods, which targets “younger and older customers—dads and their kids.”

With lifestyle a much bigger business than performance sports, brands have welcomed JD Sports as a means of accessing that side of the market at a time when their revenues are under pressure, Powell said. “Nike in particular has shown JD a lot of love,” he added.

Based in Bury in the north of England, JD Sports was founded in 1981 by John Wardle and David Makin. Its biggest shareholder is Pentland Group, a U.K. investment firm whose portfolio includes swimwear brand Speedo and outdoor label Berghaus, with a 55% stake.

The company operated 3,347 stores globally as of September. Its three big markets, the U.K., mainland Europe and the U.S., each constitute roughly a third of its business.

Last year Schultz, a 55-year-old Frenchman who joined JD Sports in 2022, outlined a five-year expansion plan focused on the U.S. and Europe. The strategy calls for the company to spend roughly $750 million a year opening around 350 stores annually.

JD Sports first entered the U.S. in 2018 when it acquired Indianapolis-based Finish Line for $560 million. Two years later it bought California sneaker chain Shoe Palace for $681 million. It agreed to pay $495 million for Baltimore-based lifestyle retailer DTLR in 2021.

The company said it would open three new JD Sports stores in the U.S. in February, in Toms River, N.J., Tacoma, Wash., and Hayward, Calif., having opened a dozen last month.

When opening new stores, the company looks for sites closer to clothing brands like Zara rather than near other sports stores. To raise awareness, it gives local influencers over $500 in store credit, in return for which they agree to post videos of their shopping sprees on social media.

JD Sports plans to open around 100 stores a year in the U.S. through 2028. Half of these stores will be new sites, with the rest converted from Finish Line locations. The company had initially planned to stick with the Finish Line name but its U.S. management team recommended switching to the British brand, Schultz said.

The company tested the name-change idea by updating some Finish Line stores and rebranding others as JD Sports. Stores operating as JD Sports performed better, reinforcing the company’s belief that the U.S. market was ripe for shake-up.

JD Sports plans to retain and grow the DTLR and Shoe Palace brands.

“The major brands fully support JD’s expansion in the U.S.,” Schultz said of its top athletic lines. A European partnership with Nike that links their loyalty programs is set to extend to the U.S. this year, as is a similar tie-up with Adidas.

Nike said it is increasingly focused on working with a small number of what it calls “top strategic partners,” which include JD Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

One benefit: JD Sports can launch exclusive branded products. It carries more than 100 Nike exclusives. These are typically widely available products but come in colorways unique to the company, such as a newly released edition of the Nike Air Max 95 in black and white with blue trim.

A third-party retailer constantly needs to prove its worth to brands like Nike, Schultz said. “We give life to their products in a fashion way,” he said, “that’s why they value us.”

Barrons : The Stock Market Is Melting Up. Prepare for a Short-Term Correction.

The Stock Market Is Melting Up. Prepare for a Short-Term Correction.

No cut, no problem—at least not for the stock market.

It should have been a bad week for an overextended market, one that had risen for 14 of the previous 15 weeks. A pair of stronger-than-expected January inflation prints forced investors to wake up to the realization that the Federal Reserve won’t be cutting interest rates as often or as soon as they’d expected, while a pair of shaky retail sales reports suggested that the economy wasn’t as strong as thought.

None of it amounted to much. The S&P 500 index lost 0.4% this past week, while setting a record high on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.3%. Bond yields rose.

There were some harrowing moments. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.4% after data showed the consumer price index had increased by 0.3% in January, a tenth of a point more than expected and up 3.1% from a year earlier. The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy components, rose 0.4% last month to stretch its 12-month gain to 3.9%—matching the December change and arresting a trend of declining inflation in place for most of the past year. Producer inflation data on Friday similarly topped expectations.

Those inflation readings suggest there’s still too much uncertainty over the direction of prices for the Fed to be loosening monetary policy. Markets are now assigning slim chances of rate reductions at the Fed’s March and May meetings, with June the new consensus start for the Fed’s cutting cycle.

“The January inflation data vindicate the Fed’s wait-and-see approach,” wrote BofA Securities economists on Friday. “Services inflation remains sticky, and the Fed would like to see more progress there to have confidence that inflation is returning to its 2% target on a persistent basis.”

A June start might also prove optimistic, even if January’s inflation jump was just a blip—something that investors will find out over the next four months, Despite last month’s disappointing retail reading, gross domestic product is on track for a 3% annual growth rate in the first quarter, the labor market continues to add jobs, and unemployment is below 4%.

“Investors are beginning to realize that macro conditions don’t warrant rate cuts soon, and if recent job-creation trends continue, there might only be two or three cuts in total this year,” wrote David Bianco, chief investment officer, Americas, at DWS Group.

Investors might even want to consider the possibility that there will be no cuts in 2024, according to Matthew Luzzetti, Deutsche Bank’s chief U.S. economist, offering three conditions for that to happen. First, the Fed’s estimate of the so-called neutral rate needs to be adjusted higher, to about 3.5%. Second, unemployment needs to remain below 4% while other economic data remain solid. Finally, inflation must remain sticky, with core personal-consumption expenditures, the Fed’s favored measure, finishing the year at 2.7% or higher.

The second and third of those conditions merely require January trends to continue, with the first a matter of debate. Three Fed officials already saw a long-term neutral rate—with which monetary policy neither accelerates nor restricts economic growth—of at least 3.5% in the central bank’s latest economic projections in December. More hot inflation and labor-market strength in 2024 could move others to this view, Luzzetti argues. “While this condition for inflation is far from our baseline…recent data suggest the probability of this outcome may not be trivial,” he wrote.
The market, though, might be able to withstand a handful of fewer rate cuts, if for no other reason than a strong economy and robust labor market tend to be good for corporate revenue and earnings. The fact that the S&P 500 made back its post-CPI losses and that the Cboe Volatility index, or VIX, Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” ended the week roughly where it started—at a relatively calm level below 14 points—also suggest that this isn’t a rate-cuts-or-bust market.

“If equities had been driven lower by rising fear, in this case the fear of renewed inflation, then we would not have seen the recovery,” wrote Tim Hayes, chief global investment officer at Ned Davis Research. “Doubts about the timing of something bullish should be distinguished from fears about something bearish, such as resurgent inflation or collapsing economic growth.”

Are investors getting complacent? Perhaps. Last week’s Investors Intelligence sentiment survey showed the highest percentage of self-described bulls since the summer of 2021. Market strategists have been raising year-end price targets for the S&P 500. The Cboe equity put/call ratio is about as low as it gets historically, meaning more bets on rising stock prices than falling. Fund flows have been strong, even with the S&P 500 trading at a demanding 20.5 times 12-month forward earnings.

What’s more, BofA Securities’ February Global Fund Manager Survey included the greatest global growth expectations in two years, falling cash levels, and the highest allocation to U.S. stocks since late 2021. A soft landing is the consensus call—for the first time in nearly two years, a majority of respondents see no global recession in the next 12 months. But, according to respondents to the survey, higher inflation is the most significant tail risk.

The melt-up in stock prices and possibly overextended bullish sentiment suggest that a shallow correction, a decline of 10% or so from recent highs, may be in store in the coming weeks. How earnings are received this coming week—particularly Nvidia
s quarterly results on Wednesday—will have a big impact on sentiment and could easily be the catalyst for a correction.

But just a correction. The lack of impending interest-rate cuts may not justify the S&P 500’s valuation, but above-average earnings-growth prospects might. S&P 500 earnings per share are forecast to rise more than 9% this year, then another 13% in 2025, per analyst consensus figures from Refinitiv.
“Risk appetite and valuations rise when an improving, solid economic outlook enhances investors’ confidence that corporations will be able to deliver consistent profit growth,” wrote Evan Brown, head of multi-asset strategy at UBS Wealth Management. “That is the environment we find ourselves in today.”


It’s an environment that should have stocks moving up and to the right.

>>> US Close Dow -0.37% S&P -0.48% Nasdaq -0.82% Russell -1.39%

Closing Stock Market Summary
The stock market spent most of today's session little changed from yesterday's closing levels. Stocks didn't have much of a reaction to another hot inflation reading in the form of January PPI and another jump in Treasury yields.

The major indices took a sharp turn lower in the late afternoon trade, however, ultimately closing near session lows. There was no specific catalyst to account for the afternoon deterioration, which was relatively modest compared to Tuesday's post CPI-slide.

The afternoon slide coincided with shares of NVIDIA (NVDA 726.13, -0.45, -0.1%) giving back early gains. NVDA had been up as much as 2.4% after Loop Capital started coverage with Buy rating and Street-high $1,200 price target.

Regardless of the late-session slide, market participants were not spooked by this morning's economic data, holding onto to hope that inflation will continue to go the market's way, that the macroenvironment will remain strong, and that the Fed will cut rates sooner rather than later.

The S&P 500 also found support on an early test of the 5,000 level, which acted as an early upside catalyst today. The index closed just above that level in front of this extended holiday weekend. As a reminder, bond and equity markets are closed on Monday for Presidents Day.

Only three of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed higher -- materials (+0.5%), health care (+0.3%), and consumer staples (+0.2%) -- while the communication services sector (-1.6%) logged the largest decline, sliding under losses in Meta Platforms (META 473.32, -10.71, -2.2%) and Alphabet (GOOG 141.76, -2.18, -1.5%).

The 2-yr note yield settled nine basis points higher today, and 15 basis points higher this week, to 4.65%. The 10-yr note yield rose six basis points today, and jumped 11 basis points this week, to 4.30%.
  • Nasdaq Composite: +5.1% YTD
  • S&P 500: +4.9% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: +2.5% YTD
  • S&P Midcap 400: +1.7% YTD
  • Russell 2000: +0.3% YTD
Reviewing today's economic data:
  • January Housing Starts 1.331 mln (consensus 1.470 mln); Prior was revised to 1.562 mln from 1.460 mln; January Building Permits 1.470 mln ( consensus 1.510 mln); Prior was revised to 1.493 mln from 1.495 mln
    • The key takeaway from the report is that the weakness was concentrated in multi-family starts and permits, although single-family starts were down 4.7% in a disappointing development for an inventory-constrained housing market.
  • January PPI 0.3% (consensus 0.1%); Prior was revised to -0.1% from -0.2%; January Core PPI 0.5% ( consensus 0.1%); Prior was revised to -0.1% from 0.0%
    • The key takeaway from the report is a lot like the key takeaway from the hotter-than-expected January CPI report: whether the market chooses to dismiss this report as a function of seasonal adjustment factors, the fact of the matter is that the Fed isn't going to dismiss it, and will see it as a reason to remain patient with respect to cutting rates.
  • February Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Prelim 79.6 (consensus 79.3); Prior 79.0
    • The key takeaway from the report is that consumers are feeling better about the economy with inflation pressures easing and the labor market showing continued strength.

As a reminder, bond and equity markets are closed on Monday for Presidents Day. Tuesday's economic calendar is limited to the January Leading Indicators Index at 10:00 ET.

>>> Weekly Market Update

Weekly Market Update: Markets continue to look past troubling inflation data as central bankers stay cautiously optimistic

Earnings and US inflation data where in focus this week and neither offered overly encouraging signals for investors. Nevertheless, US indices managed to hang around all-time highs mostly on the belief that an early 2024 uptick in inflation is unlikely to change the overall disinflationary trend. Fed officials largely supported that notion when acknowledging their surprise in the recent string of strong numbers, but also underscoring their belief progress is likely to continue and lead to policy normalization later this year. The S&P held 5K despite a backup in interest rates and a swath of companies that either lowered or guided FY24 earnings significantly below market consensus. The US dollar index touched the highest levels since mid-November as US Treasury yields backed up along the curve, led by the short end. For the week, the S&P lost 0.4%, the DJIA dipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.3%.

Jan CPI data clearly suggested that it will take even longer than markets have been hoping for the Fed to become confident that inflation is moving sustainably back toward its 2% objective. Numerous Fed officials reiterated that they want to be sure that core services will eventually return to levels that are consistent with the long-run goal, but the CPI series turned in its largest one-month gain of +0.7% in 16 months. That pop was echoed in Friday’s PPI print when its service-sector components that feed into the PCE were stronger than expected, even if not quite to the same degree as seen in the CPI. The University of Michigan inflation surveys moved up as well, along with prices paid components of the most recent manufacturing surveys. There were several noticeable offsets to the strong inflation data. US January retail sales numbers were very soft relative to expectations while some of the strength seen in that series in December was revised lower. Overseas, both the UK and Japan Q4 GDP data pointed to technical recession, and UK January CPI came in much cooler than expected.

Earnings season marched on with mixed results and a perhaps more overall cautious tone this week. Marriott reported solid Q4 results but provided tepid guidance that suggested preparations for a softer lodging market later this year. In a similar vein, AirBnB projected moderation in the growth rate for its bookings in the current quarter. Cisco Systems cut guidance for the second quarter in a row as it pointed to persistently weak results coming out of Asia. In the ecommerce space, Shopify reported strong numbers and guidance as it saw its GMV rise 23% over year ago. Applied Materials beat estimates and guided higher, and affirmed that the chip equipment sector is still humming along as cloud companies reaccelerate capital investment. On the M&A front this week, Vizio shares were higher on reports that Walmart was eyeing the TV maker for a $2B+ deal.


MON 2/12
(IL) Israel PM Netanyahu: Conquering Rafah in southernmost Gaza is essential to defeating Hamas; Victory is within reach; We're going to do it.
(IL) Axios reporter: Senior Israeli officials have told me that an Israeli delegation will go to Egypt tomorrow for a meeting with the head of the CIA, the head of Egyptian intelligence and the prime minister of Qatar in an attempt to promote negotiations
(IR) Iran Foreign Min Kanaani: Gaza war is moving toward diplomatic solution
(SA) Saudi Energy Min Abdulaziz: OPEC ready to tweak policy at any time; Saudi Aramco is not necessarily abandoning capacity expansion; We are ready to tweak up or downwards at any time, whatever market necessity dictates
(US) Deutsche Bank strategist: Global earnings growth has turned positive for the first time in 5 quarters, while all measures of US earnings beats are well above the upper end of their pre-pandemic ranges
(US) JAN MONTHLY BUDGET STATEMENT: -$21.9B V -$21.0BE
(US) Fed’s Bowman (voter, hawk) Q&A: Doesn't see cuts as appropriate in the immediate future; Many risks remain for Fed's inflation fight
(CH) Swiss weekly Total Sight Deposits (CHF): 482.3B v 481.2B prior
(AU) Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence: 82.6 v 83.8 prior
(CN) EU proposes first trade curbs on three Chinese firms and firms in several other countries, including Turkey, India and Serbia, over aid provided to Russia for its war in Ukraine – press
(IN) INDIA JAN CPI Y/Y: 5.1% V 5.0%E (5th straight month within target range)
FANG Diamondback Energy and Endeavor Energy Resources confirm to merge in $26B cash-stock (about 30%-70%) deal; Diamondback raises 7% its annual base dividend to $3.60/shr; Expect merger to close in Q4 and operational synergies to be realized in 2025
CDTX Receives $11.1M milestone payment following European Approval of REZZAYO
ANET Reports Q4 $2.08 v $1.71e, Rev $1.54B v $1.53Be
WAF.DE Guides FY24 H1 flat y/y with significant decline in EBIT, due to the continuing weakness in demand, primarily as a result of elevated customer inventories and the associated further postponements of delivery volumes; Cuts annual dividend 60%

TUES 2/13
(JP) Japan top currency diplomat Kanda: Recent JPY currency (yen) moves are rapid; Will take actions if needed.
(RU) Russia Foreign Ministry: Russia's response to asset seizure will be tough
(EU) Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service: Russia is preparing for potential military confrontation with the NATO within the next decade; Assessment is based on Russian plans to double the number of forces stationed along its border with NATO members
(DE) GERMANY FEB ZEW CURRENT SITUATION SURVEY: -81.7 V -79.0E (lowest since mid-2020); EXPECTATIONS SURVEY: 19.9 V 17.3E
(UK) DEC AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS 3M/Y: 5.8% V 5.6%E
(US) Weekly API Crude Oil Inventories: +8.5M v +0.7M prior
(US) Jan Real Avg Hourly Earning Y/Y: 1.4% v 1.0% prior; Avg Weekly Earnings Y/Y: -0.1% v +0.7% prior
(US) Atlanta Jan Sticky-CPI annualized 6.7% v 4.2% m/m, Core 6.8% v 4.6% m/m (update)
(US) Weekly Redbook LFL Sales w/e Feb 10th: +2.5% y/y
(US) JAN CPI M/M: 0.3% V 0.2%E; Y/Y: 3.1% V 2.9%E (biggest M/M jump since Sept 2023; Core CPI YoY unchanged from Dec
(US) According to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, Sunday's Super Bowl game was the most-watched program in television history, averaging 123.4M viewers, +7% y/y
TUI1.DE Reports Q1 -€0.24 v -€0.89 y/y, Underlying EBIT +€6M v -€113M y/y, Rev €4.30B v €4.17Be; Notes bookings for Summer 2024 continue to be promising, ahead y/y across all its markets
ABNB Reports Q4 -$0.55* v $0.67e, Rev $2.22B v $2.16Be

VZIO Walmart reportedly in talks to buy TV maker Vizio; Deal valued at more than $2B – WSJ
002594.CN Considering establishing a plant in Mexico, with eye on US market; BYD already launched a feasibility study; Planning to spend BRL3B for a new plant in Brazil – Nikkei
OPEC Monthly Oil Report (MOMR)
BRKR Reports Q4 $0.70 v $0.65e, Rev $854.5M v $809Me; Guides Rev strong, see it "well above-market"
MAR Reports Q4 $3.57 adj v $2.12e, Rev $6.10B v $6.32Be
SHOP Reports Q4 $0.34 v $0.31e, Rev $2.14B v $2.07Be
TRU Assumes slower/muted growth conditions to persist in 2024, but expects more stable macro environment; In Q1, assumes similar lending and marketing trends q/q - earnings slides
TRU Reports Q4 $0.80 v $0.71e, Rev $954.3M v $927Me; Guides Rev strong, notes US Markets lending and marketing activity remained subdued but consistent with prior Q; Revises previous financials statements, results in no impact to total operating expense or income

WED 2/14
(EU) EURO ZONE Q4 PRELIMINARY GDP Q/Q: 0.0% V 0.0%E; Y/Y: 0.1% V 0.1%E
(EU) ECB allots $214.0M in weekly 7-day USD Liquidity Tender at 5.58% vs $222.0M prior
(UK) JAN CPI M/M: -0.6% V -0.3%E; Y/Y: 4.0% V 4.1%E
(UK) BOE and SNB allotment in weekly 7-day USD liquidity operation
(IR) Iran confirms terror attack hit the main gas transmission network in Borujen [the specific cause of the incident has not been disclosed] - Iran state media
(AU) AUSTRALIA JAN EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: +0.5K V +25.0KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.1% V 4.0%E (1st time above 4% since Jan 2022)
(JP) JAPAN Q4 PRELIMINARY GDP Q/Q: -0.1% V 0.2%E; ANNUALIZED Q/Q: -0.4% V 1.1%E (enters technical recession for 1st time since pandemic; loses title of the world's third-biggest economy to Germany)
- GDP Nominal Q/Q: 0.3% v 0.8%e
(CN) International Institute for Strategic Studies analyst: China starting to prepare for protracted war in the Indo-Pacific, learning from Russia's invasion of Ukraine; Cites China's legal changes that will help integrate military and civilian mobilization – Nikkei
(US) DOE CRUDE: +12M V +2.5ME; GASOLINE: -3.7M V -1ME; DISTILLATE: -1.9M V -1.5ME
(US) Fed's Goolsbee (non-voter for 2024); Lets not get too flipped out about yesterday's inflation data; CPI data yesterday meant the puzzle got bigger and it is something I am watching
(US) Fed's Waller (voter, hawk): Forward guidance should be more flexible
(US) Former congressman Tom Suozzi (Dem) wins against Nassau County legislator Mazi Pilip (R) in New York's 3rd Congressional district special elections over former George Santos (R) seat - press
(US) MBA Mortgage Applications w/e Feb 9th: -2.3% v 3.7% prior
CSCO Reports Q2 $0.87 v $0.84e, Rev $12.8B v $12.7Be; Cuts FY guidance; Confirms to cut ~5% of its global workforce; Raises Quarterly dividend 2.6% to $0.40 from $0.39 (indicated yield 3.18%)
CSCO Orders fell less in Q2 than they did in Q1; Orders down 12% in Q2, with the worst decline in Asia; Now expect to close Splunk acquisition in late calendar Q1 or early in Q2 of 2024 (prior: 'by end of Q3') - earnings call comments
PBB.DE S&P cuts rating one notch to BBB- from BBB; Outlook Negative; Cites challenges from commercial real estate
GMAB.DK Announces initiation of Share Buy-Back Program up to 190K shares (less than 1% of market cap)
TNXP Hosted KOL webinar on positive Phase 3 Fibromyalgia trial for Tonmya; Plans to file NDA for FDA approval in 2H24
MAERSKB.DK *Exec: US businesses are concerned about delivery timing; We don’t see any change in the Red Sea happening anytime soon, last potentially 'through Q3'; Customers will need to make sure they have the longer overall transit time built into their supply chain - CNBC [**Note: prior Maersk mentioned 'few months or longer' to resume Red Sea transits]
CNHI.IT Reports Q4 $0.42 v $0.41e, Rev $6.79B v $6.96Be; Cost reduction programs expected to improve through-cycle margins; Announces additional $500M share buyback program
KHC In regard to consumer health, we continue to see a pressured consumer, with a retained focus on seeking value; The industry was more challenging than we had originally anticipated - prepared remarks
TSEM Reports Q4 $0.55 v $0.73 y/y, Rev $351.7M v $403M y/y; Notes a rebound in several market segments’
TMHC Reports Q4 $2.05 v $1.76e, Rev $2.02B v $1.86Be; ASP's fell faster than street ests
AVNT Reports Q4 $0.52 v $0.48e, Rev $719.0M v $709Me; Expects destocking fully comes to an end in 2024, underlying demand starts to improve
SITE Reports Q4 -$0.08 v -$0.18e, Rev $965M v $941Me; Guides prices to be down 1% to 2% for 2024
OC Reports Q4 $3.21 v $2.83e, Rev $2.30B v $2.24Be

DATABRICKS.IPO CEO: Over next year, prices for AI chips (AI GPUs) will see major drop, throwing a wrench into the business models of numerous major firms and startups (update)

AD.NL Reports Q4 €0.58 v €0.62e, Adj Op €996M v €928Me, Rev €23.0B v €23.0Be

6758.JP Reports 9M Net ¥781.6B v ¥809.0B y/y, Op ¥979B v ¥1.08T y/y, Rev ¥9.54T v ¥8.48T y/y; Raises FY23/24 Net and Op, cuts Rev; Proposes partial spinoff, listing of Sony Financial Group

HEIA.NL Reports FY23 Net €2.30B v €2.50Be, adj Op €4.44B v € 4.50Be, Net Rev €30.3B v €30.3Be; Notes strong pricing to offset costs has affected its volumes

THRS 2/15
(JP) Japan releases weekly flows data [period ended Feb 9th]: Foreign buying of Japan equities: ¥621.3B v ¥308.2B prior; Japan buying of foreign bonds: ¥1.50T v ¥456.7B prior
(RU) RUSSIA GOVT SPOKESPERSON: REFUTE TO COMMENT ON REPORTS RUSSIA HAS PUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN SPACE; SUCH RUMORS ARE 'YET ANOTHER WHITE HOUSE PLOY'
(UK) Chancellor of the Exchequer (Fin Min) Hunt reportedly scaling back plans for tax cuts in the Budget next month; Office for Budget Responsibility tell Chancellor that he has less money available than expected for his Budget on Mar 6th - UK press
(UK) Q4 PRELIMINARY GDP Q/Q: -0.3% V -0.1%E; Y/Y: -0.2% V 0.1%E (enters technical recession for 1st time since pandemic)
(EU) ECB's Scicluna (Malta): Risks are everywhere but inflation is easing; open to rate cut in March as inflation fades [**Note: first ECB official to mention March in particular for a potential rate cut]
IEA Monthly Oil Report (OMR): Raises global supply forecast
(BR) Brazil Central Bank Weekly Economists Survey
(US) Fed’s Bostic (dove, voter): Fed likely to soon contemplate cutting rates, but does not face urgency to cut rates given the current economy; Unlikely Jan CPI signals a big change in trend of weakening inflation
(US) FEB EMPIRE MANUFACTURING: -2.4 V -12.5E; Prices Paid: 33.0 v 23.2 prior (input prices pace pick up for second straight month)
(US) JAN ADVANCE RETAIL SALES M/M: -0.8% V -0.2%E; RETAIL SALES (EX-AUTO) M/M: -0.6% V +0.2%E
(US) JAN IMPORT PRICE INDEX M/M: 0.8% V 0.0%E; Y/Y: -1.3% V -1.3%E
(US) Weekly USDA Net Export Sales
(US) WEEKLY EIA NATURAL GAS INVENTORIES: -49 BCF VS. -67 BCF TO -69 BCF INDICATED RANGE
(US) FEB PHILADELPHIA FED BUSINESS OUTLOOK: +5.2 V -8.1E (1st positive print since Aug 2023); Prices Paid: 16.6 v 11.3 prior
(US) FEB NAHB HOUSING MARKET INDEX: 48 V 46E
(US) BOFA INSTITUTE: WEEK-TO-FEB 10TH TOTAL CARD SPENDING -0.7% Y/Y V -0.2% AVG IN JAN; OVERALL SPENDING GROWTH REMAINED RELATIVELY SOFT DESPITE NO BIG WEATHER DISRUPTIONS LIKE IN JAN
(US) NY Fed takes $493.1B (v $575.33B prior) in RRP program at 5.30%; 82 participating and accepted counterparties (lowest dollar amount since June 2021)
(US) Unverified press chatter that Senior House Republican leadership is sending members home for a vacation until Feb 28th [**Note: Mar 1st is the first deadline to avert US govt shutdown]
(US) Atlanta Fed GDPNow: Cuts Q1 GDP forecast from 3.4% to 2.9% (update)
DASH Reports Q4 -$0.39 v -$0.15e, Rev $2.3B v $2.24Be; Announces up to $1.1B share buyback
AMAT Reports Q1 $2.13 v $1.89e, Rev $6.71B v $6.47Be; Guides Q2 strong
OPENAI.IPO Launches a new text to video model called 'Sora' for limited number of testers - press
FNMA Reports Q4 Net $3.94B v $1.43B y/y, Rev $7.80B v $7.14B y/y; Multifamily serious delinquency rate increased to 0.46% v 0.24% y/y; Notes changes in loan activity and declining property values on its overall multifamily guaranty book
SHAK Trends have improved in February as weather headwinds lessened; Jan SSS flat y/y, Average weekly sales $71K v $78K m/m, slightly lower y/y - shareholder letter
IRWD Reports Q4 $0.00 v $0.20e, Rev $117.6M v $117Me (update)
DE Reports Jan (rolling 3-month) US/Canada Combines retail sales 'higher than industry average of -11% y/y; Jan 2WD Tractors dealer inventories 30% v 25% y/y - earnings slides
ENSU.NO Manufactured fully functional solid state microbatteries consisting of stacked cells on 10-micron substrates; Says its 10-micron microbattery expected to transform the battery market for wearables, hearables and connected sensors
STLA Reports FY23 Net €18.6B v €16.8B y/y, Rev €189.5B v €179.6B y/y; Plans €3B share buyback in 2024
AIR.FR Reports Q4 €1.85 v €2.13 y/y, Adj EBIT €2.21B v €2.26Be, Rev €22.9B v €22.5Be; Special dividend of €1.00/shr

FRI 2/15
(RU) RUSSIA PRISON AUTHORITY SAYS JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY DIED; SAY NAVALNY FELL SICK DURING WALK IN PRISON - RUSSIAN STATE PRESS
(JP) Traders circulating press chatter which cites 'sources familiar with BOJ thinking', saying Bank of Japan is on track to end negative interest rates in coming months despite the economy's fall into recession
(IN) India Weekly Forex Reserve w/e Feb 9th: $617.2B v $622.5B prior
(US) House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.): House will not pass stopgap bill to avoid govt shutdown; Still hopes to pass full year packages before deadline - financial press [**Note: Mar 1st is the first deadline to avert US govt shutdown]
(US) Fed’s Bostic (dove, voter): I was a little surprised by the data but have seen a lot of progress on inflation - CNBC interview
(US) FEB PRELIMINARY UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CONFIDENCE: 79.6 V 80.0E
(US) JAN HOUSING STARTS: 1.331M V 1.460ME; BUILDING PERMITS 1.470M V 1.512ME
(US) JAN PPI FINAL DEMAND M/M: 0.3% V 0.1%E; Y/Y: 0.9% V 0.6%E; Super core PPI M/M biggest jump since Jan 2023
(US) Weekly Baker Hughes Rig Count: 621 v 623 prior (-0.3% w/w)

(US) Association of American Railroads weekly rail traffic report for week ending Feb 10th; 484.8K total units, +4.5% y/y (update)
OPENAI.IPO CEO Altman reportedly seeks US support to raise billions for AI chips for his Chip Venture idea – press
OpenAI's new instant text-to-video tool Sora, although available for limited testing so far, appears to have shifted the generative AI battle to Hollywood
XPP.UK Trading Update: Likely to be a shortfall in Rev in 2024, outlook significantly below market expectations, based on slowdown in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry, recent order intake confirming 'unusual, temporarily soft demand conditions' and destocking
AAPL TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo: iPhone shipments in the Chinese market continued to decline Y/Y; The price cuts at the beginning of the year have limited help to shipments