US markets opened higher on Wednesday morning amid continued earnings news, though tensions with Russia are continuing to weigh on investor sentiment. Western nations’ use of staggered sanctions against Moscow appears to have given some hope that the situation in and around Ukraine can be solved diplomatically before it deteriorates much further.
Oil, gold and Bitcoin (BTC) are all in the green.
Equities news was dominated by earnings news this morning. Here are today’s trending stocks:
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW)
This California-based cybersecurity specialist has generated a lot of chatter on Wednesday morning after it raised its outlook on the back of strong earnings.
The advanced firewalls and cloud-based tech firm said revenue for the coming year was now projected to increase by between 27% and 29% amid particular strength in the company’s next generation security offerings.
The company’s CEO, Nikesh Arora, said the impressive performances seen across its three security platforms had been “driven by strong cybersecurity demand, organizations architecting for hybrid work and growing their hyperscale cloud footprints”.
Teladoc (NYSE: TDOC)
Shares in Teladoc edged higher after it reported a much lower fourth quarter loss than anticipated and showed that revenue had beaten estimates. Teladoc returned a loss of $0.07 per share against Zacks Consensus Estimate of a $0.59 loss.
Meanwhile, the US-based telemedicine and virtual healthcare company reported that fourth quarter revenue increased by 45% to $554.2m and total visits increased by 41% to 4.4 million.
With the company’s shares having declined in value by almost 30% since the start of the new year, some investors will be using these positive earnings results to pick up Teladoc shares on the cheap.
CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP)
Earnings have sent CoStar Group shares lower following the opening bell on Wednesday, even as the company reported better-than-anticipated quarterly results. This is due to reports which allege the company employed authoritarian methods to monitor its workers over the pandemic period.
A group of current and former employees at the business told Business Insider that managers would routinely monitor and humiliate employees. Investors appear to have been alarmed by the report, as well as apparent employee attrition issues. Last year saw 37% of the real estate information firm’s employees leave for pastures new.
CoStar has refused to apologise for the working conditions, claiming that the complaints stem from a “vocal few”.
Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW)
Lowe’s shares have enjoyed a boost this morning after the home improvement retailer beat quarterly expectations and raised its full year guidance.
Following in the footsteps of competitor Home Depot (NYSE: HD), which reported strong results on Tuesday, Lowe’s has benefitted from increasing interest in repair and maintenance projects.
Earnings per share of $1.78 was ahead of expectations, while sales of $21.34bn were also ahead of analyst projections. Spring is the company’s busiest season and the retailer is confident that its enlarged inventory will allow it to continue to capitalise on strong demand in the months ahead.
Hims & Hers Health (NYSE: HIMS)
Hims shares are generating a buzz on Wednesday morning, having begun the day’s trading by climbing over 15%. The jump comes as the company, which is best known for selling generic treatments for erectile dysfunction and hair loss, topped expectations for its fourth quarter performance.
The online treatments retailer reported fourth quarter revenue growth of more than 100%, while full year revenue was up by 83% as it came in at $271.9m. Further growth is forecasted for the current year, with revenue of at least $365m projected following the launch of the company’s mobile platform on iOS app store.
