Latest news with #JayWoods
Axios
11 hours ago
- Business
- Axios
Kohl's shares briefly double, as meme stock mania makes a comeback
Shares in department store chain Kohl's surged as much as 105% Tuesday in what appeared to be a social media-driven short squeeze. Why it matters: It may mark the return of meme stock mania —but also another potential sign that this market rally may be getting out of hand. By the numbers: Kohl's shares closed at $10.42 Monday and peaked at $21.39 at the open Tuesday. They were still up more than 30% at mid-morning. The rally comes as Kohl's is facing significant short interest, meaning investors have been betting against the success of the company. 49% of the stock's float is sold short, which means nearly half of the shares in the company that are available for trading are being bet against. Trading was halted due to volatility. What they're saying:"Meme stocks are back," Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, tells Axios — especially given that there's no apparent reason for the stock price to have surged this much. On a fundamental basis, the retailer has struggled to increase profits, closing stores and cutting staff amid a broader department store downtrend. The majority of Wall Street analysts have hold or sell ratings on the stock. Catch up quick: Today it's Kohl's. Yesterday, it was OpenDoor. OpenDoor Technologies, a real estate tech startup, saw its shares up by over 70% on Monday thanks to what appears to be retail demand. The stock is now up over 180% over the last 5 days. Be smart: Meme stock investing activity hasn't rebounded to its peak 2021 levels. That's when stimulus checks, combined with time at home to trade and monitor Reddit threads, led to a boom in retail trading activity. Since then, retail sentiment has gained more legitimacy, particularly following the April tariff-driven volatility, which saw hedge funds flee the market and retail traders stay invested. The bottom line: The recent market rally could be fueling a return to riskier trading activity, including potential short squeezes like the one Kohl's may be experiencing.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
J&J second quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates, stock up on increased 2025 guidance
Johnson & Johnson's JNJ) second quarter earnings beat Wall Street's estimates Wednesday, and the company raised its outlook for the year, giving the stock a boost in pre-market trading. The pharma giant reported revenues of $23.7 billion, versus expectations of $22.8 billion. Earnings per share came in at $2.77, compared to Street estimates of $2.66. The stock was up more than 2% in early trading. The company raised guidance at the midpoint by $2 billion dollars to 5.4% and full year earnings per share guidance by $0.25 to $10.85. CEO Joaquin Duato said in a statement the company is looking to make up first half softness in the second half of the year. "Our portfolio and pipeline position us for elevated growth in the second half of the year, with game-changing approvals and submissions anticipated in areas like lung and bladder cancer, major depressive disorder, psoriasis, surgery and cardiovascular, which will extend and improve lives in transformative ways," he said. Jay Woods, Freedom Capital Markets chief global strategist, recently told Yahoo Finance that the stock has been stuck "in a neutral pattern" for some time. It's a great long-term play, consistent returns and dividends, but there isn't much that is exciting about the stock. J&J, like other big pharma peers, faces patent expiry of some of its biggest drugs in the coming years. How it will fill that gap remains to be seen, once the drugs' market share are lost to generic competition. J&J saw its first drug face generic competition this year with Stelara, which the company attributed to some of the loss in the second quarter. "Growth was partially offset by an approximate (1,170) basis points impact from Stelara in Immunology, and an approximate (130) basis points impact from COVID-19 in Infectious Diseases," the earnings statement said. In addition, that drug had been embroiled in Medicare's drug pricing negotiations, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed by the prior administration. Those factors, plus the medtech sector facing pressure from tariffs, and the ongoing overhang of the talc litigations, are reasons why investors may have a cooler tone about the stock. "The quarter we believe will be defined by two main items on the fundamental side (new drug launches and pipeline which we believe Street views remain more skeptical than not) and whether JNJ's Medtech business can turn the corner and grow closer towards a 5% rate. We expect the analyst community to focus on both equally and also attempt to push management to talk more openly about its M&A strategy," wrote Jared Holz, Mizuho's healthcare sector expert, in a note to clients Tuesday. Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, provider services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee as AnjKhem on social media platforms X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky @AnjKhem. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest health industry news and events impacting stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
J&J second quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates, stock up on increased 2025 guidance
Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) second quarter earnings beat Wall Street's estimates Wednesday, and the company raised its outlook for the year, giving the stock a boost in pre-market trading. The pharma giant reported revenues of $23.7 billion, versus expectations of $22.8 billion. Earnings per share came in at $2.77, compared to Street estimates of $2.66. The stock was up more than 2% in early trading. The company raised guidance at the midpoint by $2 billion dollars to 5.4% and full year earnings per share guidance by $0.25 to $10.85. CEO Joaquin Duato said in a statement the company is looking to make up first half softness in the second half of the year. "Our portfolio and pipeline position us for elevated growth in the second half of the year, with game-changing approvals and submissions anticipated in areas like lung and bladder cancer, major depressive disorder, psoriasis, surgery and cardiovascular, which will extend and improve lives in transformative ways," he said. Jay Woods, Freedom Capital Markets chief global strategist, recently told Yahoo Finance that the stock has been stuck "in a neutral pattern" for some time. It's a great long-term play, consistent returns and dividends, but there isn't much that is exciting about the stock. J&J, like other big pharma peers, faces patent expiry of some of its biggest drugs in the coming years. How it will fill that gap remains to be seen, once the drugs' market share are lost to generic competition. J&J saw its first drug face generic competition this year with Stelara, which the company attributed to some of the loss in the second quarter. "Growth was partially offset by an approximate (1,170) basis points impact from Stelara in Immunology, and an approximate (130) basis points impact from COVID-19 in Infectious Diseases," the statement said. In addition, that drug had been embroiled in Medicare's drug pricing negotiations, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed by the prior administration. Those factors, plus the medtech sector facing pressure from tariffs, and the ongoing overhang of the talc litigations, are reasons why investors may have a cooler tone about the stock. "The quarter we believe will be defined by two main items on the fundamental side (new drug launches and pipeline which we believe Street views remain more skeptical than not) and whether JNJ's Medtech business can turn the corner and grow closer towards a 5% rate. We expect the analyst community to focus on both equally and also attempt to push management to talk more openly about its M&A strategy," wrote Jared Holz, Mizuho's healthcare sector expert, in a note to clients Tuesday. Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, provider services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee as AnjKhem on social media platforms X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky @AnjKhem. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest health industry news and events impacting stock prices
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bank earnings: Here's what investors & analysts are watching
Bank earnings are on deck, with names like JPMorgan (JPM) in focus as markets look for signs of strength in the sector. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter David Hollerith and Freedom Capital Markets chief global strategist Jay Woods join Asking for a Trend with Josh Lipton to discuss what analysts and traders will be watching this quarter. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Asking for a Trend here. Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bull Market Ahead for Financial ETFs?
In the current market, investors are turning bullish on the financial sector. The Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index has added 22.94% over the past year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 Index, which has gained 11.39%. The likelihood of the Fed cutting interest rates, along with signs of regulatory easing, has shifted investor sentiment in favor of the financial sector. According to Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, as quoted on Axios, the Fed may be on track to ease interest rates sooner than what investors had expected, potentially lowering capital costs for banks. Additionally, easing regulatory pressure appears to support the forecast. Per Woods, a potential deal between Bank of New York Mellon and Northern Trust can be a significant bullish factor for the sector. According to Axios, technical indicators suggest that the financial sector is primed for a recovery, following the tech sector's lead. According to Yahoo Finance, in a major move signaling a broader deregulatory shift, U.S. regulators proposed one of the most significant rollbacks of bank capital rules since the 2008 financial crisis. The proposal targets the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio (eSLR), which requires the largest U.S. banks to hold additional capital, based solely on their size. Under the new plan, that requirement would be reduced by 1.4 percentage points, from the current eSLR of 5%, which the largest U.S. banks, such as JPMorgan Chase JPM, Goldman Sachs Group GS and Morgan Stanley MS, are supposed to maintain. The aim is to make it easier for these institutions to lend more freely and increase demand for U.S. Treasuries, with additional regulatory changes for major banks on the horizon. According to TD analyst Jaret Seiberg, as quoted on Yahoo Finance, the proposed change is expected to have a broadly positive impact on major U.S. lenders. Below, we highlight funds for investors to increase exposure to the U.S. financial sector. These funds have performed better than the SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY over the past year, which has gained 13.41% but have underperformed over the past month, when SPY has added 6.28%. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund seeks to track the performance of the Financial Select Sector Index with a basket of 73 securities. The fund has amassed an asset base of $48.29 billion and charges an annual fee of 0.08%. XLF has Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and has a dividend yield of 1.41%. The fund has a one-month average trading volume of about 35.98 million shares. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund has gained 4.42% over the past month and 24.23% over the past year. Vanguard Financials ETF seeks to track the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Financials 25/50 with a basket of 416 securities. The fund has amassed an asset base of $12.33 billion and charges an annual fee of 0.09%. VFH has Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) and has a dividend yield of 1.74%. The fund has a one-month average trading volume of about 418,000 shares. Vanguard Financials ETF has gained 5.20% over the past month and 24.12% over the past year. iShares U.S. Financials ETF seeks to track the performance of the Russell 1000 Financials 40 Act 15/22.5 Daily Capped Index, with a basket of 136 securities. The fund has amassed an asset base of $3.52 billion and charges an annual fee of 0.39%. IYF has Zacks ETF Rank #2 and has a dividend yield of 1.32%. The fund has a one-month average trading volume of about 361,000 shares. iShares U.S. Financials ETF has gained 5.05% over the past month and 23.72% over the past year. Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF seeks to track the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Financials 25/50 Index, with a basket of 403 securities. The fund has amassed an asset base of $2.23 billion and charges an annual fee of 0.08%. FNCL has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The fund has a one-month average trading volume of about 98,000 shares. Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF has gained 5.21% over the past month and 24.17% over the past year. First Trust Financials AlphaDEX Fund seeks to track the performance of the StrataQuant Financials Index is a modified equal-dollar weighted index, with a basket of 102 securities. The fund has amassed an asset base of $2.1 billion and charges an annual fee of 0.61%. FXO has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 and has a dividend yield of 2.12%. The fund has a one-month average trading volume of about 64,000 shares. First Trust Financials AlphaDEX Fund has gained 5.95% over the past month and 17.50% over the past year. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) : Free Stock Analysis Report JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Morgan Stanley (MS) : Free Stock Analysis Report SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Research Reports Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF): ETF Research Reports Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF (FNCL): ETF Research Reports Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH): ETF Research Reports First Trust Financials AlphaDEX ETF (FXO): ETF Research Reports iShares U.S. Financials ETF (IYF): ETF Research Reports This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
