Good Evening,

Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap. 

The Aussie market finished Thursday higher in an afternoon rally despite the fall on Wall Street overnight ahead of the key U.S. inflation read due to drop tonight. The ASX 200 index reversed Wednesday's minor decline, finishing 38.3 pts. or 0.50% higher to 7,698.70.

It was almost a clean sweep on the sector boards, with 10 of the 11 main sectors finishing higher, with Utilities (-0.33%) being the only detractor. Real Estate (+1.73%), Discretionary (+1.29%) and Technology (+0.86%) were the big movers. Market heavyweights Goodman Group (+3.75%) and Wesfarmers (+1.06%) continued their stellar run, while NextDC (+2.92%) was up again after posting a 13% rise yesterday.

Iron Ore (-0.84%) future prices fell marginally on Thursday, with Mining giants BHP Group (-0.05%) and Fortescue (-0.27%) both seeing slight falls. Gold (+0.03%) prices continue to move sideways.

Bitcoin prices hit record highs in Aussie dollar terms - breaking through the previous record of A$96,000 today, up 22% in the last week. The 11 new ETFs approved earlier in the year have resulted in more than US$7.7 billion worth of funds flowing into the leading cryptocurrency, driving an increase in the price. According to analysis from CoinShares, around 900 Bitcoins are produced daily by miners. These miners validate information in a blockchain block by generating a cryptographic solution that matches specific criteria. The newly issued U.S. ETFs require around 2800 bitcoins per day based on the current inflows - which are increasing daily.

In ASX company news:

• Atlas Arteria (-1.10%) reported a 6% increase in annual net profit to $356.3 million - as traffic rose on most of the company's toll roads in the U.S. and Europe.

• Star Entertainment Group (+8.33%) shares rose after it reversed losses to report a $9.1 million net profit as it faces ongoing regulatory challenges. The company’s revenue did fall by 14.6% to $865.7 million due to a fall in premium gaming areas.

• Ramsey Health Care (+7.27%) hit a six-month high as it cut its interim dividend by 20% to $0.40 per share. Ramsey reported a first-half profit of $758.5 million - up from $290.2 million in the pcp.

Wall Street

U.S. stocks finished lower on Wednesday as investors sit tight waiting for the key personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data - expected to climb by 0.3% during January. All three of the leading indices finished Wednesday’s session lower, with the NASDAQ (-0.55%) seeing the largest drop, followed by the S&P 500 (-0.17%) and the Dow Jones (-0.06%).

Beyond Meat (+30.7%) was one of the big movers after reporting fourth-quarter revenue of $73.7 million, ahead of estimates of $66.7 million. Volume rose 8% in the quarter ended December, compared to a 3.5% increase in the third quarter. Bumble (-14.8%) stock tumbled after missing fourth-quarter earnings estimates, with a loss of $0.19 per share. The dating app also plans to lay off 350 employees as part of a restructuring plan.

Economic Data

• Australian Retail Sales increased by 1.1% in January, following a 2.1% fall in December that missed market consensus of a 1.5% rise.

• Australian Business Investment rose by 0.8% in the fourth quarter from the previous, led by a 1.1% rise in the mining sector.

• U.K. Car Production rose 21% YoY to 82,997 units in January - the fifth straight month of growth amid robust demand and easing supply chain disruptions.

• Turkey’s GDP expanded by 4.0% year-on-year during Q4 - down from a 6.1% rise in Q4, but beat forecasts of 3.5%.

• German Retail Sales declined by 0.4% month-over-month in January 2024, missing market estimates of 0.5% following a 1.6% drop in the prior month.

Sponsor

Get Your Creative Juices Following
With Big Marketing Ideas

Sign up to the Insider Marketing newsletter, and each week, you’ll get:

• A breakdown of best ads and why they work

• ‍Copywriting tips that make people want to buy

• Psychology and behavioural Economics Tactics to boost your sales

Sign up for the Insider Marketing Newsletter today (one-click subscribe) ⬇️ 

Quick Singles

🌎️ Around The Globe

• Thailand will ban the recreational use of marijuana by the end of this year but will continue to allow its use for medical purposes.

• China has extended a $2 billion loan to Pakistan for another year. Pakistan's economy faces difficulties, receiving a $3 billion standby arrangement from the International Monetary Fund last summer.

• Macy's plans to shut down 150 of its underperforming stores, which is about 30% of all its stores, by 2026. However, the company intends to open new locations for its upscale department store Bloomingdale's and beauty chain Bluemercury.

• Sony is set to lay off 900 people in the PlayStation global workforce. The workforce reduction follows the company's slashing sales forecasts for the year.

• Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick is facing criticism online for suggesting that people eat cereal for dinner to save money in the face of rising costs.

• Wendy’s plans to test having the prices of its menu items fluctuate throughout the day based on demand, implementing a strategy used by ride-sharing companies like Uber. Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner revealed that the company will spend about $20 million through the end of 2025 to install digital menu boards at its U.S. locations that can facilitate surge pricing.

• Warner Bros. Discovery is no longer pursuing a merger with Paramount Global, halting talks after several months of discussions.

• Swedish buy-now-pay-later company Klarna is rumoured to seek a $20 billion IPO this year - potentially as early as Q3.

• TikTok is removing songs from Universal Music Group due to an ongoing dispute over royalties. Universal Music Group says most songs on TikTok will be affected, but TikTok says only 20%-30% will be impacted.

   

Markets

ASX Company Movers

Commodity Prices

Bonds

Forex

ETF Data

Global Health Check

Partners

Your Investing Essentials

Become a more informed and better investor with the best research tools from our trusted partners.

Help support the Equity Espresso newsletter by signing up using the links below:

Trading View: The best charting platform money can buy. Used by over 50 million traders and investors around the world. Signup here

Koyfin: Our platform provides comprehensive investment research on various asset classes, such as equities, fixed income, funds, ETFs, and foreign exchange. Signup here

Tikr: A software analytics platform used to track stocks. Tikr aggregates the best investment resources into one comprehensive platform for a fraction of the price. Signup here

FinTip: An education and content-based app. that includes a competition-based game designed to engage, help and educate to make better investment decisions. Download here

Moomoo: Get a kick start on your trading journey with ten free stocks and a generous interest rate on uninvested cash. Signup here

A Little Extra

📉 Going Down?

Top-10 shorted stocks on the ASX - as of February 23

🗂️ Broker Ratings

1. Boss Energy (BOE) - Upgrade to Buy from Hold (Bell Potter)

2. DroneShield (DRO) - Downgrade to Hold from Buy (Bell Potter)

3. nib Holdings (NHF) - Downgrade to Hold from Add (Morgans)

4. Resimac Group (RMC) - Upgrade to Buy from Hold (Bell Potter)

👨‍💼 Director Transactions

What are the insiders doing? (On-market trade only)

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the information provided in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. It is not intended to encourage you to buy/sell assets or make financial decisions. We strongly recommend conducting your own research before making any investment decisions.