U.S. markets continued to falter today, as crude oil prices slipped again and ongoing turmoil in the Chinese markets was once again weighing on the major indices.
The Shanghai market was only off 0.3%, but the session was a volatile one with large price swings. One factor helping that market was the People’s Bank of China putting almost $20 billion into money markets to help stabilize markets.
Meanwhile, crude oil slipped again more than 2%, nearing the $36 mark. Precious metals were higher for the second consecutive day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat on the day, while the S&P 500 was up 0.2%. Conversely, the Nasdaq was down 0.2%, as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) had a rough day. But major sectors were mixed today, an improvement over yesterday, with healthcare and utilities showing the most vigor.
Speaking of vigor, three stocks were particularly healthy today on some interesting news. Smith & Wesson Holding Corp (NASDAQ:SWHC), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) and First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) are three of today’s best stocks. Here’s what made that happen:
Smith & Wesson Holding Corp (SWHC)
SWHC shareholders were happy after two announcements today. First, the company was raising both third-quarter and full-year guidance. Previous revenue expectations for the quarter ending Jan. 31 were a range from $150 million to $155 million. Those have now been increased to a range between $175 million and $180 million.
That translates to a bump up in EPS to 39 cents to 41 cents a share, from 27 cents to 29 cents a share.
The second was the early morning announcement that President Barack Obama would speak on television today to announce executive actions he will undertake towards further gun control.
Whenever there is political talk about tighter gun controls, gun sales skyrocket, and recent incidents, such as the terrorist shooting in San Bernadino, CA, have further increased consumer sales.
SWHC stock was up 11% on the day on heavy volume of more than 14 million shares.
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)
MU stock was doing well today, up more than 3% after yesterday’s news that President Mark Adams will be resigning, for health reasons. Adams has held that position since 2012, and first joined the company six years before that.
No further details were revealed, except that he will remain in his position until Feb. 1. MU stock was a poor performer in 2015, falling about 60% in price during that time.
Yesterday, Cowen Group Inc reiterated their rating of “outperform,” along with a price target of $22. It seems as if the street and investors were feeling that a change at the top was quite necessary, and are looking forward to hearing who the replacement will be.
First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)
FSLR stock took off today, bolting almost 8% higher after Goldman Sachs analyst Brian Lee raised FSLR from “neutral” to a “buy” and hiked its $61 price target all the way up to $100 a share.
Goldman noted that First Solar has “the best-in-class balance sheet” among all the solar stocks they follow. FSLR, unlike many of its peers, has considerably more cash than total debt.
The solar stocks have been strong over the past few weeks, following the Congressional extension of solar tax credits for the next five years.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
