The U.S. stock market was broadly and strongly lower on Tuesday amid a host of worries, including Republicans postponing a vote on “Trumpcare,” a warning on valuations from the Federal Reserve and reports of a major cyber attack in Europe. The S&P 500 Index lost 0.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by the same amount and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 1.6%.
Heading into Wednesday, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is taking the spotlight with a new sports streaming arrangement, drone-maker AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) is taking a hit, and homebuilder KB Home (NYSE:KBH) isn’t getting the warmest of receptions despite an all-around strong quarterly report.
Here’s what you should watch today:
Facebook Inc (FB)
Facebook is pressing hard with its aspirations to be a video center for users, teaming up with Fox Sports to provide streaming video of UEFA Champions League matches.
Fox Sports will stream CL matches in English on the Fox Sports Facebook page, and in Spanish on the Fox Deportes page.
The Champions League is an international soccer competition that pits the best of Europe’s club teams against one another in the midst of their domestic regular seasons. Fox Sports’ head of business operations, David Nathanson, said that “This year’s UEFA Champions League final saw 34 million people have 98 million interactions on Facebook, so we are thrilled to be able to offer top-notch content to their immense soccer community.”
Fox drew a 1.4 overnight rating for this year’s edition of the final, which saw Real Madrid beat Juventus 4-1. That was up from last year’s 1.2.
The announcement marks another effort on the sports front for Facebook, which is also streaming 20 MLB games for free this season.
It also comes amid Facebook’s announcement that it has reached 2 billion monthly users, 13 years after its launch.
FB shares are down fractionally this morning, but up 30% year-to-date.
AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV)
AVAV shares rallied hard heading into the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter report on Tuesday, but fell hard after the bell despite strong results, thanks to discouraging guidance for the current quarter.
The drone-maker said revenues were up about 49% to $125.4 million, easily besting expectations for $122.9 million. Meanwhile, earnings of $1.30 per share walloped analyst estimates for $1.03 per share. On a total dollar basis, net income of $30.5 million was more than quadruple its year-ago profits.
However, updated guidance for its current fiscal first quarter was plenty underwhelming.
AeroVironment sees a loss in a range of 32 to 40 cents per share for Q1, wider than the 31-cent loss expected by Wall Street analysts. Revenues were similarly disappointing, with a range of $40 million to $44 million coming up well shy of the consensus mark of $50.04 million.
Fiscal 2018 earnings guidance is for 45 to 65 cents per share.
AVAV shares are off by about 10% this morning, cutting deeply into the stock’s 20% year-to-date gains.
KB Home (KBH)
KBH shares aren’t reacting much despite a solid fiscal second-quarter beat.
The homebuilder’s revenues came in at $1 billion — 24% higher year-over-year, and far ahead of expectations for $930 million. Meanwhile, earnings of 33 cents per share were almost double the year-ago period’s profits, and were plenty higher than the consensus mark of 26 cents per share.
For the quarter, backlog values rose 19% to $2.18 billion, with volume up 8% to 5,612 homes. Deliveries were up 11% year-over-year to 2,580 homes, with a similar rise in average selling price to $385,900.
For its third quarter, KB Home is looking for revenues between $1.08 billion and $1.15 billion. That will come on an expected average selling price of between $405,000 and $410,000. On positive note was Q4 gross margin guidance in a range of 17.6% to 18%, which represents a 50-basis-point improvement (midpoint) to its previous guidance.
Nonetheless, KBH shares are off fractionally ahead of Wednesday’s bell.
