Good morning and welcome to the stock market today! Spring is emerging, the sun is shining and another busy week of trading is kicking off. So what will the stock market do today? And what else do you need to know? Dive in with InvestorPlace below.
To start, a couple of big stories are brewing on Wall Street. Kansas Southern (NYSE:KSU) is climbing on news that Canadian Pacific (NYSE:CP) will acquire it for $25 billion. Customer service firm Support.com (NASDAQ:SPRT) is surging on a Bitcoin (CCC:BTC) mining merger. Lastly, news of a fraudulent poop-testing firm is giving investors flashbacks to Theranos.
So what else will the stock market do today? Take a look at these top stories below.
What Will the Stock Market Do Today? Watch GameStop.
r/WallStreetBets darling GameStop (NYSE:GME) reports earnings on Tuesday and analysts are not sure what to do, as Connor Smith writes for Barron’s. Expectations so far cite new console launches from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Sony (NYSE:SNE) as potential business boosts. Other analysts are focusing on Covid-19 impacts on the retailer, and some are tuned into a new strategic committee featuring the leadership of Ryan Cohen. Perhaps, as Smith tells it, folks on Wall Street realize they have had very little impact on GME stock recently.
One path forward then is waiting to see what comes of this turnaround committee. A renewed e-commerce strategy? An esports acquisition? Some analysts are simply choosing to wait for results from Cohen before updating price targets and expectations.
However, there is another story at play with the GME stock earnings.
Will Reddit, Robinhood and reality meet? If GameStop reports lackluster earnings or fails to deliver details on its turnaround strategy, will shares slip? Or will retail enthusiasm keep momentum around the stock buzzing higher?
Given the momentum of the r/WallStreetBets crowd, it seems the most important thing in the earnings report would be any management commentary on the turnaround strategy. Plans — or just enough for a speculative Reddit thread — could see GME stock climbing. If nothing else, it sounds like those analysts choosing a wait-and-see approach are making a smart call.
Big Tech, Congress, and Trump, Oh My!
Perhaps no one says it better than Jonathan Swan and Margaret Harding McGill for Axios:
“The powerful Democrat overseeing antitrust legislation wants to hit Big Tech with the legislative equivalent of a swarm of drones rather than a single, hulking battleship that would be simpler to defeat.”
This quote is in reference to a Sunday interview with Rep. David Cicilline, who runs the antitrust panel for the House Judiciary Committee. He has named Big Tech his enemy, and has been brainstorming how to most effectively crack down on names like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL). Recognizing the power of the status quo — and of Silicon Valley lobbying efforts in Washington — Cicilline told Axios he wants to try something different. That approach includes focusing on multiple smaller pieces of legislation instead of one large antitrust bill.
For tech companies, his hope is that a series of smaller bills will be harder to fight. Cicilline also says he anticipates having the backing of President Joe Biden.
What does this mean? This is certainly not the first time investors have faced a sense of uneasiness around Big Tech. So far, these companies have been able to shake off presidential jabs and Congressional hearings, growing their reach during the Covid-19 pandemic. Cicilline thinks his plan can change the outcome, but a lot remains to be seen.
Another thing to watch? Plans from former President Donald Trump to launch his own social media network could introduce more turbulence to Silicon Valley.
Electric Vehicle Stocks Really Owe Cathie Wood
Recent weeks have brought a good deal of volatility to the once-sunny realm of electric vehicle stocks. Most recently, a report out of China that Beijing would limit the use of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) vehicles by state and military employees hit shares. An ongoing chip shortage, valuation concerns and short-seller reports also are plaguing the sector.
Cathie Wood and Ark Invest are here to save the day, however.
On Friday, Wood shared that she sees Tesla stock hitting $3,000 by 2025, a nearly five-fold increase from its current share price. This comes as Wood factors in a growing insurance business, developments in its self-driving tech and plans for a fleet of robotaxis.
For right now, the bullish price target is giving TSLA a real boost, and it is also lifting other EV names. Apparently the burst of confidence is helping erase some investor worries, especially as Wood remains an icon for retail investors. Winners this morning include Nio (NYSE:NIO), Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) and Churchill Capital IV (NYSE:CCIV), the blank-check company bringing Lucid Motors public.
Bonus: Will AstraZeneca Get Another Shot?
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) shared this morning that its Covid-19 vaccine was 79% effective in preventing infections. That is higher than the rate for the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shot, but it may not be enough to guarantee AstraZeneca success.
So what do investors need to know? AstraZeneca is wrapping up a 32,000-participant trial in the United States, the largest trial yet for the Covid-19 vaccine. Results showed that it totally prevented the “worst outcomes of the disease” and also did not trigger serious side effects. Additionally, improving upon earlier data, the results showed protection for older participants.
However, news out of Europe continues to weigh on AstraZeneca. Concerns over blood clots have lead several countries to halt vaccine rollouts, creating dilemmas for officials. European lawmakers are working to boost the public image of AstraZeneca, such as through advertising political leaders receiving the shot in recent days.
What comes next? The AstraZeneca vaccine, even if approved, may not be available in the U.S. until May. Before then, a lot rests on what happens in Europe. AZN stock is up slightly at the time of writing.
On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Sarah Smith is a Web Content Producer with InvestorPlace.com.
