Here are the latest earnings reactions from the S&P 500:
*click the image to enlarge it
As you can see, there wasn't a clear theme to Friday's earnings reactions. Some roared higher, others were muted, and a couple got beat down.
Fastenal $FAST missed its top and bottom line expectations but rallied nearly 2%. Despite the poor results, the market rewarded the stock for raising its quarterly dividend by 10%.
State Street $STT beat expectations but was slammed for its weak net interest income guidance, which the management team expects to be flat in 2025.
Now, let's talk about a few earnings reactions that stood out to us.
The last 6 quarters have sucked for JBHT
J.B. Hunt has suffered some of its worst earnings reactions ever over the last 6 quarters.
This has been in part of a broader recession and earnings contraction for the broader trucking industry, which we think is nearly over.
The Dow Jones Transportation Average is flirting with new all-time highs:
The trannies are pressing against the upper bounds of a multi-year accumulation pattern and look ready to blast off.
We suspect we'll put a new trade on a transportation stock if and when this base is resolved.
SLB just had its best earnings reaction since Q4 2022:
Since the last big reaction, Schlumberger has gone through a choppy 8 quarters, but better times appear to be around the corner.
The company announced an increase in total returns to shareholders, which the market loved to hear. They plan to increase the dividend by 3.6% and accelerate the share repurchase transactions up to $2.3B.
Moreover, the company is expanding into the data infrastructure industry, which is driving its growth engine.
Here's the key level of interest in SLB:
If SLB is above 43, the path of least resistance is higher towards the 2023 peak.
Conversely, things will likely remain messy if the stock is below that level.
