U.S. stock futures look set to take a breather at the start of the second week of 2021, with all three major indices trading in negative territory.
Dow futures were down 0.6%, S&P futures were 0.55% lower and Nasdaq futures were 0.4% weaker at the time of writing.
In corporate earnings news, Boot Barn Holdings (BOOT) reported preliminary third-quarter results (ending on Dec. 26, 2020), that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The company said it expects third quarter adjusted EPS to increase 22.2% year-over-year, with comparable revenue expected to increase by 6%. E-commerce sales jumped 16.3% and same-store sales growth is projected to expand by 4.6%. Shares of BOOT were around 6% higher in pre-market trading on Monday.
Hologic (HOLX) also announced better-than-expected preliminary revenue results for the first quarter and unveiled a new share repurchase program. Strong testing volumes related to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the top-line results as the company provided over 30 million COVID-19 tests globally during the quarter. Hologix bought back approximately 1.5 million common shares during the first quarter as part of its five-year, $1 billion share buy-back program.
Shares of Velodyne (VLDR), on the other hand, ended 7% lower on Friday after falling short of its fourth quarter sales outlook. The company expects to generate fourth quarter revenue in the range of $16 million, which is far below the Street’s projections of $27.3 million. Full-year revenues are also expected to miss initial forecasts of around $101 million.
In M&A news, Nio (NIO) shares were almost 6% stronger in pre-market trading after announcing that it has teamed up with Nvidia (NVDA) to develop a new generation of automated driving electric vehicles. At its annual event on Jan. 9, Nio unveiled the Nvidia Drive Orin-powered supercomputer, considered the highest-performance AV and robotics processor in the world. Orin will be featured in Nio’s flagship EV, the ET7, which is expected to come to market in 2022. The car can accelerate from zero to 100km per hour in just 3.9 seconds.
Equifax (EFX) announced an agreement to acquire Kount for $640 million in the first quarter of 2021, as it tries to expand its global footprint. The Kount Identity Trust Global Network uses artificial intelligence to link trust and fraud data signals from 32 billion digital interactions, 17 billion devices and 5 billion annual transactions across 200 countries.
Shares of Cardtronics (CATM) rose 15% on Friday after announcing that it had received a higher buyout offer than the $35 per share proposal by Catalyst Holdings on December 15, 2020 from an unnamed party. Catalyst had already revised its buyout offer upward from its initial offer on December 9 for $31 per share. Cardtronics confirmed that the acquisition agreement with Catalyst remains in full force and effect.
