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Luke Kawa

Krispy Kreme jumps as traders applaud turnaround efforts

Krispy Kreme is leaning on some of America’s biggest retailers in a bid to make sure its doughnuts aren’t the only dough it’s making.

Josh Charlesworth, CEO of the glazed snack seller, told The Wall Street Journal the company is focusing on its distribution partnerships with the likes of Walmart, Target, and Costco — places with heavy foot traffic — as part of an optimization push to boost profitability.

On the company’s Q3 earnings call Thursday morning, management indicated that they’ve outsourced 54% of their US logistics and plan to outsource 100% next year.

Krispy Kreme might be known more for its belt-widening efforts, but it’s the belt-tightening moves that have traders enthusiastic on Thursday. The heavily shorted company is catching a bid as traders warm to these turnaround and cost-cutting efforts amid a mixed bag of Q3 results. Net revenues of $375.3 million were shy of the consensus estimate for $381 million, but the company did manage to book adjusted earnings per share of $0.01, while the Street had anticipated a loss of $0.07 per share.

And, as expected from this sporadic meme stock, call activity is running hot: a little more than half an hour into the session, call volumes of 7,555 have nearly eclipsed the stock’s five-day average of 7,957 for a full session. The three most active contracts are call options that expire this Friday with strike prices of $4, $5, and $4.50.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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