Key Takeaways
- The S&P 500 dropped 0.3% on Wednesday, Feb. 12, as hotter-than-expected inflation data in the January CPI report weighed on the interest-rate outlook.
- Shares of Wabtec, a provider of braking systems and other transport industry technologies, lost ground after its results and guidance missed forecasts.
- CVS Health shares took off after the drugstore operator beat quarterly estimates, boosted by its pharmacy and consumer wellness business.
Major U.S. equities indexes were mixed on Wednesday as the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data showed an unexpected uptick in inflation during January.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%. The Dow ended the session 0.5% lower, while the Nasdaq eked out a minimal gain of less than 0.1%.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) shares dropped 9.1%, falling the most of any S&P 500 stock. The manufacturer of products for locomotives and railroad systems missed quarterly sales and profit forecasts. The company, commonly known as Wabtec, also issued lower-than-expected full-year earnings guidance, citing pressure on freight demand along with increased prices and borrowing costs.
Arista Networks (ANET) shares lost 6.2% following reports that the cloud networking firm’s chief technology officer recently sold a significant stake in the company. Investors often view sales by company insiders as a possible warning signal about a stock’s upcoming performance. Wednesday’s downturn reversed a portion of strong gains posted by Arista stock over the past two weeks, boosted by expectations of robust demand for scalable cloud networking infrastructure.
Waters (WAT), which provides analytical instruments and software for scientific research laboratories, edged out fourth-quarter sales and profit expectations, but its first-quarter guidance came in below expectations. The company noted a negative impact from currency exchange as the strength of the U.S. dollar pressures its international revenue. Waters shares tumbled 5.8% on Wednesday.
The top performance in the S&P 500 Wednesday came from shares of CVS Health (CVS), which surged 14.9% after the pharmacy operator and health insurance provider topped fourth-quarter sales and profit estimates. CEO David Joyner, who took the reigns of CVS amid a strategic reshuffling in October, noted strong growth in the pharmacy and consumer wellness business as the company navigates a challenging environment in the health care benefits segment.
Shares of Generac Holdings (GNRC) were 7.6% higher after the provider of portable, residential, and commercial generators outperformed profit expectations with its fourth-quarter results. The company noted that declining power quality and increasing prices, as well as the prevalence of extreme weather and power outages, contributed to strong demand.
Gilead Sciences (GILD) posted better-than-expected revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter, and shares of the biopharmaceutical company jumped 7.5%. During the earnings call, Gilead suggested that it expects the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve its antiretroviral drug lenacapavir as a pre-exposure prophylactic for HIV, with preparations underway for a launch in the middle of this year.