Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Tumbles Over 200 Points; Mallinckrodt Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.78% to 27743.40 while the NASDAQ fell 0.76% to 9151.17. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.78% to 3200.68.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares climbed 0.2% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The Simply Good Foods Company SMPL 6.72%, up 6%, and Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. NEPT, up 4%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 1.8%.

Top Headline

Home Depot HD 1.77% reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and raised its quarterly dividend from $1.36 to $1.50 per share.

Home Depot reported quarterly earnings of $2.28 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.11. The company reported quarterly sales of $25.78 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $25.77 billion.

The company also said it expects fiscal year 2020 sales growth of 3.5%-4%.

Equities Trading UP

Arlo Technologies, Inc. ARLO 20.55% shares shot up 27% to $4.21 after the company reported a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss.

Shares of Mallinckrodt plc MNK 17.31% got a boost, shooting 23% to $5.11 after the company announced a global opioid settlement agreement that limits its payout to $1.6 billion and it also reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. COCP 24.06% shares were also up, gaining 60% to $2.13 on continued momentum after the company announced yesterday that it signed a license agreement with Kansas State University to research the foundation for the Norovirus and Coronavirus antiviral compounds.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP 42.31% shares tumbled 38% to $3.52 on the heels of concerning FY19 and FY20 guidance. The company cited increased valuation of allowances for deferred tax assets, unfavorable macro trends in Brazil, China, US and Canada and a probe related to accounting of accounts payable and liabilities.

Shares of Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. CSOD 27.88% were down 29% to $38.94 after the company reported Q4 results and announced plans to purchase Saba for $1.395 billion in cash and stock. RBC Capital and Mizuho downgraded the stock.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. PANW 15.54% was down, falling 16% to $199.91 er the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales results. The company issued Q3 and FY20 EPS and sales guidance below estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.3% to $50.76, while gold traded down 1.3% to $1,654.80.

Silver traded down 3% Tuesday to $18.32, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.575.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1.49% the Spanish Ibex Index declined 1.95%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.24% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.48%, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.63% while UK shares fell 1.89%.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index slipped 0.2% during the first three weeks of February versus January.

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, versus a revised 2.5% increase in the prior month.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.6% in December, versus a revised 0.3% increase in November.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 130.7 in February, versus revised reading of 130.4. Analysts were projecting a reading of 132.

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index fell to a reading of -2 for February, versus prior reading of 20. However, analysts expected a reading of 13.

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.