U.S. Factory Orders Jump More Than Expected In December

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods showed another significant increase in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The report said factory orders jumped by 1.1 percent in December after surging up by 1.3 percent for three consecutive months. Economists had expected factory orders to climb by 0.7 percent.

The bigger than expected increase in factory orders came as orders for non-durable goods spiked by 1.7 percent, while orders for durable goods rose by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent.

Shipments of manufactured goods also shot up by 1.7 percent in December following a 0.8 percent increase in November.

The Commerce Department said inventories of manufactured goods also rose by 0.3 percent in December after climbing by 0.8 percent in the previous month.

With shipments rising by more than inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio dropped to 1.39 in December from 1.41 in November.

Insight Enterprises Q4 Results Beat Estimates, Guides FY21 Above View – Quick Facts

Insight Enterprises, Inc. (NSIT) on Thursday reported net earnings for the fourth quarter of $53.39 million or $1.50 per share, up from $42.95 million or $1.20 per share in the year-ago period.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.76 per share, compared to $1.57 per share last year.

Net sales for the quarter were $2.291 billion, almost flat with $2.297 billion in the prior-year quarter.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.50 per share for the quarter on revenues of $2.11 billion. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

For fiscal 2021, Insight Enterprises forecast net sales growth in a range of 4 percent to 8 percent, and adjusted earnings per share between $6.60 and $6.80. The Street expects earnings of $6.46 per share for the year on revenue growth of 4 percent to $8.49 billion.

Watch the 2020 Super Bowl ads

(CNN)Planters resolved the untimely death of their longstanding mascot Mr. Peanut by … reincarnating him into a roly poly, so very marketable little Baby Nut.

Seriously, it’s called Baby Nut.
The ad ran during the first half of the Super Bowl, and as viewers witnessed the divine event, the Planters Twitter account changed its name to Baby Nut and proceeded to publish a whole bunch of memes featuring the new nut’s adorable little face. Baby Yoda who?

Hello world, I’m happy to be back! I can’t believe everyone came together for little old me! #BabyNut pic.twitter.com/8DpCFjZzX3

The rebirth solves a thorny problem for the snack food company. A week and a half before the Super Bowl, Planters announced that Mr. Peanut had died saving actors Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh from the aftermath of a crash in the company’s ionic Nutmobile.
However, the company dialed back their focus on the story line days later after NBA legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash. Although Planters claimed the tragedy didn’t affect their Super Bowl plans, the company said they would “evaluate next steps through a lens of sensitivity to those impacted by this tragedy.”

Several other brands were shown mourning Mr. Peanut and subsequently bearing witness to Baby Nut’s return, including Mr. Clean and the Kool Aid Man.

Everyone deserves a clean start. Welcome, #BabyNut!

Mr. Clean tidily summed up the story arc in a post-commercial tweet:
“Everyone deserves a clean start. Welcome, #BabyNut!”

Media Analyst Rich Greenfield, LightShed Principals Launch New Venture Capital Fund

Longtime Wall Street analyst Richard Greenfield and principals at boutique research firm LightShed Partners have launched an early stage venture fund in the tech, media, telecom and consumer space.

LightShed Ventures announced its first fund today, $75 million focused on Seed and A rounds aimed at finding the next “category defining companies in TMT.” The team includes LightShed analysts Greenfield, Walter Piecyk and Brandon Ross as well as Jamie Seltzer, who joined LightShed Ventures in September from Waverly Capital, the investment firm co-founded by Edgar Bronfman, Jr.

LightShed Ventures portfolio currently includes investments in Antenna, Podchaser and Slipstream.

Greenfield, Piecyk and Ross have worked together for more than 15 years as research analysts, previously at BTIG. They launched LightShed Partners in 2019. Seltzer brings a decade of private investment and entrepreneurial experience to the firm.

“LightShed Partners will serve as the foundation for what we do at LightShed Ventures.  Our unique, thematic research remains our life blood.  The principles behind our research will underpin our investments. But the research itself is just the start of our flywheel,” Greenfield said.

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Blackstone-backed dating app operator Bumble's shares set to jump in debut

(Reuters) – Shares of Bumble Inc, backed by Blackstone Group Inc, were set for a near 47% jump in their market debut on Thursday, indicating a flying start for the operator of the dating app where women make the first move.

At 10:35 am ET, Bumble’s shares were indicated to open at $63, far above an initial public offering price of $43 per share, which raised $2.15 billion for the company.

Ford Motor Q4 Results Beat Wall Street View

Ford Motor Co. (F) on Thursday reported an adjusted profit for the fourth quarter that trounced Wall Street analysts’ estimates. The auto giant also increases its capital allocation for electric and autonomous driving to $29 billion.

Ford reported fourth-quarter loss of $2.8 billion or $0.70 per share, wider than last year’s loss of $1.7 billion or $0.42 per share.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.34 per share, up from $0.12 per share. On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.07 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter dropped 9% to $36.0 billion from $39.7 billion in the same period last year. Analysts expected revenue of $33.89 billion for the quarter.

The auto giant also announced plans to boost spending in electric and autonomous driving to $29 billion through 2025.

“The transformation of Ford is happening and so is our leadership of the EV revolution and development of autonomous driving,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. “We’re now allocating a combined $29 billion in capital and tremendous talent to these two areas, and bringing customers high-volume, connected electric SUVs, commercial vans and pickup trucks.”

Looking forward, Ford said the company was on course to earn $8 billion to $9 billion in adjusted EBIT -including a $900 million noncash gain on its investment in Rivian.

F closed Thursday’s trading at $11.37, up $0.17 or 1.52%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $0.33 or 2.90% in the after-hours trade.