First Horizon Q1 Profit Down

First Horizon Corp. (FHN) Tuesday reported first-quarter net income of $187 million or $0.34 per share, down from $225 million or $0.40 per share last year.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $211 million or $0.38 per share, down from $284 million or $0.51 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimate earnings of $0.35 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenues for the quarter dropped to $707 million from $806 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $707.35 million for the quarter.

China Exports Rise More Than Expected; Imports Drop Unexpectedly

China’s exports grew more than expected in March and imports logged an unexpected fall largely due to the lockdown and supply chain disruptions, official data revealed on Wednesday.

Exports grew 14.7 percent on a yearly basis in March, the General Administration of Customs said. This was faster than the expected growth of 13.0 percent but slower than the 16.3 percent expansion posted in January to February period.

Meanwhile, imports dropped 0.1 percent from the last year, confounding expectations for an increase of 8.0 percent. Imports had increased 15.5 percent in the first two months of the year.

As a result, the trade surplus came in at $47.38 billion in March, which was well above the expected level of $22.4 billion.

While disruptions from the latest COVID-19 outbreak are partly to blame for the fall in goods trade, shifts on the demand-side played a bigger role, Julian Evans-Pritchard and Sheana Yue, economists at Capital Economics, said.

Economists said export volumes are set to fall further over the coming quarters. Import volumes are also likely to remain soft.

High commodity prices will continue to prop up import values in the near-term, they said. But prices are expected to drop back during the second half of the year as uncertainty surrounding the war in Ukraine eases.

John Wood Group FY21 Adj. Profit Declines; Robin Watson Plans To Retire As Chief Executive

Wood Group (John) PLC (WDGJF.PK,WG.L) reported that its fiscal 2021 adjusted EBITDA declined 10% on a like-for-like basis, with improved EBITDA in Consulting offset by lower EBITDA in Projects and Operations. Revenue declined 14% on a like-for-like basis, with growth in Consulting and Operations more than offset by a significant decline in Projects.

The Group posted an operating profit before exceptional items of $192 million for the year ended 31 Dec 2021, a decline of 10.3% from prior year. Adjusted earnings per share, in cents, was 17.5, down 24.6% from prior year.

Fiscal year loss to owners of parent narrowed to $139.5 million from a loss of $229.5 million, prior year. Loss per share, in cents, was 20.6 compared to a loss of 34.1. Fiscal year revenue from continuing operations was $6.40 billion, down 15.4% from last year.

Separately, John Wood Group PLC announced that Robin Watson, Chief Executive, has advised the Board of his intention to retire as Chief Executive. He will remain in his role until the successful candidate is in place.

ASML Q1 Profit Down On Weak Volume; Bookings Up; Backs FY22 Sales View – Quick Facts

Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) Wednesday reported that its first-quarter net income was 695 million euros or 1.73 euros per share, compared to prior year’s 1.33 billion euros or 3.20 euros per share.

Net sales were 3.53 billion euros, down from 4.36 billion euros a year ago.

Sales of f lithography systems fell to 62 units from last year’s 76 units.

The first-quarter net bookings climbed to 162 units from prior year’s 120 units. The value of booked systems were 6.98 billion euros, up from 4.74 billion euros a year earlier.

Looking ahead, ASML expects second-quarter net sales between 5.1 billion euros and 5.3 billion euros and a gross margin between 49 percent and 50 percent.

For the full year 2022, the company continues to expect a revenue growth of around 20 percent.

The company said it continues to see that the demand for its systems is higher than its current production capacity.

Heineken Q1 Profit Climbs On Strong Volume Growth; Backs FY22 Margin View – Quick Facts

Dutch brewer Heineken NV (HKHHF.PK) reported Wednesday that its first-quarter net profit was 417 million euros, higher than last year’s 168 million euros.

Revenue for the first quarter was 7 billion euros, up 35.9 percent from 5.15 billion euros a year ago. Net revenue (beia) was 5.75 billion euros, a growth of 24.9 percent organically, with total consolidated volume growing by 5.7 percent and net revenue (beia) per hectolitre up 18.3 percent.

Beer volume grew 5.2 percent organically and came 2.8 percent ahead of 2019 on an organic basis. All regions contributed to the growth, especially Europe.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2022, the company maintained its outlook of a stable to modest sequential improvement in operating profit margin (beia) in 2022.

Stephen Colbert Isn’t Shocked the New Mask Ruling Came From Florida

“You can’t let Florida make health decisions for the entire country!” Colbert said.

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By Trish Bendix

Pre-market Movers: ATRS, SRRA, NSTG, RPTX, CFLT…

The following are some of the stocks making big moves in Wednesday’s pre-market trading (as of 07.15 A.M. ET).

In the Green

Antares Pharma, Inc. (ATRS) is up over 48% at $5.55
Sierra Oncology, Inc. (SRRA) is up over 36% at $54.05
Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) is up over 15% at $43.99
CTI BioPharma Corp. (CTIC) is up over 13% at $4.82
HighPeak Energy, Inc. (HPK) is up over 11% at $24.50
The Macerich Company (MAC) is up over 7% at $15.00
Dakota Gold Corp. (DC) is up over 6% at $5.28
Alpha Pro Tech, Ltd. (APT) is up over 6% at $4.52
Redwire Corporation (RDW) is up over 5% at $6.38

In the Red

NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NSTG) is down over 33% at $22.00
Repare Therapeutics Inc. (RPTX) is down over 16% at $9.50
Liquidia Corporation (LQDA) is down over 15% at $5.25
Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (MLAB) is down over 10% at $225.28
Hillman Solutions Corp. (HLMN) is down over 9% at $10.43
Bio-Path Holdings, Inc. (BPTH) is down over 9% at $3.40
Huadi International Group Co., Ltd. (HUDI) is down over 6% at $21.01
Legend Biotech Corporation (LEGN) is down over 5% at $37.95