Media Stocks Rebound Friday, Disney Up Over 8% Even After Closing Parks

Shares of Walt Disney jumped as media stocks rallied Friday in an up market that’s a welcome respite from yesterday’s record plunge and after a frenetic day of unprecedented cancellations and shifting business plans across the entertainment industry to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Companies, which have mostly pulled financial guidance, and analysts who cover them, will now try to quantify the hit of the pandemic on revenue, profit and other metrics. There are hits from all sides – closed theme parks, delayed film releases, halted television production, canceled sports and live events. Key advertiser presentations, festivals and conferences are going virtual or have been postponed or shuttered.

But today, at least, investors were in cautious buying mode, buoyed in large part by a bi-partisan package of measures in Washington, D.C. about to be passed to help the economy, small businesses and hardest hit workers weather the storm, including free coronavirus testing and care.

In late morning trade, Disney was up over 8% and Comcast up about 3%. The companies Thursday announced closures of their theme parks in California and Florida. Two of the hardest hit stocks in the market’s recent plunge, AMC Entertainment and Live Nation, were up, respectively, 8% and 7%. Imax had gained 5%. Netflix gained 2.5%.

Apple, Facebook and Snap were up about 5% and Amazon and Twitter were trading up 4%.

The volatile DJIA was up about 700 points or about 3.5% – off its highs from the open.

Stock Alert: DocuSign Up 8% After Q4 Results

Shares of DocuSign, Inc. (DOCU) gained nearly 8% on Friday morning trade. The company on Thursday had reported a fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that trumped Wall Street analyst estimates reflecting strong demand for its software.

The company’s revenue and billings outlook also came in above expectations.

DOCU is currently trading at $74.06, up $5.38 or 7.83%, on the Nasdaq. The stock is up over 30% from last year.

The company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $47.4 million or $0.26 per share, compared with a loss of $66.2 million $0.40 per share last year.

Adjusted earnings were $0.12 cents per share, up from $0.06 per share in the year-ago period. Revenues rose to $274.9 million from $199.7 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts expected DocuSign earnings of $0.05 per share on sales of $266.5 million for the period.

For the first quarter, the company expects total revenues of $280 million to $284 million. Analysts currently expects revenue of $275.73 million.

Stocks rallied on Friday as Wall Street recovered some of the losses suffered in the previous session.

Stock Alert: Tapestry Edges Up

Tapestry, Inc. (TPR) shares gapped up at the open, slid for a while, and resumed its uptrend again. Currently TPR is at $15.26, up 1.65 percent, compared to the previous close of $15.01.

The U.S. market is rebounding as S&P 500 is gaining about 5% in the morning trade.

Coronavirus outbreak has been hurting the fashion industry for the last several weeks.

The multinational luxury fashion holding company has been on a bearish trend since February last week, below 200-day moving average.

Macquarie Infrastructure Unit To Acquire Cincinnati Bell – Quick Facts

Cincinnati Bell Inc. (CBB) has reached an agreement with Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, or MIP, under which a MIP-controlled subsidiary will acquire all outstanding shares of Cincinnati Bell for $15.50 per share in a deal valued at approximately $2.9 billion, including debt. Each issued and outstanding share of Cincinnati Bell common stock will be converted into the right to receive $15.50 in cash.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021, and is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including the approval by Cincinnati Bell’s shareholders.

Exports post first rise in 7 months, grow by 2.91%in February

Imports during the period declined by 7.30% to $436 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $143.12 billion.

India’s exports rose for the first time in seven months in February growing by 2.91% to $27.65 billion, according to the commerce ministry data released on Friday.

Imports too grew by 2.48% to $37.5 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $9.85 billion as against $9.72 billion in February 2019.

Oil imports jumped by 14.26% to $10.76 billion in February compared to 9.41 billion in the year-ago month.

Exports during April-February this fiscal dipped by 1.5% to $292.91 billion.

Imports during the period declined by 7.30% to $436 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $143.12 billion.

Trump urges Congress to approve payroll tax cut until year's end

Would payroll tax suspension help ease coronavirus-fueled economic woes?

Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist discusses the President’s plan to suspend payroll taxes.

President Trump urged Congress on Friday to approve a payroll tax cut until the end of the year, as the novel coronavirus continues to weigh on the U.S. economy.

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"If you want to get money into the hands of people quickly & efficiently, let them have the full money that they earned, APPROVE A PAYROLL TAX CUT until the end of the year, December 31,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “Then you are doing something that is really meaningful. Only that will make a big difference!”

In a rare Oval Office address on Wednesday, Trump called on Congress to pass a cut to the federal payroll tax in order to stimulate the economy. That idea, however, has been dismissed by many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Also on Friday, Trump renewed his calls for the Federal Reserve to lower its key interest rate to better position the U.S. economy globally.

"The Federal Reserve must FINALLY lower the Fed Rate to something comparable to their competitor Central Banks. Jay Powell and group are putting us at a decided economic & physiological disadvantage. Should never have been this way. Also, STIMULATE!"

The Associated Press contributed to this report