Oil Headed For Weekly Gain On Debt Deal Optimism

Oil prices rebounded on Friday and headed for their first weekly gain in more than a month as optimism over debt ceiling talks in Washington offset China recovery worries.

Benchmark Brent crude futures climbed 0.8 percent to $76.50 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 0.7 percent at $72.39.

The dollar held near a six-month high after Democratic negotiators reportedly told U.S. President Joe Biden they were making “steady progress” on a deal to lift the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a debt default.

Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy hope to finalize a deal on the debt ceiling after Biden returns from the Group of Seven meeting in Japan on Sunday.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden’s top economic adviser, Lael Brainard, said a debt default could trigger a recession.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told top bank executives that a failure to raise the debt ceiling would be “catastrophic” for the financial system.

Continued wildfires in Alberta, Canada’s top energy producing province, also supported oil prices ahead of U.S. Baker Hughes oil rig count data due to be released in the New York session.

Lowland Investment Returns To Profit In H1

Lowland Investment Company plc (LWI.L), Friday, reported earnings for the first half ending March 31 2023, compared to a loss last year. The period witnessed significant increase in its NAV.

First-half profit before tax was 51.67 million pounds compared to a loss of 4.92 million pounds for the same period of prior year.

Net Return was 51.67 million pounds compared to a loss of 4.93 million pounds of last year. Earnings per share was 19.12 pence per share compared to a loss of 1.83 pence per share of prior year.

Revenue was 53.81 million pounds compared to a negative 3.12 million pounds for the same period last year.

Lowland’s NAV increased 16.1% in absolute terms and 12.3% against the benchmark. It outperformed the benchmark due to stock selection and takeovers.

The company declared an interim dividend of 1.525 pence per share bringing the total dividend to 3.05 pence the same as last year.

According to the company, getting a reasonable growth level while keeping the inflation under control is a challenge fully recognized in UK market valuations. Therefore, Lowland’s outlook is poised towards looking for growth in lower section of the market spectrum and expect its weighting to increase accordingly.

Currently, shares of Lowland are trading at 121.96 pence up 0.8% or 0.96 pence on the London Stock Exchange.

Deere & Co Q2 Results Climb, Beat Estimates; Lifts FY23 Earnings View; Stock Up In Premarket

Deere & Co. (DE), a manufacturer of agricultural machinery and heavy equipment, reported Friday that its second-quarter net income grew 36 percent to $2.86 billion or $9.65 per share from last year’s $2.10 billion or $6.81 per share.

Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 30 percent to $17.387 billion from $13.37 billion a year ago.

Net sales were $16.079 billion for the quarter, compared to $12.034 billion last year.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $8.59 per share on revenues of $14.83 billion for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Further for fiscal 2023, the company now expects net income attributable to be in a range of $9.25 billion to $9.50 billion, higher than previous estimate of $8.75 billion to $9.25 billion.

Cash flow from equipment operations is expected to be $10.00 billion to $10.50 billion.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, the shares were gaining around 6.6 percent to trade at $395.

For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com

Alvotech Q1 Loss Widens

Alvotech (ALVO) announced Loss for its first quarter that increased from last year

The company’s bottom line totaled -$276.2 million, or -$1.24 per share. This compares with -$77.1 million, or -$0.43 per share, in last year’s first quarter.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 1887.5% to $15.9 million from $0.8 million last year.

Alvotech earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q1): -$276.2 Mln. vs. -$77.1 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q1): -$1.24 vs. -$0.43 last year.
-Revenue (Q1): $15.9 Mln vs. $0.8 Mln last year.

Greenland Technologies Earnings Down In Q1, But Beat View; Stock Up In Premarket

Greenland Technologies Holding Corporation (GTEC), a manufacturer of electric industrial vehicles technologies, Friday, reported lower earnings for the first quarter of 2023 on declined demand. However, earnings beat the Street estimates.

First-quarter earnings decreased to $2.45 million or $0.11 per share from $2.91 million or $0.16 per share last year on lower demand as its clients ramped up their production following the end of China’s zero COVID policies.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to report a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $20.55 million. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue decreased 24% to $22.1 million from $29.3 million last year, particularly impacted by logistical and supply chain challenges due to the initial wave of covid cases following the end of China’s zero covid policies.

The significant pent-up demand related to travel during the Chinese New Year holiday and a strong dollar relative to the Chinese RMB also had a bearing on the decline in revenues.

In premarket activity, shares of Greenland Technologies were trading at $1.35 up 2.27% or $0.03 on the Nasdaq.

U.S. Leading Economic Index Decreases In Line With Estimates In April

A report released by the Conference Board on Thursday showed a continued decrease by the group’s reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of April.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index slid by 0.6 percent in April after tumbling by 1.2 percent in March. The decrease, which matched economist estimates, marked the thirteenth consecutive decline by the index.

“Weaknesses among underlying components were widespread—but less so than in March’s reading, which resulted in a smaller decline,” said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators, at The Conference Board.

“Importantly, the LEI continues to warn of an economic downturn this year,” she added. “The Conference Board forecasts a contraction of economic activity starting in Q2 leading to a mild recession by mid-2023.”

The Conference Board said the coincident economic index rose by 0.3 percent in April after inching up by 0.2 percent in March.

Meanwhile, the lagging economic index edged down by 0.1 percent in April after coming in unchanged in the previous month.