rewrite this title The Daily Breakdown: Walmart Dips on Earnings

The Daily Breakdown takes a closer look at the charts for Exxon Mobil, as XOM stock enjoys a major multi-year breakout.

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What’s Happening?

We’re about halfway through the first quarter, and so far it’s been a year of the Haves and the Have-Nots.

After Wednesday’s 0.5% rally, the S&P 500 is now flat for the year. Some sectors — including Energy, Staples, Materials, and Industrials — are off to a strong start, each up more than 10% year to date. However, others — like Financials and Technology, the two largest sectors in the S&P 500 — continue to lag.

What to Watch

Friday will be a busy day for markets. We’ll get the first Q4 GDP report and the PCE report — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — both due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Friday also brings the February monthly options expiration. While it’s not the largest expiration of the year, it could add volatility into the next two sessions.

Earnings Movers

A number of stocks are active this morning on earnings, including Carvana, Etsy, Lemonade, Figma, and DoorDash, among others.

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Chart of the Day — Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil had a strong 2022 as many other parts of the market came under severe pressure. The stock then spent the next few years largely rangebound between $100 and $120. Now in the midst of a major breakout — rallying in seven of the last eight weeks — XOM is pushing to new highs. 

For more on breakouts, check out our recent Technical Analysis Boot Camp. 

For options traders, calls or bull call spreads could be one way to speculate on support holding on a pullback. In this scenario, buyers of calls or call spreads limit their risk to the price paid for the calls or call spreads, while trying to capitalize on a bounce in the stock. Conversely, investors who expect support to fail could speculate with puts or put spreads. 

For those looking to learn more about options, consider visiting the eToro Academy.

What Wall Street’s Watching

WMT

Walmart hit an all-time high of $134.69 on Tuesday — up 20.9% year to date at the time — but shares reversed lower, finishing the day down 3.8%. The pullback is continuing this morning, even after Walmart reported  fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat. The pressure appears tied to guidance: management’s full-year EPS outlook of $2.75 to $2.85 came in below the $2.97 consensus estimate. Check out the chart for WMT. 

BKNG

Shares of Booking Holdings are roughly flat this morning despite a top- and bottom-line beat and a 16% rise in bookings. The company also announced a 25-for-1 stock split, effective April 2. Dig into the fundamentals for BKNG.

Disclaimer:

Please note that due to market volatility, some of the prices may have already been reached and scenarios played out.