FDS

Sales Expectations: Guess anticipates an increase in sales for the current fiscal year while aiming to enhance profits by closing underperforming stores and consolidating its infrastructure.

Financial Performance: The apparel retailer reported higher-than-expected revenue and earnings in its fiscal fourth quarter, prompting a cost-savings initiative.

Earnings Decline: Conagra Brands reported a profit of $145.1 million for its fiscal third quarter, significantly down from $308.6 million in the same period last year.

Sales Volume Drop: The company experienced lower sales and volume declines across all its segments during the quarter ending February 23.

Inflation Trends: Turkey's annual inflation rate decreased to 38.1% in March from 39.1% in February, indicating a potential stabilization of prices despite ongoing political challenges.

Economic Expectations: The inflation figure was slightly lower than economists' predictions, suggesting that the economic outlook may be improving.

Investor Behavior: In March, investors withdrew funds from municipal bond markets due to uncertainty surrounding President Trump's policies and fears of losing tax-exempt status for these securities.

Impact on Local Governments: As demand for municipal bonds decreases and supply increases, borrowing costs for local governments are rising, making it more challenging for them to finance public infrastructure projects.

Global Investment Trends: Priests in New Zealand, Taiwanese life insurers, and Norway are benefiting from the strong performance of U.S. markets, which have attracted significant foreign investment over the past decade.

Market Vulnerability: With foreign ownership of U.S. equities rising to nearly 20%, these investors now face risks associated with potential downturns in the U.S. market.

Performance of Long-term Treasury Bonds: An investment in the leading ETF for long-term U.S. Treasury bonds at its peak in August 2020 would have resulted in a 41.3% loss, even after accounting for reinvested interest income.

Impact of Leveraged ETFs: Two leveraged ETFs that aim to amplify daily returns on long-term Treasurys have experienced even more extreme performance fluctuations compared to standard Treasury bond investments.

Metals Prices Surge: Metals prices, including both base and precious metals, are rising significantly as the trade war initiated by President Trump continues, making them top-performing assets.

Increased Demand for Gold and Copper: Gold and silver are seen as attractive financial hedges amid ongoing tariff uncertainties, while copper prices are hitting record highs due to manufacturers' efforts to secure supply chains.

Stock Performance: FactSet Research Systems Inc. shares have surpassed the average analyst 12-month target price of $446.43, currently trading at $449.23, prompting analysts to consider either downgrading their valuation or raising their target prices based on company fundamentals.

Analyst Insights: There is a range of analyst targets for FactSet, from a low of $390.00 to a high of $512.00, indicating varied opinions on the stock's future performance and suggesting investors reassess whether the current price reflects a potential peak or further growth opportunity.

Lululemon's Fiscal Outlook: Lululemon's fiscal fourth-quarter results exceeded expectations due to a strong holiday season and new product launches, but its sales outlook for fiscal 2025 slightly missed Wall Street estimates.

Earnings Guidance: The company projected per-share earnings between $14.95 and $15.15, which falls short of the anticipated $15.37 by analysts.

Sales Growth Projection: Lululemon Athletica anticipates a sales growth of 5% to 7% for the year, a decline from the previous year's 10% growth, attributed to cautious consumer spending amid economic uncertainty.

Financial Performance: The company's revenue and profit forecasts have fallen short of Wall Street expectations, marking the slowest growth rate on record according to FactSet.

Earnings Report: Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) reported lower-than-expected earnings due to increased discounting, investments, and negative impacts from currency fluctuations and freight costs.

Sales Performance: In the fiscal first quarter, H&M's sales rose 2% in local currencies, but growth momentum slowed in February compared to earlier months.

Contrarian Investment Opportunities: A recent analysis highlights that some of the most undervalued S&P 500 stocks, which have high 'Sell' ratings from analysts, are outperforming popular stocks, suggesting that contrarian investments may yield better returns in 2025.

Performance Comparison: While stocks with high 'Buy' ratings have generally underperformed, the 'Sell-rated' stocks have shown a positive return of 3.89% year-to-date, contrasting sharply with the -4.44% return of the favored stocks, indicating that analyst sentiment does not always correlate with stock performance.

KB Home's Outlook: KB Home has lowered its annual outlook due to weaker demand influenced by affordability issues and broader economic uncertainties.

Financial Performance: The company reported a decline in profit and revenue for its fiscal first quarter, falling short of Wall Street expectations.

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Analyst Downgrades: Several Wall Street analysts have downgraded their ratings on various companies, including The AZEK Company, Civitas Resources, Lennar Corporation, Lockheed Martin, and Ecolab, with price targets adjusted downward for each.

Current Stock Performance: The stock prices of these companies reflect the downgrades, with AZEK closing at $41.39, Civitas at $34.79, Lennar at $115.22, Lockheed Martin at $439.70, and Ecolab at $251.00.

Analyst Upgrades: Several Wall Street analysts have upgraded their ratings on various stocks, including Valley National Bancorp (from Neutral to Overweight), Mativ Holdings, Inc. (from Hold to Buy), Pinterest, Inc. (from Neutral to Buy), Coherent Corp. (from Outperform to Strong Buy), and Lumentum Holdings Inc. (from Outperform to Strong Buy).

Price Target Adjustments: Along with the upgrades, some analysts adjusted their price targets; for instance, Mativ's target was lowered from $15.5 to $10, while Pinterest's target was raised from $39 to $40.

Analyst Ratings on Factset Research: Stifel Nicolaus analyst Shlomo Rosenbaum maintained a Hold rating on Factset Research with a price target of $464.00, while BMO Capital also issued a Hold rating, and Barclays maintained a Sell rating on the same day.

Market Performance Overview: Factset Research has a market cap of $16.46B and a P/E ratio of 30.76, reflecting mixed financial performance and a modest growth outlook amid market volatility.

Analyst Ratings on Factset Research: Ashish Sabadra from RBC Capital maintains a Hold rating on Factset Research with a price target of $503, while UBS also issued a Hold rating and Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Sell.

Financial Performance: Factset reported a quarterly revenue of $568.67 million and a net profit of $150.02 million for the quarter ending November 30, showing modest growth compared to last year's figures.

Walmart's Partnership Changes: Walmart is reducing its collaboration with Affirm, indicating a shift in their financial strategies.

Weekly Stock Review: The Score provides insights into significant stock movements and the news influencing them.

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