JD.com, Palantir, Mobileye, NYCB: March 6th’s Market Movers

Wednesday, March 6th, was eventful for many stocks as a plethora of stocks from various market sectors made notable moves and caught the attention of many market watchers. 

Here are Wednesday’s main market movers:

Palantir Soars on AI 

It is no secret that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been shifting the markets, and Palantir Technologies (PLTR) is no exception. 

The American software company gained about 10% in early trading on Wednesday, March 6, after it announced a US Army AI contract worth over $178 million. 

Per this contract, Palantir would develop and deliver AI and Machine Learning (ML) to the Army’s Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) system and deploy “the Army’s first AI-defined vehicle.”

The TITAN is a ground station built to locate threats and ensure long-range precision targeting. In addition, Palantir mentioned that TITAN has “access to Space, High Altitude, Aerial, and Terrestrial sensors to provide actionable targeting information for enhanced mission command and long-range precision fires.” 

The announcement is considered a groundbreaking one for the company as some analysts note that it is its 4th largest contract “by annual revenue run rate.”

Moreover, it may be interesting to note that Palantir is considered one of AI’s biggest winners and that its stock has gained 57.5% since the start of 2024. 

JD.com Gains: Is China’s E-Commerce Sector Rebounding? 

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com (JD) rose by 18.6% on Wednesday (as of 10:53 a.m. ET)  following a strong earnings report that came in above expectations despite rising competition, weaker Chinese consumer activity, and an overall ailing Chinese economy. 

Whereas analysts expected the company’s Q4 revenue to come in at $42.2 billion, it actually topped expectations as it gained 3.6% and reached $43.1 billion. Additionally, electronics and appliances drove the company’s top-line growth by 6.1% to reach $21.2 billion. JD.com’s earnings per share (EPS) also rose to $0.75 from the previous $0.68.

On the flip side, the operating margin of the retail segment came in at 2.6% below the previous 3% while general merchandise sales were underwhelming.

Nonetheless, despite the better-than-expected earnings, traders and investors alike may want to keep in mind the fact that overall, JD.com had a tumultuous year as it slipped by 8.3% since the beginning of 2024. This may not come as a surprise to many given the fact that China’s economy has been showing signs of “sluggish economic growth” and “stagnation.” Just a month ago data revealed that China’s economic growth rate hit it a “three-decade low.”

It would be helpful to keep tabs on any economic news from the world’s second-largest economy to see how these may affect the trajectory of this e-commerce giant’s stock. 

Mobileye Hits the Gas

Autonomous driving tech company, Mobileye (MBLY) traded 14.5% higher on Wednesday’s midday trading session. These gains may be welcome news to many investors and traders as it comes against the backdrop of about 32.7% loss since the start of the year.

These gains came following Mobileye’s bullish comments at a Morgan Stanley conference, whereby the company’s management announced that Q1 sales of EyeQ vision technology (which facilitates autonomous driving and driving assistance) are projected to land at a whopping 3.4 million units and double in the next quarter.

As such, these comments drove many investors and traders to pour their money into Mobileye’s shares yesterday, hence leading to the aforementioned gains.

It will be worth seeing how the company will perform in light of the optimistic outlook.

NY Bancorp Gains on Cash Infusion 

US bank, NY Bancorp (NYCB) gained over 7% on Wednesday’s intraday trading following a cash infusion announcement. 

A cash infusion refers to the event whereby businesses are given a certain amount of cash, debt, or equity to sustain or boost their operations. According to the announcement, NYCB is raising over $1 billion from some investors to recoup some of the losses it experienced in light of fears over “potential real-estate loan losses.” (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

The bank has experienced notable losses since the start of the year as it wiped out over 66.6% of its value and only time will tell how the cash infusion might help it regain its momentum.

Wall Street Indices Rebound

Wednesday was also a good day for many Wall Street indices as they recouped some of the losses they experienced on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the S&P 500 (ES) gained 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (USA 30) climbed by 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (US-TECH 100) rose 0.6%.

Conclusion

Wednesday may have presented a multitude of trading opportunities to many market participants as various companies moved in different directions, providing valuable insights about the state of the markets and the economies.