Category: Stock Market

November 2, 2020 General Ag News and Notes, Stock Market Post a Comment

Matson profit soars on goods shipped from China

Star Advertiser
By Andrew Gomes –

Hawaii’s largest ocean cargo transportation firm continued to capitalize on expanded service from China to the mainland and nearly doubled its third-quarter profit.

Matson Inc. said in a financial report released today that it earned $70.9 million in the July-September period, up 96% from a $36.2 million profit in the same period last year.

The Honolulu-based company said the primary reason for the surge was continuation of a move it made in the second quarter to more than double service from China by chartering several containerships in response to strong customer demand for personal protective equipment, cleaning products, home improvement supplies, electronics for working from home and many e-commerce goods.

Matt Cox, Matson chairman and CEO, said it is estimated that at least four to six years worth of growth for e-commerce sales is occurring this year and raising demand for shipping.

“Since the start of the pandemic in the U.S. in early March, there’s been a seismic shift in e-commerce activity, and we expect the key drivers behind the shift to remain for some time,” he said on a conference call with stock analysts.

Cox also said travel and leisure spending by consumers has largely been replaced by spending on home appliances and electronics that benefit Matson’s business.

“Demand for key household items such as dishwashers, refrigerators, washers and dryers has been so strong since the pandemic hit (that) there are key shortages in many models, and those shortages are expected to last into 2021,” he said.

Matson said its enlarged China service is operating at full capacity and carried 125% more containers in the recent quarter compared with a year earlier before expansion.

To make better use of its ships returning to China from California after delivering goods, Matson in August began stopping in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to deliver seafood to Asia as a new “backhaul” business.

The company also said average freight rates are up for its China service in the face of reduced trans-Pacific air cargo service by passenger airlines dealing with travel bans and fewer travelers.

For its Hawaii cargo service, Matson reported only a slight decline in container volume in the third quarter compared with a year earlier — a 0.8% decrease it said was primarily related to statewide COVID-19 mitigation efforts including restrictions on tourism and a second shelter-in-place order that took effect in August while consumers continued essential spending supported in part by government aid.

In two other major markets served by Matson, Alaska and Guam, container volume in the third quarter rose 1.5% and 2.1%, respectively, compared with a year earlier.

Overall revenue for Matson rose 13% to $645.2 million in the third quarter from $572.1 million a year earlier.

Cox said Matson, which has served China for 15 years, aims to make its expanded service permanent. He said the company is investing $30 million in equipment as part of this goal.

Shares of Matson stock closed at $52.15 today before the earnings announcement. That was short of a 52-week high reached on Thursday at $53.21. Matson shares were at a 52-week low of $24.92 on May 15.

October 23, 2020 General Ag News and Notes, Stock Market Post a Comment

The Fed: 39 US States Saw Their Economies Strengthen in September

HEFFX
By Paul Ebeling

In September the output strengthened in 39 US states up from August with some of the best gainers concentrated in northeastern territories including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, a Fed proxy showed.

Readings weakened in 8 states, with the steepest fall in tourism-dependent Hawaii, and remained stable in 3 as Q-3 closed, according to the Philadelphia Fed’s State Coincident Indexes report released Friday.

Longer term, several states have almost fully rebounded back to their pre-Covid-19 marks. Nebraska, Utah and Missouri came back in September to within 1% of their February readings, while Georgia, Kentucky, Montana and Oklahoma were less than 2 pts away.

The indexes combine 4 state-level indicators: payroll employment, manufacturing hrs worked, the jobless rate, and wages paid to summarize current economic conditions.

Over the past 3 months, the Fed’s national index has increased by 2.3% as 48 states showed improvement and just 2 saw declines: Hawaii and New Mexico.

Friday, the benchmark US stock market indexes finished at: DJIA -28.09 at 28335.51, NAS Comp +42.28 at 11548.21, S&P 500 +11.90 at 3465.39

Volume: Trade on the NYSE came in light at 722-M shares exchanged

HeffX-LTN’s overall technical analysis for the major US stock market indexes for the week ended 23 October 2020 is Bullish with a Very Bullish bias.

NAS Comp +28.7% YTD
S&P 500 +7.3% YTD
DJIA -0.7% YTD
Russell 2000 -1.7% YTD
Looking Ahead: Investors will receive New Home Sales for September Monday.

Have a healthy weekend, Keep the Faith!

October 16, 2020 General Ag News and Notes, Stock Market Post a Comment

Hawaiian Holdings – Consensus Indicates Potential 7.5% Upside

Directors Talk Interviews
by: Amilia Stone

Hawaiian Holdings found using ticker (HA) have now 8 analysts covering the stock with the consensus suggesting a rating of ‘Hold’. The target price ranges between 19 and 7 with a mean TP of 13.75. Now with the previous closing price of 12.79 this indicates there is a potential upside of 7.5%. The day 50 moving average is 13.49 and the 200 moving average now moves to 13.42. The market cap for the company is $593m. Find out more information at: http://www.hawaiianairlines.com

Hawaiian Holdings, through its subsidiary, Hawaiian Airlines, engages in the scheduled air transportation of passengers and cargo. The company offers daily services on North America routes between the State of Hawai’i and Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington, and New York City, New York. It also provides daily service on Neighbor Island routes among the six islands of the State of Hawai’I; and international routes between the State of Hawai’i and Sydney, Australia, as well as Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. In addition, the company offers scheduled service between the State of Hawai’i and Pago Pago, American Samoa; Papeete, Tahiti; Brisbane, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Sapporo, Japan; and Seoul, South Korea, as well as various ad hoc charters. Hawaiian Holdings distributes its tickets through various distribution channels, including its Website hawaiianairlines.com primarily for North America and Neighbor Island routes, as well as through travel agencies and wholesale distributors for its international routes. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s fleet consisted of 20 Boeing 717-200 aircraft for the Neighbor Island routes; 24 Airbus A330-200 aircraft; and 17 Airbus A321-200 for the North America, international, and charter routes, as well as owns 4 ATR42 aircrafts. Hawaiian Holdings was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

October 12, 2020 General Ag News and Notes, Stock Market Post a Comment

Par Pacific Holdings Announces Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Release and Conference Call Schedule

StreetInsider.com

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PARR) (“Par Pacific”) today announced that it will release its third quarter 2020 results before the New York Stock Exchange opens on Monday, November 2, 2020. This release will be followed by a conference call for investors at 9:30 a.m. Central Time (10:30 a.m. Eastern) on the same morning. The full text of the release will be available on Par Pacific’s website at http://www.parpacific.com.

Par Pacific Holdings Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference CallMonday, November 2, 20209:30 a.m. Central time (10:30 a.m. Eastern)Dial-in number: 1-877-407-3982 (toll-free) or 1-201-493-6780 (toll)

Individuals who would like to participate should dial the applicable dial-in number at least 10 minutes before the scheduled conference call time.

To access the live audio webcast and related presentation materials, please visit the investor relations section of Par Pacific’s website at http://www.parpacific.com.

A replay will be available shortly after the call and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (toll-free) or 1-412-317-6671 (toll). The passcode for the replay is 13711849. The replay will be available until November 16, 2020.

About Par Pacific

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PARR), headquartered in Houston, Texas, owns and operates market-leading energy, infrastructure and retail businesses. Par Pacific’s strategy is to acquire and develop businesses in logistically complex markets. Par Pacific owns and operates one of the largest energy networks in Hawaii with 148,000 bpd of combined refining capacity, a logistics system supplying the major islands of the state and 91 retail locations. In the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, Par Pacific owns and operates 60,000 bpd of combined refining capacity, related multimodal logistics systems and 33 retail locations. Par Pacific also owns 46% of Laramie Energy, LLC, a natural gas production company with operations and assets concentrated in Western Colorado. More information is available at www.parpacific.com.

Investor Contact:Ashimi PatelManager, Investor Relations(832) 916-3355apatel@parpacific.com

October 10, 2020 General Ag News and Notes, Jones Act, Shipping, Stock Market Post a Comment

Get ready for blowout Q3 results in container shipping

American Shipper
by Greg Miller

Preliminary Matson numbers point to big gains for larger carriers

“We knew it was going to be good, but dadgum …,” exclaimed Stifel analyst Ben Nolan upon seeing the preliminary third-quarter 2020 results from Matson (NYSE: MATX).

Matson’s disclosures offer the first signals of how solid Q3 2020 earnings will be for container lines across the board. Container-line profits exceeded expectations in Q2 2020, a period when volumes were weak. In the third quarter, volumes and rates surged — and not just in the trans-Pacific trade.

“The stars are aligning for container shipping: historic consolidation, rational capacity management and now a fast bounce-back in demand post-lockdown,” wrote Jefferies analyst David Kerstens in report published this week.

Matson’s upside surprise

Matson is primarily in the Hawaii and Alaska Jones Act trades, but also runs China-U.S. services called CLX and CLX+. After market close on Thursday, Matson said it expected Q3 2020 earnings of $1.55-$1.60 per share, far exceeding the Wall Street consensus for 96 cents. Expected ocean transport operating income of $84.5 million-$86.5 million is double last year’s number.

Matson’s China volumes spiked 125% year-on-year, which the company attributed to a shift from air freight to premium ocean service, e-commerce demand and tight U.S. inventories.

“While rates may not be able to hold their current levels … volumes remain very high. Thus, we are expecting continued strength in the fourth quarter,” said Nolan.

Matson’s shares jumped 15% on Friday. The stock price has doubled since mid-May.

Exposure to trans-Pacific upside

Matson’s exposure to the trans-Pacific route was around 5,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per week in Q3 2020. This pales in comparison to the larger carriers.

Alphaliner analyzed the top carriers’ capacity on the trans-Pacific route as of Sept. 30. It found that the COSCO Group ranked highest in terms of volume, with an average weekly capacity of 89,050 TEUs. The group includes COSCO Shipping and OOCL, both listed in Hong Kong.

France’s CMA CGM — which has publicly traded U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds — came in second, with 74,200 TEUs. Japan’s ONE took third with 61,200 TEUs. And Denmark-listed giant Maersk — which has American depository receipts trading in the U.S. (OTC: AMKBY) — had the fourth-highest exposure, 59,000 TEUs per week.

Interestingly, when looking at the top 10 carriers in terms of volume, Israel’s ZIM, the company that ranked 10th, had the highest exposure as a percentage of total deployments. It deploys 52% of its global fleet in the trans-Pacific.

ZIM is planning an IPO and is in the midst of buying back outstanding bond debt, according to Alphaliner. “ZIM may not find a better time in the cycle to attempt an IPO,” said Alphaliner, which noted that ZIM failed at three previous IPO attempts in 2008, 2011 and 2016, respectively.

Q3 customs data: bullish

Inbound volumes to the U.S. West Coast were exceptionally strong in the third quarter. According to investment bank Jefferies, the upside from a historic inventory restocking phase has just begun.

FreightWaves’ SONAR platform features data collected from U.S. Customs on the number of maritime import shipment customs filings per day (regardless of volume), calculated as a seven-day moving average.

The countrywide data (SONAR: CSTM.USA) shows the number of filings exceeded levels seen in the past two years for about two-thirds of Q3 2020. In contrast, the number of customs filings in Q2 2020 exceeded the prior two years’ levels for only about a quarter of that reporting period.

Q3 rate data: even more bullish

Asia-West Coast spot rates remain near record highs, despite the recent Golden Week holiday in China.

The Freightos Baltic Daily Index assessed Thursday’s rate from China to the West Coast (SONAR: FBXD.CNAW) at $3,841 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU), very close to the high. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) puts this week’s Shanghai-Los Angeles rate at $3,848 per FEU, essentially flat week-on-week (down 0.3%).

SeaIntelligence Consulting CEO Lars Jensen pointed out in an online post that if one takes normal Golden Week seasonality into account, “the spot market actually strengthened slightly.”

Looking at the third-quarter rates as a whole, the data shows that spot China-West Coast rates were roughly double Q2 2020 levels and almost triple rates in Q3 2019. Furthermore, rate strength is not limited Asia-U.S. trade.

“The trans-Pacific is not the only trade that witnessed hefty rate increases,” said Alphaliner. “The evolution is even more spectacular between Shanghai and Santos [Brazil]. Unexpectedly high cargo demand has also pushed up spot rates on other North-South routes” including Shanghai to Durban, South Africa, and to Lagos, Nigeria, it added.

According to the SCFI, rates from Shanghai to Santos were $3,952 per TEU this week, seven times the rate in late August. Last week, Shanghai-Durban hit a record high of $1,737 per TEU and Shanghai-Lagos hit a record high of $3,293 per TEU.

October 8, 2020 General Ag News and Notes, REIT, Stock Market Post a Comment

Here Are The Hottest Housing Markets, Real Estate Stocks In Surprise Covid Boom

Investors Business DailyJust six months ago, the idea of a housing boom would have seemed ridiculous as millions of Americans were losing their jobs. But low interest rates and the work-from-home trend are stoking real estate stocks and home sales in smaller housing markets.

The flip side is that once-sky-high markets have come crashing down, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area. But overall, both new and existing-home sales have reached levels last seen before the Great Recession.

Real estate stocks are rebounding strongly. The triple-leveraged Direxion Daily Homebuilders & Suppliers (NAIL) ETF has shot up 900% from its coronavirus crash lows. Homebuilders like LGI Homes (LGIH) and D.R. Horton (DHI) have broken out into buy zones.

Low mortgage rates spurred longtime fence-sitters to jump into the market, Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale says. But she acknowledges the housing boom is uneven.

“Among a lot of key homebuyer demographics, high-income folks, we haven’t seen the same level of job losses that we have among lower-income workers,” she told IBD. “So that has helped the market from a homebuyer perspective.”

Demographics are a factor too as more millennials — the nation’s largest adult generation — are starting families and driving demand for single-family homes. And the leading edge of Generation Z, an even larger cohort that straddles young adults and adolescents, is just starting to buy homes.

Best Housing Markets
As living within commuting distance to work becomes less important, the housing boom is elevating some surprising markets.

According to Realtor.com data for September, the hottest metro areas include Fresno, Calif.; Columbus, Ohio; Rochester, N.Y.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Portland-South Portland, Maine; Worcester, Mass.; Stockton-Lodi, Calif.; Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.; and Allentown-Bethlehem, Pa.

Under this definition, “hotness” reflects a combination of factors like how quickly properties sell and the number of views per property.

In January, before the coronavirus forced millions to work from home, the San Francisco-Oakland area was the hottest metro market. Fresno was No. 9.

Bakersfield was No. 10. It moved up to No. 5 last month even as the collapse in oil prices slowed its energy sector. But the biggest gainers include Allentown, Pa. (No. 65 in January), Portland, Maine (56), and Harrisburg, Pa. (54).

Outside the top 10, others have made big leaps too, such as the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., area about two hours’ drive from Los Angeles. Before the pandemic, it was already growing as a major distribution hub for Amazon and other e-commerce companies. It’s now the No. 39 market, up from No. 68 in January.

Regional differences could also determine which real estate stocks outperform. Of the 30 hottest housing markets, 20 are in the West and Northeast.

Worst Housing Markets
The San Francisco-Oakland area plunged to No. 45 in September as Bay Area tech giants like Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) allowed employees to work from home indefinitely.

The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area — in the heart of Silicon Valley — plunged to No. 62 in September from No. 3 at the start of the year.

Housing markets outside high-cost, high-tax California felt the pain too. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, which has been drawing businesses and residents from California, saw its rank tumble to No. 41 from No. 19 in January.

The crash in oil prices may also be slowing the Dallas housing market. Many companies that serve the Permian Basin farther west have headquarters there.

At the very bottom, the coldest large metro areas last month included Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.; Baton Rouge, La.; Honolulu, Hawaii; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas; Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.; and New York, N.Y.-Newark-Jersey City, N.J. Most of those markets were already near the bottom in January.