Top News Before the Bell Stocks To
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TOP NEWS • A hunt for any storage space turns urgent as oil glut grows With oil depots that normally store crude oil onshore filling to the brim and supertankers mostly taken, energy companies are desperate for more space. The alternative is to pay buyers to take their U.S. crude after futures plummeted to a negative $37 a barrel on Monday. • Corporate America seeks legal protection for when coronavirus lockdowns lift Major U.S. business lobbying groups are asking Congress to pass measures that would protect companies large and small from coronavirus-related lawsuits when states start to lift pandemic restrictions and businesses begin to reopen. • Teck Resources profit falls short as lockdowns, energy unit bite Teck Resources reported a much bigger-than-expected 84% plunge in quarterly profit, hit by shutdowns due to the coronavirus outbreak and weak performance in its energy unit. • U.S. energy industry steps up lobbying for Fed's emergency aid -letters The U.S. energy industry has asked the Federal Reserve to change the terms of a $600 billion lending facility so that oil and gas companies can use the funds to repay their ballooning debts, according to a letter seen by Reuters. • Coca-Cola sees 2nd quarter sales hit from coronavirus lockdown Coca-Cola forecast a significant hit to current-quarter results as restaurants, theaters and other venues that represent about half of the company's revenue remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. BEFORE THE BELL Canada's main stock index futures slid as U.S. oil futures continued to trade in the negative after their first ever sub-zero dive on Monday, furthering concerns of a global recession in the coming months. Wall Street futures fell, mirroring global stocks, as disappointing quarterly earnings hit sentiment. A stronger U.S. dollar pressured gold prices. Canada’s retail sales data for February is on the economic calendar. STOCKS TO WATCH Results • Teck Resources Ltd (TECKb). The miner reported a much bigger-than-expected 84% plunge in quarterly profit, hit by shutdowns due to the coronavirus outbreak and weak performance in its energy unit. Production at its steelmaking coal operations, Teck Resources' biggest business, fell 19.7% to 4.9 million tonnes in the first quarter, while copper declined 1.4%. The company said adjusted profit attributable to shareholders fell to C$94 million, or 17 Canadian cents per share, from C$587 million, or C$1.02 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected the company to earn 20 Canadian cents per share. Revenue fell 23.5% to C$2.38 billion. In Other News • Enbridge Inc (ENB). The pipeline operator said on Monday it would not ration capacity for May on North America's biggest oil pipeline network, as Canada's oil producers deepen production cuts to cope with low prices and weak demand. Enbridge's mainline has capacity for 3 million barrels a day, moving Western Canadian oil to U.S. refiners. The pipeline has been regularly oversubscribed in recent years, forcing Enbridge to ration the number of barrels each shipper can move. Lower than expected Mainline volumes could weigh on near-term share performance for Enbridge, said BMO analyst Ben Pham in a note last week. He expects second-quarter Mainline volumes to drop 450,000 bpd, assuming production shut-ins of 1 million to 1.5 million bpd. The total impact to Mainline EBITDA could be C$400 million for the first and second quarters, analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co said in a Monday note. • Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI). The London Stock Exchange said it was committed to completing its $27 billion takeover of data company Refinitiv in the second half of the year, with no plans to revise its savings targets for the deal as a deep recession beckons. "We still have a lot of confidence in the transaction, in the strategic rationale of the transaction," LSE Chief Executive David Schwimmer told analysts. Analysts asked Schwimmer whether the deteriorating economy was changing his view of the Refinitiv deal and he said it was "a little bit early to be speculating" on synergies from the deal. The recurring nature of Refinitiv's income was an "attractive element" that offers resiliency during such economic conditions, Schwimmer said. Refinitiv is 45%-owned by Thomson Reuters, which owns Reuters News. INSIGHT Oil price plunge below zero sends 'oil tourists' on wild ride In the week before Monday's $55 drop to about minus $37 a barrel, investors pumped $1.6 billion of net deposits into the United States Oil Fund ETF, hoping to get the benefits when oil bounces back. Exchange-traded funds trade likes stocks do and typically offer the same diversity benefits of a mutual fund by investing in a basket of securities. But even the latest plunge does not appear to have killed appetite among retail investors looking for a bargain in oil through the fund. ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION • Linamar Corp (LNR). CIBC cuts target price to C$40 from C$43, to reflect a more significant decline in auto production after the company’s first-quarter update. ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time) 0830 Retail sales mm for Feb: Expected 0.2%; Prior 0.4% 0830 Retail sales ex-autos mm for Feb: Expected 0.3%; Prior -0.1% COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS April 21: Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP). Expected Q1 earnings of C$4.12 per share TFI International Inc (TFII). Expected Q1 earnings of 71 Canadian cents per share April 22: Atco Ltd (ACOx). Expected Q1 earnings of 99 Canadian cents per share Metro Inc (MRU). Expected Q2 earnings of 73 Canadian cents per share Rogers Communications Inc (RCIb). Expected Q1 earnings of 80 Canadian cents per share CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time) 0830 PrairieSky Royalty Ltd (PSK). Q1 earnings conference call 1100 Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1130 PrairieSky Royalty Ltd (PSK). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1230 TransAlta Corp (TA). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1330 TFI International Inc (TFII). Annual Shareholders Meeting 1630 Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP). Q1 earnings conference call EX-DIVIDENDS Inter Pipeline Ltd (IPL). Amount C$0.04 Keyera Corp (KEY). Amount C$0.16 Parkland Fuel Corp (PKI). Amount C$0.10 (All analysts' estimates are according to I/B/E/S Refinitiv data.) 2 PICTURE OF THE DAY A memorial for Const. Heidi Stevenson is seen outside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Headquarters, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, April 20. REUTERS/John Morris 3 .