Stocks @ Night: Cheap Utilities And Stocks’ Rocky September - Free Websites, Share News And Posts Publicly

THU, SEP 28, 2023

Welcome to the all-new “Stocks @ Night” newsletter, formerly known as “Evening Playbook by Pro.” Here, you’ll continue to find essential evening market insights and investment wisdom for a first look at tomorrow and a last look at today.

Accenture’s tough day

IT and consulting giant Accenture posted its worst day in a year after posting a 10% decline in bookings from last year. Management cited macroeconomic pressures on clients’ spending, particularly in the communications, media, and tech industries. The stock has traded roughly in line with the broader S&P 500 this year, though it has underperformed the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), which is up over 30% year to date.

Enphase on pace for an ugly quarter

Enphase is heading for its worst quarterly performance since Q2 2017. There’s a lot of weakness in the solar stocks, with more than 10 constituents of the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) hitting 52-week lows today, including Enphase, SolarEdge, Clearway and Sunrun.

Utilities are down

The utilities sector is down 10% in six months with a number of constituents posting particularly big dives this month. AES Corporation is down 17% in September and trading at its lowest level since mid-2020. NextEra, American Water Works and Eversource are also off by more than 10%. PG&E, NRG and Constellation are relative outperformers, with Constellation still up over 25% on the year and hovering near its recent all-time high.

Lithium stocks’ valiant run

Lithium stocks are trying to finish the month out on a positive note. SQM, Albemarle and Livent up 6% today. But all three are still firmly in negative territory for September and the quarter. The Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT) is down 7% this month and around 27% off its November 2022 52-week high.

JetBlue rises, but faces a big decline in September

JetBlue gained 2.7% today despite warning of higher fuel costs and softening travel demand. Despite being one of the latest domestic carriers to make such a warning, it’s been one of the biggest laggards this month: down 23%. Other major airlines, including Delta, United, American and Southwest are also down more than 10% heading into the final trading session of September. The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS), which tracks global airlines as well as some manufacturers and booking companies, is heading for its worst quarter since Q2 of last year.