Dow Jones Today: Stocks Tick Up as Dow Builds on 40K; NCLH Gains

Norwegian Cruise Lines Leads S&P 500 on Raised Guidance

8 minutes ago

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 Monday morning after the Miami-based cruise operator raised its full-year guidance amid strong demand. 

Norwegian on Monday raised its adjusted earnings per share forecast to $1.42 from $1.32. The company also upped its net yield forecast to 7.2% from 6.4%, as well as its forecast for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), which was raised to $2.3 billion from $2.25 billion.

Monday’s update is the second such increase to Norwegian’s earnings guidance this year. The company raised its outlook for all three of the metrics above when it reported first-quarter earnings at the beginning of the month.

“We have continued to see strong demand and record bookings,” said chief financial officer Mark Kempa in a press release. 

Shares of Norwegian were up more than 7% Monday morning. Competitors Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival (CCL) each traded more than 5% higher.  

Johnson Controls Stock Rises As Elliott Reportedly Takes $1 Billion-Plus Stake

1 hr 23 min ago

Shares in Johnson Controls International (JCI) moved higher in early trading Monday after Bloomberg reported late Sunday that activist investor Elliott Investment Management has taken a significant stake in the industrial conglomerate.

According to people familiar with the matter, the New York-based hedge fund has built a position in the company valued at over $1 billion, though the intentions for taking the stake couldn’t be immediately learned, the report said.

Since bottoming out in late October last year, the Johnson Controls share price has trended mostly higher, with the 50-day moving average (MA) crossing above the 200-day MA in March to form a bullish golden cross buy signal. More recently, investors promptly stepped in to buy the dip below the 50-day MA, suggesting underlying strength in the stock. 

Following the news that Elliott has taken a significant stake in the company, it’s worth keeping an eye on a key area of chart resistance around $70 that has been in play since early last year. A convincing close above this technically important area could lead to a retest of the stock’s all-time high (ATH) at $81.77 set in December 2021.

Johnson Controls shares were up 2.9% Monday morning, bringing their year-to-date return to 23%.

–Timothy Smith

Stock Futures Tick Up

2 hr 40 min ago

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were effectively flat Monday morning.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were up about 0.2%.