Investors would rather watch Walmart (WMT) and Costco (COST) instead of discount retailer Dollar General (DG). However, its unexpected stock price reversal after its decent Q4 result is worth mentioning.
DG stock traded above $160 after posting a $1.83 per share profit, down from $2.96 Y/Y. Revenue fell by 3.4%, while same-store sales rose by 0.7%. The firm posted a disturbing gross profit margin decline of 140 basis points, to 29.5%. It blamed shrinkage (theft), inventory discounts, higher sales of low-profit consumables, and lower inventory markups.
Copper Prices Firm
Copper futures spiked from a $3.70 low last month to above $4.00. Commodity traders expect China’s intended production cut, which is suffering from a slowdown, to help prices. China agreed to cut production at some of the plants that lost money. The industry is grappling with an increase in smelting capacity.
Investors bullish on the copper market may consider Freeport McMoRan (FCX), Teck Resources (TECK), BHP, and Southern Copper (SCCO).
Bearish on China’s prospects, investors dumped technology stocks listed in the country. Alibaba (BABA) lost around 4% on Thursday. The riskiest China tech firms fell by more. Bilibili (BILI) lost 6.79%, Hello Group dropped by 22.29%, and Kingsoft Cloud (KC) fell by 5.11%.
Cautious investors should continue to avoid Chinese tech stocks until its economy shows signs of stabilization. Until it resolves its housing market crisis, investing in China-based companies is highly risky.
