Stock Futures Trade Slightly Higher as Investors Weigh Trump Shooting
2 min
Stocks are poised for a slightly higher open on Monday, the first look at how U.S. markets will react following the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Trump was recovering Sunday, a day after a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania that injured Trump and left one attendee dead and two others critically injured.
Investors aren’t showing heightened concern, as far as moves in stock futures are reflecting on Sunday. At 6:46 p.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 60 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%; and Nasdaq Composite futures were up 0.1%.
Republicans are converging in Milwaukee this week to formally nominate Trump as their party’s presidential candidate. The Republican National Convention is moving forward as an investigation into the shooting continues.
Futures also were extending a rally that has lifted stocks to fresh highs this year, fueled by earnings and a surge in tech shares.
Forty-five S&P 500 companies report earnings this week, including BlackRock and Goldman Sachs on Monday.
Bank of America , Charles Schwab , J.B. Hunt Transport Services , Morgan Stanley , Omnicom Group , PNC Financial Services Group , State Street, and UnitedHealth Group report earnings on Tuesday.
ASML Holding , Citizens Financial Group , Crown Castle , Discover Financial Services , Elevance Health , Equifax , Johnson & Johnson , Kinder Morgan , Northern Trust , Prologis , Steel Dynamics , Synchrony Financial , United Airlines Holdings , and U.S. Bancorp all report earnings on Wednesday.
Abbott Laboratories , Alaska Air Group , Blackstone, Cintas, D.R. Horton, Domino’s Pizza , Intuitive Surgical , KeyCorp , M&T Bank , Marsh & McLennan , Netflix , Novartis , Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing , and Textron report earnings on Thursday.
American Express , Fifth Third Bancorp , Halliburton , Huntington Bancshares , Regions Financial , SLB, and Travelers report on Friday.
This week’s notable economic events include Monday’s release of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey by the New York Fed. Later today, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will speak at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2024.
On Tuesday, the Census Bureau reports June retail sales data, and the National Association of Home Builders will release its Housing Market Index for July. Also Tuesday, Fed Gov. Adriana Kuglar will speak at the National Association for Business Economics’ Economic Measurement Seminar in Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release the fifth of eight Beige Books with anecdotal information on current economic conditions from the 12 regional banks. Also Wednesday, the Census Bureau will report new residential construction statistics, including housing starts and building permits, for June.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia Fed will release the Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey for July; the Conference Board will report its Leading Economic Index for June; and the Labor Department will report initial unemployment claims for the week ended July 13. Also Thursday, the European Central Bank will publish a monetary policy decision. The ECB is widely expected to keep its target interest rate at 3.75%, after cutting it by a quarter of a percentage point in June.
On Friday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will speak at a conference co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas and Atlanta, and New York Fed President Williams will speak at a panel on monetary policy at the Central Bank of Peru’s annual conference in Cusco, Peru, on the Rewiring of the Global Economy.
For Central Element, the start of work at Pearl represents another step in the company’s growing eastern suburbs pipeline.
All three vehicles will form part of a broader charitable initiative benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the American Red Cross and Starlight Children’s Foundation
Overall, the season showed that share prices react less to whether profits rose or fell than to the gap between results and expectations
5 min
Reporting season has once again reminded investors that a strong profit does not guarantee a rising share price, and a large loss does not always trigger a sell-off. What matters most is how each result compares with expectations and, increasingly, what management says about the year ahead. During the August 2026 season, companies offering credible turnarounds or unexpectedly strong guidance were rewarded handsomely, while those flagging weaker margins, slowing demand or greater uncertainty were punished.
The following ranking draws on Morningstar’s review of 164 ASX-listed companies and measures each company’s share-price movement on the day it reported. This captures the market’s immediate response to the earnings announcement, before subsequent economic developments, dividends and company-specific news cloud the picture. Here are the five biggest winners, and the five hardest-hit losers, of the season so far.
The five winners
1. Bapcor (ASX:BAP): +41.0%
Bapcor delivered reporting season’s largest relief rally after presenting early evidence that its troubled automotive-parts business was stabilising. Although underlying revenue fell 1.8% to $1.92 billion and underlying NPAT collapsed 85% to $10.8 million, underlying EBITDA of $152.5 million exceeded guidance.
More importantly, working-capital initiatives released $68.5 million in the second half, lifting cash conversion to 109.4% and reducing net debt by 63% to $135 million. The statutory loss was $431.6 million, largely because of non-cash impairments. Investors focused on improving operational momentum, stronger liquidity and management’s expectation of modest FY27 revenue growth.
2. Zip Co (ASX:ZIP): +18.2%
Zip comfortably surpassed its FY26 targets, sending the buy-now-pay-later provider’s shares sharply higher. Transaction volume rose 23% to $16.7 billion, while cash earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 58% to a record $268.9 million. Statutory profit climbed 46% to $116.4 million, and the cash operating margin expanded by 4.2 percentage points to 20%.
The strongest signal was guidance for FY27 cash earnings of $340 million—around 26% growth and above analysts’ forecasts. US transaction volume increased 42.5% and now represents three-quarters of group volume, offsetting weaker customer activity in Australia.
3. CSL (ASX:CSL): +17.3%
CSL’s result was hardly spectacular in isolation, but it cleared a market bar that had fallen dramatically following earlier downgrades and restructuring announcements. Underlying NPATA was US$3.1 billion, down 2% in constant-currency terms, while operating cash flow reached US$3.51 billion.
CSL maintained its full-year dividend at US$2.92 per share and completed a A$1 billion buyback. The real catalyst was FY27 guidance for approximately 5% underlying profit growth, compared with market expectations closer to 2%. After an extended period of earnings disappointments, investors interpreted the outlook as evidence that CSL’s core plasma business was approaching a sustainable recovery.
4. Judo Capital (ASX:JDO): +16.9%
Judo Capital demonstrated strong operating leverage as its specialist business-lending franchise expanded. Full-year profit before tax rose 34% to $168.1 million, while pre-provision profit increased 42%. Gross loans and advances grew 18% to $14.7 billion, reaching the top of the bank’s guidance range and comfortably exceeding broader system growth.
Deposits increased 24% to $12.2 billion, return on equity improved by 1.1 percentage points to 6.4%, and earnings per share rose 29% to 9.9 cents. Reaffirmation of the FY27 outlook gave investors confidence that loan growth could continue without sacrificing margins or credit quality.
5. Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL): +15.8%
The owner of Supercheap Auto, rebel, BCF and Macpac reported record sales of $4.2 billion, up 3.2%, despite cautious discretionary spending. Profitability went backwards: normalised profit before tax fell 7% to $306 million and normalised NPAT declined 2.8% to $226 million as transformation spending weighed on margins. Nevertheless, the result exceeded subdued expectations, online sales grew 5.3% and membership across the group’s loyalty programs reached 13.1 million. Investors were also encouraged by positive early FY27 trading, stable gross margins and continued market-share gains. A fully franked 33-cent final dividend added to the appeal.
The five losers
1. Hansen Technologies (ASX:HSN): –21.2%
Hansen’s historic result met expectations, but investors recoiled from its outlook. The utility and communications software provider achieved an underlying EBITDA margin of 31%, exceeding its 30% target, while generating strong cash flow. However, management designated FY27 an “investment and transition year”, signalling a roughly five-percentage-point margin contraction as spending on products, sales capabilities and organisational changes increased.
Revenue had already been broadly flat, leaving investors concerned that the investment program would depress earnings before new growth appeared. Leadership changes, including the chief executive’s departure, added uncertainty. Management expects revenue growth and margins above 30% to return in FY28, but the market was unwilling to wait.
2. Life360 (ASX:360): –19.4%
Life360’s headline growth was impressive: quarterly revenue rose 38% to US$159 million, subscription revenue increased 31%, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 53% to US$31.1 million. Monthly active users reached 102.4 million and paying circles grew 27% to 3.2 million. The sell-off reflected expectations rather than a collapsing business.
Net income fell 18%, the net margin contracted from 6% to 3%, hardware shipments dropped 18%, and full-year EBITDA guidance was merely maintained. After a strong valuation run, investors wanted a larger upgrade and clearer evidence that heavy investment in advertising, international expansion and artificial intelligence would generate additional earnings.
3. PEXA Group (ASX:PXA): –17.0%
PEXA reported a 7% increase in continuing-operations revenue and 12% EBITDA growth to $152 million, accompanied by a two-percentage-point margin expansion. Free cash flow increased 39%, suggesting the core Australian electronic-conveyancing platform remained highly profitable. Investors instead concentrated on management’s warning that property-transfer volumes could decline, alongside regulatory uncertainty surrounding the fees PEXA can charge.
The company is also continuing to invest heavily in its loss-making international expansion. Morningstar considered the market reaction excessive, arguing that structural transfer-volume assumptions had not materially changed, but the combination of softer near-term activity and regulatory risk overwhelmed the respectable headline numbers.
4. SEEK (ASX:SEK): –14.3%
SEEK produced solid FY26 figures, including 10% revenue growth to $1.20 billion, a 15% rise in EBITDA and 28% growth in adjusted earnings per share. It also lifted its fully franked annual dividend by 13% to a record 52 cents. Those achievements were overshadowed by falling paid job-ad volumes and cautious FY27 assumptions.
The statutory accounts included a $201 million loss from the SEEK Growth Fund and $377 million of significant items, making the headline result considerably less attractive. Investors were particularly concerned that economic weakness could limit volumes while the company continued investing in platform integration and artificial-intelligence products.
5. JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH): –12.3%
JB Hi-Fi’s full-year result was broadly respectable, with group sales rising 5% to $11.1 billion and underlying earnings per share increasing 6% to $4.48. The damage came from its current-trading update. Australian sales were almost flat during the June quarter and deteriorated further in July, while earnings in the core Australian electronics business fell 3.6%.
Housing-related categories were particularly weak as higher living costs and interest rates constrained household budgets. With JB Hi-Fi entering the season on a demanding valuation, an in-line historic result was not sufficient: the loss of sales momentum prompted investors to rapidly reduce their expectations for FY27.
Overall, the season showed that share prices react less to whether profits rose or fell than to the gap between results and expectations. Bapcor was rewarded for being less troubled than feared, while several fundamentally profitable companies were punished because their outlooks failed to justify elevated valuations.
The pandemic-fuelled love affair with casual footwear is fading, with Bank of America warning the downturn shows no sign of easing.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
