After beginning Friday in the red amid tensions between the United States and major allies at the G-7 summit, stocks turned positive to end the week modestly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.65%) marked its third straight daily gain, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC -1.20%) reversed yesterday's minuscule decline.
Today's stock market
| Index | Percentage Change | Point Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dow | 0.30% | 75.12 |
| S&P 500 | 0.31% | 8.66 |
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
Consumer staples stocks led the way higher, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP -0.41%) up 1.2%. Oil stocks pulled back after Thursday's big rally, leaving the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration and Production EFT (XOP -1.60%) down 0.4%.
As for individual stocks, fresh earnings and a new product from Stitch Fix (SFIX -1.73%) sent shares of the personal styling specialist skyward, while positive comments from management and Wall Street had Monster Beverage (MNST -1.64%) climbing higher.
Image source: Getty Images.
Stitch Fix's stunning quarterly beat
Shares of Stitch Fix jumped 26.5% after the online personal styling service absolutely crushed expectations with its fiscal third-quarter 2018 results.
Quarterly revenue jumped 29% year over year to $316.7 million, helped by a 30% increase in active clients to 2.7 million. On the bottom line, that translated to net income of $9.5 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, swinging from a $0.38-per-share loss in the same year-ago period. Analysts, on average, were only expecting earnings of $0.03 per share on revenue of $306.5 million.
"We continue to balance growth and profitability, demonstrated by our ability to consistently deliver top-line growth of over 20% even as we invest in category expansions, technology talent, and marketing," stated Stitch Fix founder and CEO Katrina Lake. "Our third quarter results demonstrated continued positive momentum for Stitch Fix and the power of our unique ability to deliver personalized service at scale."
If that wasn't enough, the company also announced the impending launch of Stitch Fix Kids, a service Lake says will "provide unique, affordable kids clothing in a wide range of styles, giving our littlest clients the freedom to express themselves in clothing that they love and feel great wearing."
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Stitch Fix Kids will enjoy the same positive reception as its adult-centric counterpart. But after combining this new launch with Stitch Fix's relative outperformance this quarter, it's no surprise the stock popped today.
Monster Beverage roars higher
Monster Beverage shares rose 5% following encouraging comments from management at the energy drink leader's latest annual shareholder meeting. In particular, Monster Beverage leadership told investors that its business in the United States is holding strong, which could enable the company to selectively implement price hikes to combat higher aluminum costs in the coming quarters.
Sure enough, several analyst firms weighed in to offer their respective votes of confidence this morning, including predictions from Stifel Nicolaus and Goldman Sachs that Monster's global sales momentum will allow it to increase prices and gradually expand gross margin. Both firms reiterated their buy ratings for Monster stock. Stifel, for its part, holds a $63-per-share price target on Monster, while Goldman Sachs increased its own from $54 to $57.
Both predictions represent modest premiums from Monster Beverage's close on Friday at $55.48 per share. But thanks to a disappointing quarterly report in late February, the stock still sits well below its 52-week high at over $70 per share set early this year. If Monster Beverage can sustain this strength, however, I suspect it won't be long before it revisits those levels.
