The stock market continued to move lower on Wednesday, driven by a big increase in consumer prices that raised new fears of inflation. The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.8% in April, with higher gasoline prices playing a major role in the boost. That sent stock traders scurrying for cover once again. As of 10:45 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.06%) was down 276 points to 33,993. The S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.22%) dropped 41 points to 4,110, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.52%) gave up another 227 points to 13,163.
However, even on the worst down days, there are always some stocks that manage to shine. Today, fuboTV (FUBO 0.72%) was a big winner after the connected television specialist reported a strong quarter of performance. Elsewhere, Occidental Petroleum (OXY 0.09%) led the way higher for a group of stocks benefiting from the news on inflation.
A great show for fuboTV
Shares of fuboTV were up 12% on Wednesday morning. The live TV streaming company posted impressive results that gave investors more confidence in its long-term prospects.
The growth that fuboTV had was strong. Revenue soared 135% in the first quarter to nearly $120 million. The company more than doubled its subscriber count year over year to 590,000. Advertising revenue tripled from where it was just 12 months ago.
Yet fuboTV doesn't think its growth is going to go away anytime soon. The company pointed to 78 million households that are still using old-style legacy cable and pay television services, and it believes that those customers are ripe for the taking. By the end of 2021, fuboTV anticipates roping in another 240,000 to 260,000 subscribers, with revenue run rates likely to grow slightly from current levels.
Streaming video has been a disruptive force in entertainment, and television is just the latest area in which companies are seeing massive change. So far, fuboTV has taken full advantage of that transformation, and shareholders are reaping the rewards today.
Image source: Getty Images.
An energetic day
Meanwhile, Occidental Petroleum saw its shares climb almost 7% Wednesday morning. That led a group of oil and gas companies higher, with some smaller players in the oilfield services and refinery business seeing even larger percentage moves in some cases.
The fundamentals for the energy industry in general have gotten a lot better recently, and today continued some of those positive trends. Crude oil prices climbed more than $1 per barrel to $66, moving further into territory at which many producers are able to take oil out of the ground profitably.
Meanwhile, the closure of the Colonial Pipeline has led to widespread gasoline shortages and even complete outages across much of the southeastern U.S., running from Virginia and Tennessee south to Florida. Although those impacts won't necessarily have any long-term impact on Occidental or other players in the energy industry, they nevertheless highlight how rising demand from the economic recovery has the capacity to exacerbate any unexpected events.
Occidental's earnings report on Tuesday morning showed positive cash flow but continuing weakness in production volumes and ongoing losses. However, if oil prices stay where they are or climb higher, it could finally get Occidental's business moving more sustainably in the right direction.
