Friday, November 7, 2025
Pre-market trading has slid into the red this morning, holding at current levels (for now) but another step down over the past five days and off the all-time highs registered in late October. A growing wariness of overall AI infrastructure spending and a dearth of economic data (this week was supposed to have been Jobs Week) haver kept market spirits cooled this first week of November.
For employment numbers, we can cobble together what we have, and try to construct something that resembles a realistic labor market scenario. Although today’s non-farm payroll numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are unavailable due to the 37-day government shutdown, estimates had been for a loss of -60K new jobs created last month. The Unemployment Rate was expected to tick up to +4.5%, while Hourly Wages year over year was anticipated to remain steady at +0.3%.
From ADP’s ADP private-sector payrolls Wednesday, we saw +42K new jobs filled — better than the BLS estimate but still underperforming for a healthy labor market. The Chicago Fed unemployment rate estimate was +4.36% (with a +40% chance this number will eventually register higher), but the Challenger Job Cuts report came in at a damaging +153K, and this is before the surge in mass layoffs we’ve seen over the past week or so.
Thus, we still have a tentative expectation for a 25 basis-point (bps) interest rate cut 4 1/2 weeks from now. If there is a problem with this scenario, it’s that the all-time highs market indexes had raced to in October had already priced-in that cut, and possibly more than that. No one in the Fed truly knows where the “neutral rate” of inflation is, but for sure it’s higher than the optimum +2%.
Earnings Results This Morning at a Glance: WEN, FUN & More
We’re well past most of the non-retail (and non-NVIDIA) earnings reports for this season, but there are still plenty of companies reporting worthy of mention ahead of today’s opening bell:
Quick-service major
Wendy’s WEN shares are up +9% at this hour after beating on Q3 earnings by +20% (24 cents per share versus 20 cents expected). This was off downwardly revised guidance earlier in the quarter, as evident by Wendy’s Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) going into the print. Perhaps this is the start of the turnaround?
Six Flags Entertainment FUN posted a big earnings beat ahead of today’s regular trading session, with earnings of $3.28 per share leaving the $2.24 in the Zacks consensus in the dust, for a positive earnings surprise of +46.4%. But shares are still down -2% in early trading, adding to the massive -61% losses year to date.
Industrial services company
Fluor FLR trounced Q3 earnings estimates, posting 68 cents per share versus expectations of 44 cents — a +54.55% earnings surprise. Shares are up +4.6% in pre-market activity, effectively cutting in half its losses year to date.
Atlantic coast power firm
Constellation Energy CEG came up short of its earnings estimate this morning, with $3.04 per share reported -2.88% from the $3.13 anticipated. Shares are down -6.3% at this hour, taking a bite out of the company’s +57% gains from the start of the year.
Canadian cannabis supplier
Canopy Growth CGC shares are up +12% on this challenging trading morning, with a bottom line coming in at -$0.01 per share, improving from the -$0.10 in the Zacks consensus. The stock still has a way to go before it’s where it was a year ago, but perhaps this is a good start.
What to Expect from the Stock Market Today
After the open today, the latest
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report comes out for November. Expectations are for a slight tick-down to 53.0 from 53.6 reported a month ago, but still above the 50 threshold indicating gains from losses. Also,
Consumer Credit for September is expected to have tallied a nice, round number of $10.0 billion.
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Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP): Free Stock Analysis Report Constellation Energy Corporation (CEG): Free Stock Analysis Report Fluor Corporation (FLR): Free Stock Analysis Report The Wendy's Company (WEN): Free Stock Analysis Report Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (FUN): Free Stock Analysis Report Canopy Growth Corporation (CGC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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