Crude Oil Prices Close to 2-Year High

Wedged this morning between the U.S./Israel attack on Iran this past weekend and February jobs numbers that begin coming out Wednesday morning, pre-market futures are lower again. Yesterday, they mostly fought back to near breakeven, if not in the green, so a lower open today won’t necessarily signal doom and gloom. At this hour, the Dow is -678 points, -1.39%, the S&P 500 -94, -1.36%, the Nasdaq -456, -1.82% and the small-cap Russell 2000 -57, -2.16%.

Without much to go on regarding the duration, goals, etc. of this war (President Trump set a range from “four weeks” to “far longer”), we’ll instead look at spot oil prices, which are now up +27% from near-term lows just two weeks ago. WTI now trades at $76 per barrel (bbl) and Brent crude is currently $85/bbl — both the highest in almost two years. One of the most visibly successful changes in Trump’s first year of his second term had been lower gasoline prices, but we can expect that to change — at least for the next “four weeks.”

Big Earnings Morning Ahead of the Bell: TGT, BBY, AZO & More

Target TGT put up mixed results in its Q4 report this morning, beating on the bottom line by +2.4% to $2.44 per share but missing on revenues by -0.21% to $30.45 billion (the retail chain posted $30.92 billion in the year-ago quarter). But raised guidance has helped move shares up +3.5% in today’s pre-market, adding to the +15.8% gains year to date.

Best Buy BBY was similarly mixed in its Q4 figures ahead of today’s opening bell, posting a nice +5.24% earnings surprise to $2.61 per share on $13.81 billion in revenues, which missed the Zacks consensus by -0.67%. Notable improvements to profitability are bringing shares up +11% in early trading, swinging to the positive in 2026 so far.

AutoZone’s AZO fiscal Q2 results marks another retailer beating on earnings — $27.63 per share versus $27.10 expected — on a slight miss on quarterly sales by -0.82% to $4.27 billion. Shares have shifted to trading down -4%, but still up double-digits year to date.

Swiss sneaker company On Holding ONON managed to beat expectations on top and bottom lines — earnings of 31 cents per share versus estimates of 26 cents on revenues of $930.9 million which surpassed projections by +1.72% — but are falling in early trading on weaker guidance.

Viking Cruise Lines VIK posted perhaps the most impressive results of the morning. Earnings of 67 cents per share outpaced the 54 cents anticipated by +24% on revenues of $1.72 billion, which bettered the Zacks consensus by +5.85% and came in nicely higher than $1.35 billion a year ago.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research