Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index held steady, rising modestly to $4,986.68 (-0.08%) despite half of its components falling in red territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.08%) and S&P 500 (+0.13%) edged higher, while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.10%) closed slightly lower.
Disney (NYSE: DIS) had its worst trading day in 18 months after falling 9.51%. The entertainment giant reported a $20 million net loss in Q2 fiscal 2024 and gave a weak outlook for the third quarter. Peloton (Nasdaq: PTON) popped 15.54% on news that several private equity firms expressed interest to buy out the interactive fitness platform.
On the GovCon Index, Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) plunged 15.11% to lead 15 decliners. Jacobs (NYSE: J) and V2X (NYSE: VVX) posted significant losses too. Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and three other GCI stocks gained over one percent.
Accenture will partner with Google Cloud’s Mandiant to deliver cyber resilience services to help organizations detect, investigate, respond to and recover from cyberattacks.
Palantir’s Q1 2024 earnings results released late Monday did not disappoint, but the AI stock crashed nonetheless due to the lower-than-expected full-year 2024 guidance. In the quarter ending March 31, 2024, net income jumped 453.9% year-over-year to $106 million, its largest quarterly profit. “Our business is growing at a scale,” said Alexander Karp, CEO and co-founder of Palantir.
Meanwhile, the net earnings of technical professional services firm Jacobs in Q2 fiscal 2024 declined 25.1% compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2023, although revenue rose 4.7% year-over-year to $4.3 billion. V2X dropped despite a quarterly profit and a robust backlog. In Q1 2024, the net income of the aerospace and defense company reached $1.14 million compared to the $17.5 million net loss a year ago. As of March 29, 2024, the backlog was $12.6 billion.
The drop of the ten-year T-note yield to 4.457%, a 3½ week low, lent support to U.S. stocks. However, rate cuts this year, or none, remain the top-of-mind concern of investors. On Tuesday, Minneapolis Fed Reserve President Neel Kashkari echoed most policymakers’ stand. He expects the central bank to keep its monetary policy restrictive until there is clarity on disinflation and is not ruling out a rate hike.
Market Summary
| INDEX | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovCon Index Daily Average | 4,986.68 | 3.91 | 0.08% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 38,884.26 | 31.99 | 0.08% |
| S&P 500 | 5,187.70 | 6.96 | 0.13% |
| NASDAQ | 16,332.56 | -16.69 | -0.10% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Percentage Performers
| SYMBOL | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACN | 310.66 | 4.60 | 1.50% |
| RTX | 103.23 | 1.32 | 1.30% |
| CW | 276.59 | 2.90 | 1.06% |
| NOC | 473.75 | 4.89 | 1.04% |
| HON | 196.85 | 1.85 | 0.95% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Net Performers
| SYMBOL | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOC | 473.75 | 4.89 | 1.04% |
| ACN | 310.66 | 4.60 | 1.50% |
| LMT | 466.68 | 3.90 | 0.84% |
| CW | 276.59 | 2.90 | 1.06% |
| GD | 293.37 | 1.99 | 0.68% |
Top 5 GovCon Index Daily Percentage Decliners
| SYMBOL | PRICE | NET CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLTR | 21.4 | -3.81 | -15.11% |
| J | 141.64 | -7.44 | -4.99% |
| VVX | 49.9 | -2.21 | -4.24% |
| PSN | 78.25 | -1.35 | -1.70% |
| KTOS | 18.76 | -0.25 | -1.32% |
