Thursday, March nineteenth, 2026
Pre-market futures are trying to combat again from early morning lows at this hour, following better-than-expected Weekly Jobless Claims and Philly Fed information, together with a combined bag of earnings reviews out earlier than the opening bell. The Dow is presently -294 factors, -0.63%, the S&P 500 -43, -0.65%, the Nasdaq -181, -0.74%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 is -26 factors, -1.05%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Stay Traditionally Glorious
As soon as once more, Preliminary Jobless Claims got here in under expectations for final week, to 205K from 215K estimated. That is the bottom determine we’ve seen since early January, which was the final time we have been sub-200K. They comply with an unrevised 213K from the earlier week. These ranges are in keeping with a sturdy labor market, regardless that we perceive it’s extra of a “low rent/low hearth” atmosphere.
Persevering with Claims got here in at 1.857 million on this morning’s report — the tenth straight week under 1.9 million longer-term jobless claims, and down from the upwardly revised 1.860 million the prior week. In 2025, from April by means of mid-November we have been between 1.89 and 1.975 million longer-term claims, with out ever tipping the scales on the psychologically vital 2 million persevering with claims. And we’ve solely gotten higher since then.
Philly Fed Hits Excessive Mark in 2026: 18.1
The March manufacturing survey often known as Philly Fed posted its third-straight constructive month, reaching 18.1 for the primary time since September of final yr. Not solely that, however the previous three months have been up double-digits, following three-straight months in detrimental territory. That is one other metric that demonstrates the well being of the American financial system.
Earnings Reviews This Morning: BABA, DRI & Extra
In the meantime, we see shares of Alibaba BABA, the world’s largest business-to-business Web platform primarily based in Mainland China, falling -7% this morning. Earnings outcomes for its December quarter have been down -47% to $1.01 per share, at the same time as its AI Cloud enterprise gained +36% within the quarter. This compounds Alibaba’s losses yr up to now to round -15%.
Olive Backyard and LongHorn Steakhouse father or mother Darden Eating places DRI, then again, met earnings expectations precisely this morning when it reported $2.95 per share. Revenues got here in barely forward of Zacks consensus to $3.35 billion, however rising fuel costs are dimming the restaurant company’s outlook, and shares are down -4% in pre-market buying and selling. For extra on DRI’s earnings, click on right here.
One of many greatest winners this morning is Duluth Holdings DLTH, which is seeing a +21% surge in pre-market exercise after whalloping estimates for This fall. Earnings of $0.23 per share beat $0.09 anticipated by a unprecedented +155.6%, whereas revenues of $215.9 million outperformed expectations by +2.61%. For extra on DLTH’s earnings, click on right here.
After at the moment’s shut, we’ll see fiscal Q3 earnings outcomes from FedEx FDX. This firm is a superb gauge for world supply, that means it takes the temperature of general shopper exercise in methods most corporations can’t. Expectations are for -8.2% earnings development yr over yr on +6.45% revenues from the year-ago quarter. FedEx appears for its fourth-straight earnings beat, and shares are up +20% yr up to now.
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Darden Eating places, Inc. (DRI) : Free Inventory Evaluation Report
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