Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) shares ended yesterday’s trading session at a 52-week high, adding 9.5% since the April 14 publication of a robust quarterly report with results above Wall Street’s expectations. Earnings per share grew by 9.5% YoY to $2.30, revenue increased by 6.7% YoY to $20.7 billion. Also, the company increased its quarterly dividend by 6.3% to $1.01 per share.
Over the past week, Johnson &Johnson shares rose 3.61%. Over the same period, the S&P 500 index grew by 0.59%.
Stock Market Today
S&P futures are mixed today. Key news:
- Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview the administration continues to be encouraged by the national coronavirus trends and hopes the outbreak is “largely over” by early June.
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he anticipates the bulk of the economy should restart by August.
- House of Representatives members prepared to vote on $484 billion worth of additional stimulus legislation to support the domestic economy.
- Brick-and-mortar retailers are burning through cash due to COVID-related shutdowns.
- The companies are doing everything they can to conserve resources.
- The pandemic is accelerating the shift to online shopping.
The Coronavirus “Retail Apocalypse”
To slow the spread of COVID-19, nearly every state has ordered “nonessential” companies to close. Only businesses that provide things like groceries or health services can operate. As a result, many apparel-based retailers have had to close their locations. And sales are plummeting.
With no cash coming through the door, these companies have had to take drastic steps to conserve cash…
Large retailers like Macy’s (M) Kohl’s (KSS), and Best Buy (BBY) have announced massive layoffs. Nordstrom (JWN) has suspended its dividend and share-buyback program. Many are shutting stores and drawing down credit lines.
Retail companies are looking to raise funds. An example is Macy’s, who is looking to raise as much as $5 billion in a debt offering. The retailer would back $3 billion with inventory, and it would support another $1 billion to $2 billion with real estate, according to CNBC.
Market Bottomline
AlphaBetaStock is extremely BEARISH on both the retail and the energy sector. Investors need to be very cautious as it is highly LIKELY that many will declare bankruptcy.
JNJ Stock Bottomline
JNJ stock continues to demonstrate a pronounced upward trend, aka BULLISH. Recently JNJ stock prices reached historic hight. We believe that Johnson & Johnson shares are currently being consolidated.
The new support and resistance levels are the levels of 148.00 and 155.00, respectively. We could see a technical correction before a breakthrough.
AlphaBetaStock.com continues to have Johnson & Johnson stock on its “Watchlist” for investors. We believe that JNJ has a good business model, management, and technicals/fundamentals to warrant a “BUY” for many long term investors. It is not likely to make any more dramatic swings up, but will also likely preserve principle and continue to pay a dividend.
For all these reasons, we suggest are BULLISH on JNJ stock.
Resistance levels: 155.00.
Support levels: 148.00, 143.50, 136.50.
