Preview of US Stock Market | The three major stock index futures rose and fell unevenly, Bank of America: Trump's policy haze shrouds the market, and investor activity slows.

4.828.6%AgoraAgora3600-38001900-2100 1. Before the opening of the US stock market on February 25 (Tuesday), the futures of the three major US stock indexes were mixed. As of the time of writing, Dow Jones futures rose 0.01%, S&P 500 index futures fell 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures fell 0.02%. 2. As of the time of writing, Germany's DAX index rose 0.14%, UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.34%, France's CAC40 index fell 0.03%, and Europe's Stoxx 50 index rose 0.11%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil fell 0.24% to $70.53 per barrel. Brent crude oil fell 0.34% to $74.06 per barrel. Market News Bank of America: Trump's policy uncertainty slows down market activity. Bank of America Corp. stated that since the beginning of this year, investors' activity has slowed down due to increasing uncertainty about the direction of President Trump's new government policies. Jim DeMare, head of the company's global markets division, warned that uncertainty has significantly increased as the market tries to assess the potential impact of early government measures, especially proposed tariffs on asset prices. DeMare stated in an interview, "Client trading activity has decreased compared to earlier this year, and is significantly lower than in the fourth quarter of last year. I believe people are waiting for more information to further adjust their portfolios." Federal Reserve of San Francisco: Fed expected to respond "firmly and consistently" to US inflation and employment conditions. A research report released by the Federal Reserve of San Francisco on Monday showed that investors and analysts expect the Fed to respond "firmly and consistently" to changes in inflation and employment markets. The report highlights the current sensitivity of financial markets to US economic data. JP Morgan CEO Supports Musk: US government "inefficient," generally in favor of DOGE. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, stated on Monday that he generally supported the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. Dimon commented on the efficiency of the US government and the need for improvement. CPI explosion leads to first increase in rate cut expectations for the Fed, with the 10-year US Treasury yield falling to 4.33%. Due to increased bets on a rate cut by the Fed and the impact of President Trump's tariff plans on risk appetite, US bond prices rose. As of the time of writing, the 10-year US Treasury yield fell 7 basis points to 4.33%, the lowest level in over two months, and the 2-year US Treasury yield fell 5 basis points to 4.12%. Market indications suggest the Fed will further ease monetary policy, with the first full expectation in four weeks that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points twice this year. Continued sell-off of crypto assets as Bitcoin price falls below $90,000. After facing major attacks such as hacking, the global digital asset market experienced a widespread sell-off. The trading price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value, even fell below the important support level of $90,000 for the first time in over a month, hitting a new low since November. Since President Trump took office, the price of Bitcoin has fallen by nearly 20%, weakening investor confidence in the cryptocurrency market. Individual Stock News Video conferencing business continues to face pressure, Zoom's guidance disappoints. Zoom's Q4 revenue increased by 3.3% year-over-year, to $1.18 billion, meeting market expectations; earnings per share, excluding certain items, were $1.41, compared to the market expectation of $1.31. As lockdown measures were lifted due to the pandemic, many individuals and small businesses stopped using Zoom's video conferencing services. The average monthly churn rate for this sector in the fourth quarter was 2.8%, in line with analysts' expectations. In contrast, enterprise customers largely retained the video conferencing service. Zoom's fourth-quarter revenue from enterprise services increased by 5.9% to $7.068 billion, exceeding market expectations. Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A reports $34.5 million in Q4 revenue, a 28.6% year-over-year increase in net income. Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A's parent company, Agora, Inc., reported revenue of $34.5 million in Q3, a 4.4% year-over-year decrease, in line with the company's previous expectations of between $34 and $36 million. Net income under Non-GAAP accounting standards was $14.8 million, a 28.6% year-over-year increase, below market expectations. Agora stated that despite the global economic uncertainty, the company has maintained strong growth momentum. Agora expects first-quarter revenue to reach between $36 and $38 million, with net income between $19 and $21 million.$800,000, with a net profit of $1.4 million in the same period of the previous year, an increase of 28.6% year-on-year. Agora, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A, which focuses on the Chinese market, achieved revenue of 122.2 million RMB ($17.1 million), a decrease of 17.6% year-on-year; Agora, which focuses on non-Chinese markets, achieved revenue of $17.4 million, an increase of 13.7% year-on-year. In terms of customer scale, as of December 31, 2024, Agora Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A had 1,979 active customers, a decrease of 7.8% year-on-year, and Agora had 1,723 active customers, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year. Looking ahead, the company expects revenue for the first quarter of 2025 to be between $31 million and $33 million.Hims & Hers Q4 performance exceeds expectations. Hims & Hers Health's Q4 revenue increased by 95% year-on-year to $481 million, surpassing market expectations of $470 million; earnings per share were 11 cents, also beating market expectations of 10 cents. However, the company's gross profit margin was 77%, below market expectations of 78.4%. In May of last year, Hims & Hers began selling semaglutide compound drugs. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B's blockbuster GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. Hims & Hers became a rising star in the digital health field in 2024, partly due to the success of its new weight loss product. The company stated that its GLP-1 product generated over $225 million in revenue in 2024. The stock rose by about 200% that year. Looking ahead, Hims & Hers expects Q1 2025 revenue to be between $5.2 billion and $5.4 billion, while analysts are expecting $4.97 billion. Home Depot, Inc. Q4 revenue was $39.7 billion, with earnings per share of $3.13 exceeding expectations. Home Depot, Inc. recently released its fourth-quarter financial report, showing that the company's performance in key financial indicators exceeded market expectations. The report showed that Home Depot, Inc.'s EPS for the fourth quarter reached $3.13, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.00 by $0.13. Additionally, this quarter's revenue was $39.7 billion, higher than the market's general expectation of $38.83 billion. The company also stated that a key sales indicator will turn positive this year, indicating an increase in American consumers' willingness to spend on high-value goods. However, Home Depot, Inc. expects comparable sales to grow by only about 1% by the end of the fiscal year ending January 2026, below the average level of 1.65% predicted by Wall Street analysts. China Yuchai International Limited had revenue of 8.8 billion yuan and earnings per share of 2.19 yuan in the second half of 2024. China Yuchai International Limited recently released its financial performance for the second half of 2024. The data shows that the company's revenue in the second half of 2024 was 8.8 billion yuan (approximately $1.2 billion), slightly down from 8.9 billion yuan in the second half of 2023. In terms of profit, the profit for the second half of 2024 was 155.1 million yuan (approximately $21.6 million), a decrease from 169.8 million yuan in the second half of 2023. Basic and diluted earnings per share were 2.19 yuan (approximately $0.30), compared to 2.62 yuan in the second half of 2023. Despite the decrease in profit, China Yuchai International Limited's engine sales saw significant growth. In the second half of 2024, the company's total engine sales reached 163,843 units, an increase of 10.9% from 147,700 units in the second half of 2023. Baidu Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A acquires JOYY, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A's YY Live business for $2.1 billion, after a previous $3.6 billion acquisition deal was canceled. Baidu Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A has just announced an agreement with JOYY, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A to acquire its China mainland video entertainment live streaming business YY Live for approximately $2.1 billion. Following the completion of the transaction, the approximately $1.6 billion funds previously deposited in a custodial account by Baidu Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A under a stock purchase agreement have all been unfrozen, with the company planning to use this portion of the funds for cloud services and AI infrastructure development. On November 17, 2020, JOYY, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A and Baidu Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A announced that they had signed an agreement for Baidu Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A to acquire JOYY, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A's YY Live for approximately $3.6 billion in cash, including but not limited to YY Mobile App, YY.com website, and YY PC. On the evening of January 1 last year, Baidu Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A announced that its affiliate Moon terminated the stock purchase agreement with JOYY, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A, canceling the $3.6 billion acquisition deal. Important economic data and event forecasts 21:55 Beijing time: US Redbook retail sales YoY (%) for the week ending February 17. 22:00 Beijing time: US December FHFA house price index MoM (%), US December S&P/CS 20-city not seasonally adjusted house price index YoY (%).Beijing time 23:00: U.S. February Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, U.S. February Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index. The next day at Beijing time 02:00: U.S. January Seasonally Adjusted M2 Money Supply (in billion USD), U.S. February 25th 5-Year Treasury Note Auction - Total Amount (in billion USD). The next day at Beijing time 05:30: U.S. API Crude Oil Stock Change for the week ending February 21st (in thousand barrels). The next day at Beijing time 00:45: Fed Governor Bostic will give a speech. The next day at Beijing time 02:00: 2027 FOMC Voter, Richmond Fed President Barkin will speak on inflation. Earnings Forecast Before Wednesday's market open: Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW.US), Tuya, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (TUYA.US), Gaotu Techedu, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (GOTU.US)