Watch these heavily shorted stocks, Intel and these insurance plays in tomorrow’s trading

THU, JAN 26, 2023

The goal of this newsletter is to get you ahead of the next day of investing and trading. It's your first look at tomorrow and last look at today powered by the team of people who direct CNBC TV's stock market coverage.

Tomorrow's Top CNBC Stories Tonight

Hasbro's fourth-quarter warning, layoff news

Hasbro is in negative territory in the extended session after warning that its Q4 earnings and revenues would come in well below Wall Street's expectations. The toymaker is also cutting roughly 15% of its workforce, or 1,000 jobs. The warning briefly sent rival Mattel lower after hours, as well, though that stock is still tracking for its best month since last February.

Lackluster guidance drags KLA Corp shares

KLA Corp fell on disappointing guidance. Earlier in the session, the chipmaker hit its highest level in a year, though from a percentage perspective, it has underperformed rivals so far in 2023. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is up 18% since the start of the year. Including its after-hours move, KLA is up just 8%.

Semiconductors' winning week

Speaking of which, it's been an otherwise strong week for semiconductor stocks. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is heading for its best week since mid-November, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is on pace for its longest weekly win streak since August. Giants Nvidia and Qualcomm are up 11% and 9%, respectively, for the week. Marvell, STMicroelectronics, and ON Semiconductor are also among the names with double-digit gains. Nonetheless, as of today's close, 15 of the SMH's 25 constituents remain 15% or more off recent highs.

Enphase shares continue to suffer

Enphase extended its weakness today, even as other solar stocks held up all right – the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) rose slightly but it's flat on the week. Enphase is the worst performer on the S&P 500 week to date. The monthly picture isn't any better: It's off by more than 20% in January, which would be its worst month since last January. Despite a downgrade from Piper Sandler earlier in the week, most analysts are still bullish: 64% of those tracked by FactSet have buy ratings. It's set to report earnings in early February.

Ethan Kraft | CNBC Breaking News and Markets Producer
@ethan_kraft

A closer look at insurance brokers

On Friday, Contessa Brewer will look at the brokers in the insurance industry who are successfully and or attempting to raise premiums.
As for the overall industry, most of the stocks have seen gains in 2023, but double-digit gains in the last three months.
Willis Towers Watson is up 20% in three months.
Aon is up 17% in three months.
Marsh & McLennan is up 13.7% in three months.
Hartford is up 12% in three months.
Arthur J. Gallagher is up 12% also in three months.
Progressive is up nearly 10% in three months.

American Express results are arriving

American Express reports tomorrow morning.
The stock is up 6% in the last three months (up 5.5% in 2023).
Visa is up 10.5% in the last three months (up 8% in 2023).
Mastercard is up 18% in three months (up about 8.5% in 2023).
PayPal is down 8.7% in three months (up 13% in 2023).
Block is up 36% in three months (up 29% in 2023).

Utilities are the worst performing sector in 2023

Dominic Chu is going to focus on utilities throughout the day on CNBC.
Of the 11 S&P sectors, the utilities sector is the worst performing in 2023, down 2.26%.
The best of the sector includes Edison International (up 7.5% year to date) and NRG (up 5.25% year to date). Sempra is up nearly 4% in 2023.
The worst performers include NextEra (down 8.6% in 2023), Southern Company (down 5.5% in 2023) and Eversource Energy (down 4.2% in 2023).

Intel's CEO on CNBC at 11 a.m. ET

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, is on CNBC to talk about the company's less-than-great quarterly report.
The stock is down about 10% after hours.
Intel is now near the bottom of the list of stocks in the widely followed VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), up just 2.75% in 2023 when accounting for the after-hours move.

Hasbro warns on holiday weakness

The company is cutting 15% of jobs.
After-hours, the stock fell 7%. It is now down 2.5% in 2023, and down 4.3% since Nov. 25, the first official day of the Christmas shopping season.
Mattel fell as well on the news. It's down 2% this evening but the stock is up 10% since Nov. 25.

Heavily shorted names

CNBC data team member Nick Wells has a new list of the highest short interest for a bunch of big-name stocks.
Top of the list, Silvergate Capital at 70% of the float. The stock is 91% off the March high.
Carvana was second highest at 59.6% of the float. The stock is 96% off the February high.
Marathon Digital is listed as third highest, with 46% short interest. The stock is 73% off the March high.
Bed Bath & Beyond is at 45% short interest. The stock is 92% from the March high.
Beyond Meat is at 39% short interest. The stock is 76% off the February high.