Shares of security software stock Okta (Nasdaq: OKTA) inched higher Wednesday after Stephens analyst Todd Weller upgraded Okta to overweight with a $120 price target.
“We continue to have a positive view on the growth outlook for identity security,” said Weller, citing “secular trends including AI and cloud adoption, which are making identity an increasing strategic priority.”
Weller expects Okta to benefit from this trend, and show a “growth inflection” for sales in fiscal 2027. The analyst does warn however that after “significantly expand[ing] profitability in recent years,” Okta will soon enter an investment phase that could weigh on profits as the company attempts to expand sales.
Investors seem okay with that. Okta stock is up more than 1% today even as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF falls 1%.
In non-banking news, IT specialist Infosys (NYSE: INFY) beat by the proverbial penny this morning, reporting Q4 profit of $0.21 per share on sales of nearly $5.1 billion.
Wall Street had expected barely $5 billion in revenue. Infosys stock is up 7.5% this morning.
A third big bank moving the market today is S&P 500 component Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). Wells beat by a dime on earnings in its report this morning, earning $1.66 in Q4. Revenue for the quarter, though, was only $21.3 billion and Wall Street had wanted to see more than $21.6 billion.
Of the three big banks, only Citigroup’s stock is up — 1%. Bank of America shares are down 3%, and Wells Fargo nearly 4%.
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Following a slightly lower than predicted rise in the Consumer Price Index yesterday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the Producer Price Index likewise rose less than expected in December.
By this measure, the annual inflation rate in December was 3%, and core inflation (which doesn’t count food and energy prices) rose at a 3.5%. Both these numbers were higher than the rises in the CPI, however. Month-on-month, the PPI rose 0.2%, less than the predicted 0.3%.
The U.S. Department of Commerce also reported on changes in retail sales in December this morning. Those rose 0.6% versus November, better than the 0.4% increase economists had predicted.
In general, the data seems mixed for investors. While less bad than expected, producer costs are rising more than the prices consumers, which could hurt corporate profits. On the other hand, sales are continuing to grow — perhaps because consumers aren’t yet feeling the full weight of the inflation that companies are feeling.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) opened 0.4% lower in response to the news.
Not all the news today is bad. Megabanks and S&P 500 component companies Citigroup (NYSE: C | C Price Prediction) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) both reported earnings beats this morning.
Citigroup’s earnings of $1.81 were eleven cents better than expected, although revenue for the quarter was only $19.9 billion, missing analyst forecasts for $20.6 billion.
Bank of America beat on both top and bottom lines. Its earnings were two cents better than expected at $0.98 per share, and its Q4 revenue came in at $28.4 billion, $850 million more than the $27.55 billion predicted.
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Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
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