The stock market looked poised for a positive open on Tuesday morning, as investors continued to hope for an economic rebound motivated by COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and pent-up demand from consumers.
That should tell whether the gains that we’ve seen in the market over the past year have a chance of sustaining momentum and moving to other sectors that haven’t seen the same level of performance.
Average daily volume was higher by 14%, and adjusted earnings almost quintupled when you include a one-time pension benefit, and were up more than 140% even on an adjusted basis.
The details of the UPS report showed underlying health in the Main Street economy and its impact on the transportation stock.
Just about the only news that wasn’t overwhelmingly positive was that UPS chose not to give guidance for the full 2021 year.
Investors didn’t quite give 3M stock the same reception that UPS got.
Geographically, 3M’s biggest growth came from the Asia-Pacific region, although Europe also managed to post double-digit percentage gains in dollar terms. Earnings climbed 27% from year-ago levels.
Revenue gains of 5% to 8% might not seem like much in comparison to tech stocks, but it would be a nice change after a couple of straight years of tepid top-line performance.
It’s early yet, but it looks like both 3M and UPS are reflecting the confidence throughout the economy right now.