Good Evening! On Thursday, there was a notable surge in stock prices. Green splashed across the board with the S&P 500 increasing by 0.59%, while the Dow Jones rose by 0.35%. The Nasdaq Composite saw a gain of 0.83%.
BUMPY RIDE
CarMax (KMX) released its financial results for the fiscal second quarter, revealing a decrease in both profitability and sales. This decline was related to a slowdown in the market for used automobiles. The shares of CarMax saw a significant decline.
- Revenue: $7.07 Billion vs. $7.02 Billion Expected
- Average Retail Selling Price: $ 27,500 (down 4%)
- Earnings Per Share: $0.75 vs. $0.78 Expected
Macroeconomy is making things hard for CarMax… Elevated automobile costs are made worse by inflationary pressures and escalating borrowing rates. The current market conditions for selling used automobiles are challenging due to the combination of higher financing costs and low consumer confidence.
Also an update! The firm said it temporarily suspended its share buyback activities in the previous quarter but plans to resume them in the current quarter. As of the conclusion of August, the company had a remaining balance of $2.45 billion under its share buyback authorization plan.
SCAM ALERT!
According to a Deloitte survey of over 2,000 Americans, it was observed that Generation Z, although being a generation that has grown up in the age of the Internet has shown some interesting findings…
- Gen Z is shown to be three times more susceptible to falling victim to internet scams compared to the baby boomer generation, with a rate of 16% as opposed to 5%.
- The younger generation is shown to have a higher susceptibility to experiencing security breaches on social media platforms, with a likelihood that is twice as high compared to individuals from the baby boomer generation (17% vs. 8%).
So what is the reason? According to a Deloitte principal interviewed by Vox, individuals in the younger generation allocate a significant portion of their time engaging in online communication and shopping activities. Consequently, this heightened online presence exposes them to increased vulnerability, for example encountering dubious Instagram accounts that offer substantial cryptocurrency returns or fraudulent e-commerce platforms masquerading as legitimate sneaker retailers.
On top of that… According to Social Catfish, there was a significant increase in the earnings of e-con artists targeting individuals under the age of 20, with an estimated revenue of around $210 million in the previous year. This figure represents a substantial rise from the expected earnings of $8.2 million in 2017.