CVS, Walgreens Has a Covid Dilemma

Today is Wednesday, December 22, 2021.

CVS, Walgreens Has a Covid Dilemma

Pharmacy giants CVS (NYSE: CVS) and Walgreens (Nasdaq: WBA) both announced Tuesday that they are limiting the number of at-home Covid-19 tests that customers can buy due to high demand.

Details: CVS will only allow customers to purchase up to six at-home Covid-19 rapid tests at a time. Walgreens is capping it at four at-home tests per customer. A CVS spokesperson told The Washington Post that the company is working around the clock on its inventory of test kits.

Numbers: Despite the news, shares of Walgreens increased 2.31% on Tuesday. CVS ticked up 0.47%.

Background: The demand for testing has been so high these past few weeks, that President Biden announced Tuesday plans to deliver a half-billion free rapid at-home tests to Americans in January.

Final Thoughts: Shares of Walgreens have been up 20% this year. CVS is up 44%. Both stocks have benefited from health-related demands during the pandemic, including Covid-19 vaccines to customers.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: CarMax (NYSE: KMX), Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX), Cintas (Nasdaq: CTAS), MSC (NYSE: MSM).

Notable IPOs Today: Legato Merger Corp. II Common Stock (Nasdaq: LGTO), NexGel, Inc Common Stock (Nasdaq: NXGL), SciSparc Ltd. Ordinary Shares (Nasdaq: SPRC), Parsec Capital Acquisitions Corp Unit (Nasdaq: PCXCU), Gardiner Healthcare Acquisitions Corp. Unit (Nasdaq: GDNRU).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: FoodsPass (StartEngine), Chow420 (StartEngine), Saucy Brew Works (StartEngine), Maison Provence (MainVest).

Notable Economic Events Today: GDP (8:30 a.m. ET), Consumer confidence index (10:00 a.m. ET), Existing home sales (10:00 a.m. ET), Crude Oil Inventories (10:30 a.m. ET).

Blackberry’s Good Earnings Can’t Save It

Photo by Sumeet Singh / Unsplash

Shares of Blackberry (NYSE: BB) fell 1.73% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the technology company posted mixed earnings.

Financials: Blackberry reported breakeven earnings per share and revenue of $184 million; both were better than expected.

The Good: BlackBerry experienced strong growth in two major segments during the quarter: cybersecurity and the internet of things (IoT).

The Bad: Despite the positive direction, BlackBerry reported a year-over-year revenue decrease of $34 million.

Final Thoughts: While BlackBerry is considered a meme stock, it has a legitimate growing business in cybersecurity. The stock price is up 40% this year.

Countries Surprisingly Took on Crypto in 2021

In 2021, countries embraced cryptocurrency in some surprising ways.

China: China released a new digital yuan this fall. About 140 million people opened “wallets” for the new crypto.

The U.S.: While the U.S. did not release a digital dollar in 2021, federal regulators finally began to approve Bitcoin futures ETFs. With a stronger focus on stable coins, the future for crypto in the U.S. is bright.

El Salvador: Perhaps the biggest surprise in 2021 was El Salvador, which made Bitcoin legal tender. The government even released a "wallet" through the Lightning Network.

Final Thoughts: Which countries do you think will embrace crypto more in 2022?

Trends to Watch

Kind of a Pig Deal: People Are Losing Millions to 'Pig Butchering' Crypto Scams (Tom’s Hardware)

Ship Happens: Maersk Nears Deal to Buy LF Logistics for About $3 Billion (The Wall Street Journal)

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