When SentinelOne (S), a cybersecurity software firm, posted its fourth-quarter results, the stock fell from $28 to $22.09 last week.
S stock pales in comparison to the cybersecurity leader, CrowdStrike (CRWD). SentinelOne posted weak annual recurring revenue of $61 million. In addition, its weak guidance of $812 million - $818 million in revenue is too low. The stock has a pattern of suffering a massive sell-off. It moves up slowly, then sellers take profits quickly.
3M Company (MMM) won back investor confidence when it issued stronger guidance for its first quarter. It expects to earn up to $2.20. It attributes another 5 cents in EPS from interest earned in the debt related to the Solventum spinoff. Investors may want to wait for the completion of the separation before buying MMM stock.
In the tobacco sector, Altria (MO) traded below the $39.99 support level only to bounce back quickly near the $44 range. The firm will improve its balance sheet by selling 35 million shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD). It will get $61.50 per ADS.
The stock sale is a defining moment for Altria. BUD stock plunged last year after the firm launched an unsuccessful advertising campaign.
The company will still own around 8% of Anheuser-Busch stock after the sale.
Altria will increase its shareholder returns by raising its $1 billion stock buyback program by $2.4 billion. It expects to earn up to $5.17 a share, above Wall Street’s $5.05 forecast.
