US equities ended a rollercoaster week lower. The S&P 500 index posted its worst daily loss since October 2020 of 2.95% on Monday 7 March followed by its biggest daily gain since May 2020 of 2.57% on Wednesday 9 March.
Having led last week, oil and gas shares gave way to alternative energy infrastructure stocks as Enphase, Quanta Services and Solaredge Technologies which all registered gains of 10% or more.
Agriculture-related stocks were also in favour, from fertiliser firms CF Industries and Mosaic to tractor makers Caterpillar and John Deere.
Inflation concerns were reinforced by February consumer prices which jumped 7.9%, the biggest year-on-year increase since 1982.
Higher food, fuel and housing costs were blamed for the rise, which excludes the inflationary impact of the conflict in Ukraine.
The rate of increase means the US Federal Reserve is now almost guaranteed to raise interest rates this month, adding to pressure on household budgets.
AMAZON
Investors rallied behind the Amazon during the latter part of the past week after the ecommerce giant said that it was planning a 20-for-1 stock split, subject to a shareholder vote in May.
If it happened now, it would mean that each share priced at $2,971 would be split into 20 priced at $148.55, essentially making it far easier for small investors to access the stock.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of a similar split planned by Google's parent Alphabet, which unveiled its own 20-for-1 stock split in February 2022. Both Apple and Tesla split their respective shares in 2020.
UK retail investors and retirement savers are already widely exposed to Amazon. As the S&P 500's fourth largest company, valued at $1.51 trillion, it is widely held by global and US-focused actively managed and tracker funds, such as the Vanguard S&P 500 (VUSA) and Invesco EQQQ Nasdaq 100 (EQQQ) ETFs, and the HSBC FTSE All-World Index (BMJJJF9) fund.
Amazon also said it plans to kick start a share buyback programme of up to $10 billion, which some investors might see as a sign that company executives believe that the stock is undervalued in the longer-term. Amazon shares have lost 13% in 2022 to date.
RIVIAN
The electric van and truck maker saw its share price sink to new lows on 11 March after a disappointing set of fourth quarter results. Having briefly been valued by the market at more than $100 billion in the wake of listing on Nasdaq in November 2021, the company now has a market cap of less than $40 billion.
Revenue reached $54 million in the final three months of 2021, accounting for most of its revenue for the year as a whole, as it delivered 909 vehicles. It has launched three different products to date: the R1T pick-up truck, R1S SUV and EDV electric van.
The company has around 83,000 pre-orders in the US and Canada but has halved its 2022 production outlook to 25,000 citing supply chain constraints and rising input costs.
Rivian was recently involved in a spat over pricing as it looked to increase the cost of its vehicles to reflect rising costs, even for people who had already pre-ordered, before a rapid U-turn which saw CEO RJ Scaringe apologise.
CAMPBELL SOUP
Campbell Soup shares tumbled 7% mid-week after the firm's second quarter earnings missed forecasts on higher input costs and lower volumes due to supply chain shortages.
The news sounded a loud warning bell for other food firms like Conagra Brands which fell 8% in sympathy.
Net sales for the three months to 30 January fell 3% to $2.21 billion from $2.28 billion the previous year, while the firm guided for a 2% fall in full year sales.
Earnings per share were $0.69, down from $0.82 the previous year as the firm's gross margin shrank in the face of higher labour and material costs.
Chief executive Mark Clouse stuck with his guidance of full year earnings per share of $2.75 to $2.85, compared with consensus forecasts of $2.78.
However, investors fretted that sanctions on Russia would force up the price of commodities such as nickel and aluminium which are major input costs for Campbell and other packaged-goods firms.
