-- 加拿大國家銀行將Great-West Lifeco (GWO.TO) 的目標股價從65加元上調至73加元，並重申了「與行業持平」的評級，此前該公司公佈的盈利超出預期。 分析師Gabriel Dechaine寫道，該公司業績超出預期主要得益於再保險業務的經驗成長。 他寫道：“雖然這項業務本身波動性較大，但我們認為本季整體表現良好。” Dechaine指出，亮點包括Empower Retirement和Wealth兩大業務板塊的強勁盈利增長（以及正的淨流入），而有關股票回購的信息表明，今年的回購活動水平與去年類似。
Price: $76.16, Change: $+3.30, Percent Change: +4.53%
The global oil market is moving toward physical shortages and possible demand rationing within the current quarter if disruption in the Strait of Hormuz persists, Darrell Cronk, President of Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said in a Tuesday note.Cronk estimates cumulative supply losses tied to the conflict and partial closure of the key shipping route have reached about 600 million barrels as of early May. The disruption reflects not only delayed shipments, but also production effectively removed from the system through shut-ins, damage, and deferred output.With inventories and floating storage already significantly reduced, the market has limited remaining capacity to absorb additional shocks. If the strait does not reopen soon, the system may require demand destruction of 4 to 5 million barrels per day within weeks to restore balance.Supply disruptions are expected to take roughly 30 days to fully transmit through the system, meaning physical shortages at the consumer level could lag the initial shock.The most immediate stress is expected in natural gas and in intermediate- and medium-sour crude grades. Downstream impacts would likely emerge first in refined products, particularly diesel and jet fuel, before crude scarcity becomes visible to end users.A likely sequence of disruption would begin with petrochemicals and LPG, followed by diesel, affecting freight, agriculture, and industrial activity, and then jet fuel, which would constrain airline capacity and broader mobility.Import-dependent emerging markets are expected to experience the earliest strain, followed by Europe and other developed regions. Potential policy responses could include fuel allocation systems, airline capacity limits, and emergency consumption controls if shortages intensify.The US is partially insulated due to strong domestic production and Canadian pipeline imports, but global pricing would still transmit higher fuel costs domestically. Elevated energy prices could add to inflation pressures heading into the summer driving season and complicate interest rate expectations.Cronk also highlighted longer-term structural risks, noting that global energy supply chains have become less redundant and more vulnerable than widely assumed. It warned that prolonged disruption to infrastructure in the region could extend recovery timelines well beyond past oil shocks, even if geopolitical tensions ease.
CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:We lower our 12-month price target by $6 to $76, reflecting an 11.6x multiple of our 2026 EPS estimate, in line with the 11.6x historical forward average since spin-off from 3M in 2024. We raise our 2026 EPS estimate to $6.57 from $6.46 and lower our 2027 estimate by $0.03 to $7.03. We think SOLV continues to demonstrate progress with the separation from 3M, having exited over 50% of the transition service agreements with a target to exit over 90% by year-end. In addition, over 75% of system applications have been migrated, according to Q1 earnings commentary. The company maintained the $100M-$120M estimate of tariff headwinds against 2026 earnings. However, this estimate was made based on tariff dynamics prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling against the IIEPA tariffs, adding some uncertainty to SOLV's near-term financial outlook, in our view, as the company awaits more information about potential refund dynamics.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported 83,387 layoff intentions in April, up from 60,620 in March, but down from 105,441 a year ago.The largest layoff count in April was in the technology sector, which accounted for 33,361 of those intentions, with increased use of artificial intelligence with the most cited reason for layoffs.The New York Fed's inflation expectations survey for April showed an increase in inflation expectations and uncertainty for the next year.Nonfarm productivity rose by 0.8% in Q1 after a 1.6% gain in Q4, reflecting slower output growth and a rebound in hours worked. Released at the same time, unit labor costs rose by 2.3% after a 4.6% gain, with the slower pace of productivity growth only partially offsetting a much slower pace of compensation growth.Construction spending rose by 0.6% in March after a 0.2% decline in February. Private residential construction rose by 1.7%, with single-family construction up 2.7%, multi-family construction up 0.3% and remodeling activity up 0.9%.Private nonresidential building fell by 0.2% and public construction declined by 0.2%.Consumer credit usage jumped by $24.8 billion in March after an $8.9 billion gain in February, with revolving credit use and nonrevolving credit use both rising at a faster rate than in the previous month.Initial jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 200,000 in the week ended May 2, but the four-week moving average fell by 4,500 to 203,250, a second straight decrease.Insured claims declined by 10,000 to 1.766 million in the week ended April 25.Natural gas stocks rose by 63 billion cubic feet to 2.205 trillion cubic feet in the week ended May 1, up 3.5% from a year earlier and 6.7% higher than the seasonal average for the current week over the previous five years.The Q2 GDP nowcast estimate from the Atlanta Fed is for a 3.7% gain, unrevised from the previous estimate.