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At midday, the major benchmarks are modestly higher, with individual stocks moving on earnings news. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note is two basis points higher at 4.44%. Crude oil is up at $80 per barrel. Gold is also up, while Bitcoin is down.

Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, operating more than 2,300 warehouse-format stores offering more than 30,000 products in store and 1 million products online in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its stores offer numerous building materials, home improvement products, lawn and garden products, and decor products and provide various services, including home improvement installation services and tool and equipment rentals. The acquisition of distributor Interline Brands in 2015 allowed Home Depot to enter the maintenance, repair, and operations business, which has been expanded through the tie-up with HD Supply (2020). The additions of the Company Store brought textile exposure to the lineup, while Redi Carpet added multifamily flooring.

Hyatt is an operator of owned (4% of total rooms) and managed and franchised (96%) properties across around 20 upscale luxury brands, which includes vacation brands (Apple Leisure Group, Hyatt Ziva, and Hyatt Zilara), the recently launched full-service lifestyle brand Hyatt Centric, the soft lifestyle brand Unbound, the wellness brand Miraval, and the midscale extended-stay brand Studios. Hyatt acquired Two Roads Hospitality in 2018 and Apple Leisure Group in 2021. The regional exposure as a percentage of total rooms is 54% Americas, 22% rest of world, and 23% Asia-Pacific.

Management's ability to "raise guidance" can often be a catalyst for market-beating returns in the quarters ahead. The first-quarter earnings season has crossed the 90% mark and is wrapping up, with blended earnings (actual results and the consensus for those still to report) showing a year-over-year gain of almost 7%, according to Refinitiv. That is considerably better than the 4%-7% advance expected at the start of the earnings period. Leading the outperformance were strong gains in Communication Services earnings, up 43%, and Consumer Discretionary, up 26%. On the flipside, Healthcare and Energy, both down 24%, are performing the worst. Our analysts are always on the lookout for companies that boost outlooks during earnings season, as this is often a signal for momentum in the months ahead. Here is an initial list of BUY-rated companies in the Argus Fundamental Universe of Coverage at which management raised guidance or increased its outlook during the 1Q24 EPS reporting season.