Why Are Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) & Manulife (TSX:MFC) Stocks Trending?

Summary

• Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR, PLTR:US) and Manulife Financial Corporation (TSX:MFC) stocks have been trending on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week.
• Palantir stocks have been soaring in November since the company announced its third quarter earnings release date at the end of October.
• The company posted a 52 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth in its revenue of Q3 2020.
• Manulife Financial stocks have been trending high on the TSX following the release of its latest quarter results on Wednesday, November 11.

November has seen quite a few quarterly earnings releases so far and more are expected. Stocks of data mining company Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) have been trending this week ahead of its third quarter report results, which was released on Thursday, November 12. Likewise, stocks of Canadian finance company Manulife Financial Corporation also ranked high on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in the light of its quarterly report release recently.

As the coronavirus pandemic saw stock markets around the world come crashing down around March this year, a range of stocks also began rallying this week following the news of successful COVID-19 vaccine trials. Let’s look closely at these two trending stocks to understand their latest spike and overall performance better.

Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR, PLTR:US)

Stocks of Palantir Technologies Inc have been soaring in November ever since the company announced its third quarter earnings release date at the end of October. During its intraday trading on Wednesday, November 11, a day before its earnings release date, the stock gained about 14 per cent.

However, since its Q3 2020 report came out, the shares sank about nine per cent on Wednesday, November 12.

The stocks gathered an average share trading volume of 37 million in the last 10 days and of 34.4 million in the last one month.

Palantir’s YTD chart of stock performance (Source: Refinitiv/Thompson Reuters)

Since its much-awaited stock market debut at the end of September this year, Palantir scrips rose about 60 per cent in less than two months’ time.

The Denver-based company currently has a market cap of US$ 25.1 billion. It currently has a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 29.17 and a debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio of 0.39, as per the data on the TMX Group. Its 52-week high stands at 15.97.

Palantir Technologies is a software service company that deals in big data analytics. The data mining company, at an offer price of US$ 10 per share, raised its market valuation to US$ 22 billion from the initial public offering (IPO).

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Thursday’s quarterly earnings report was Palantir Technologies’ first since getting publicly listed. It reported a 52 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth in its revenue of US$ 289.4 million in Q3 2020. Its full-year 2020 revenue guidance rose 44 per cent YoY to US $1.072 billion.

Palantir sawn new contracts worth US$ 91 million with the US Army, worth US$ 36 million with the National Institutes of Health, and a contract renewal of US$ 300 million with aerospace customer.

Its debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio stands at 0.39 and its price-to-book (P/B) ratio is 29.17, as per the data available on the TMX.

Manulife Financial Corporation (TSX:MFC)

Stocks of Manulife Financial Corporation, an insurance and wealth management services provider, has been trending on the TSX for a while now. They shot up around the second week of this month before its Q3 2020 report was out, spiking almost 11 per cent on Monday, November 9.

However, Manulife Financial’s stock price slumped by a little over two per cent in intraday trading after its third quarter results were released on Wednesday, November 11.

The scrips are down about 20 per cent this year. Since plummeting amid the March lows, though, they rebounded over 23 per cent in the last six months.

Manulife Financial gathered an average share movement volume of more than 9 million in the last 10 days and that of 5.86 million in the last 50 days. 

MANULIFE FINANCIAL Q3 2020 RESULTS

Manulife posted a net income C$ 2.1 billion in the third quarter ending 30 September 2020, up C$ 1.3 billion from Q3 2019. Its core earnings, amounting to C$1.5 billion in Q3 2020, dropped six per cent year-over-year (YoY).

The company’s core return on equity stood at 11.4 per cent and its return on equity (ROE) was 16.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2020. Its new business value (NBV) was C$ 460 million in Q3 2020, down 14 per cent from Q3 2019. Its annualized premium equivalent (APE) sales of C$ 1.4 billion in Q3 2020 was down two per cent YoY.

Manulife Financials pays a quarterly dividend of C$ 0.28, which currently has a dividend yield of 5.224 per cent. Its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stands at 11.3, its price-to-cash flow (P/CF) ratio is 2.1 and price-to-book (P/B) ratio is 0.84, as per the data available on the TMX.