PPI Comes in Hot: +0.7%, +3.9% Core YoY

Economic Indicators - The Producer Price Index (PPI) for February increased by +0.7%, significantly surpassing the consensus estimate of +0.3% and the revised January figure of +0.5%, marking the highest PPI since July of the previous year [1] - Core PPI, excluding food and energy, rose by +0.5%, which is 20 basis points above expectations and down from the revised +0.8% in January [2] - Year-over-year, the headline PPI increased by +3.4%, the highest since January 2025, while core PPI reached +3.9%, the highest in 13 months [3] Company Earnings Reports - Macy's (M) reported Q4 earnings of $1.67 per share, exceeding the Zacks consensus of $1.53, resulting in a positive surprise of +9.15%. Revenues of $7.64 billion also surpassed estimates by +1.53%, although they remain lower than the previous year [5] - General Mills (GIS) reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 64 cents per share, missing expectations by 10 cents, with revenues of $4.44 billion falling short by -0.94% compared to the previous year [6] - Micron (MU) is expected to report fiscal Q2 earnings with anticipated year-over-year gains of +464% and +139.7% in revenues, with shares up +62% in 2026 [7] - Five Below (FIVE) is expected to report earnings with projected year-over-year gains of +14.7% in earnings and +22.9% in revenues, with shares having gained nearly +14% this year [8]