4 Active Stocks to Watch Today 👀

US indexes fell on Wednesday after an early-morning read on manufacturing data showed the sector contracted for the fourth consecutive month.

The Nasdaq took a 0.6% loss, while the S&P 500 gave up 0.4%. The Dow and the small-cap Russel 2K both eked out fractional gains smaller than 0.1%.

This morning, futures are falling in early-morning trading. S&P 500 contracts are showing a 0.2% decline.

📈 Bond Yields Hold Above 4.0%: The U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield is currently hovering around 4.03%.

💸 Bank Profits Fall in 2022: Earnings data showed US banks generated a total of $263 billion in 2022. It was the second-best year on record for the sector, but profits were down 6% as the war in Europe and inflation fears squeezed the banking sector's bottom line.

Bullish earnings results are sending Salesforce higher this morning.

After Wednesday's close, the cloud services company released its Q4 earnings report, and the results surpassed expectations.

Salesforce's Q4 revenues increased by 14% to $8.38 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $7.99 million.

Earnings of $1.68 per share also topped analysts' $1.37 EPS estimate.

Salesforce also issued stronger-than-expected Q1 guidance, and announced the authorization of an additional $20 billion for share buybacks.

CRM is leading the S&P 500 with a 15.7% gain.

My Take: Good quarter for Salesforce, but a recession could really squeeze this company's revenues in the months ahead. Be cautious.

Strong earnings data is also boosting shares of Okta.

The cybersecurity firm released its Q4 results after Wednesday's closing bell, and the release sparked a rally in its shares.

Okta reported Q4 earnings of $0.30 per share on revenues of $510 million. Analysts expected EPS of $0.09 on revenues of $489.36 million.

The company's Q1 earnings & revenue guidance also surpassed Wall Street's expectations.

OKTA is one of this morning's top mid-cap stocks with a 16.6% gain.

My Take: I'm long-term bullish on the cybersecurity industry, and Okta's identity verification solutions make it a major contender in the space. Today's rally could help the stock break into a new trading range.

OncoSec Medical is running hot after an SEC filling.

The immuno-oncology company file a Form RW cancelling a previously-announced registration statement after Tuesday's close, sparking a huge rally.

ONCS gained 88.8% on Wednesday in light of the news, and the rally continued through the closing bell and into the after-market.

The stock is still running hot in today's premarket. Shares are up 35.2% ahead of the opening bell, despite no new headlines relating to the company.

My Take: This small-float stock has been on a tear the past two days, but I don't think it can keep this rally going much longer. Don't get caught holding the bag here.

ProSomnus is trending after a recent announcement.

Late Wednesday, the medical device company said it will participate in two investor conferences this month.

ProSomnus swill attend the 35th Annual Roth Conference on March 12th to 14th, and the 33rd Annual Oppenheimer Healthcare Conference from the 13th to 15th.

Trading volumes jumped when the announcement was made, and shares are gaining in today's premarket.

OSA is up 13.0% on the news.

My Take: OSA could be planning to unveil big news at these conferences, and it appears that the market is "buying the rumor." If the bulls are right, shares could rally when the news drops.

Kroger Company (The) [KR] ... AM
Hormel Foods Corporation [HRL] ... AM
Best Buy Co., Inc. [BBY] ... AM
Aercap Holdings N.V. [AER] ... AM
Burlington Stores, Inc. [BURL] ... AM
Broadcom Inc. [AVGO] ... PM
Costco Wholesale Corporation [COST] ... PM
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company [HPE] ... PM
Zscaler Inc [ZS] ... PM
The Cooper Companies, Inc. [COO] ... PM