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U.S. electricity utility Xcel Energy Inc. said Wednesday its board has approved an increase in its quarterly dividend to 38 cents a share from 36 cents. The new dividend will be payable April 20 to shareholders of record as of March 15. Shares were slightly higher, and are up 4% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

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Shares of furniture maker La-Z-Boy Inc. soared more than 8% Wednesday, after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter to Jan. 27. The company’s adjusted per-share earnings came to 51 cents, as GAAP EPS of 25 cents included a 20 cents charge related to tax reform and a 5 cents charge for a legal settlement. That was ahead of the FactSet consensus of 46 cents. Sales rose 6% to $413.6 million, ahead of the $401 million consensus. “Margins were negatively impacted by rising raw material costs in November and December before a price increase began offsetting the inflation for January deliveries,” said analysts at Stifel. “The price increase is expected to offset the inflation moving forward and the company does not expect additional margin pressure.” Shares have gained 6% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

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Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk is leaving the board of OpenAI, a nonprofit focusing on artificial-intelligence research he helped co-found in 2015. In a blog post at OpenAI’s website, the nonprofit said Musk will continue to donate to and to advise the organization. “As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon,” it said. In the same post, OpenAI said Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, was “significantly” increasing his contribution to the organization. Musk has expressed concern that AI could end up being harmful to society, once calling it humanity’s “biggest existential threat.”

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Conservative users of Twitter Inc. are claiming that the company has suspended or deleted accounts belonging to thousands of their followers, according to multiple media reports Wednesday. Investors sent Twitter stock up nearly 2% to $33.40 in early afternoon trading. The hashtag “#TwitterLockOut” was trending in the U.S., because thousands of accounts were tweeting about it. A Twitter spokeswoman said in an emailed statement that the company enforces its rules “without political bias” and that the company is engaged in ongoing enforcement of its policies. Other users also reported Wednesday that Twitter was asking them to confirm that they were real people before being allowed to login to the service. “We also take action on any accounts we find that violate our terms of service, including asking account owners to confirm a phone number so we can confirm a human is behind it,” the spokeswoman wrote. “That’s why some people may be experiencing suspensions or locks. Note that when an account is locked and being challenged to provide a phone number, it is removed from follower counts until it provides a phone number.” Bots that are linked to Russian disinformation and propaganda campaigns have been an ongoing issue for the social media platform, and allegedly released hundreds of posts related to the gun-control debate in the wake of the recent school shooting in Florida. Twitter stock has gained 35% in the past year, and showed a profit for the first time when it reported fourth-quarter earnings. The S&P 500 index has gained 15% in the past 12 months.

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Gold prices settled fractionally higher Wednesday with the U.S. dollar remaining firm after logging its biggest daily decline in more than a year a day earlier. April gold rose 90 cents to end at $1,332.10 an ounce. The ICE dollar index edged up 0.1%. Investors are awaiting the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting in January which could provide additional insight into the Fed’s stance on the monetary policy.

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The Cboe Volatility index tumbled on Wednesday, moving back below its long-term average as equities continued their recent rebound higher. The VIX lost 10.3%, or 2.13 points, to 18.47, a decline that pushed it under the closely watched level of 20. The so-called “fear index” has seen sharp gyrations of late, as investors gauge the prospects of inflation returning to the equity market. Those concerns pushed major indexes into correction territory, a selloff that coincided with a spike in volatility. The VIX remains up more than 60% thus far this year, with more than half of that advance coming in the month of February. However, it has retreated sharply from a recent closing high of 38.8 hit earlier this month. The decline has come as stocks recover from their weakness, although they remain solidly below record highs reached late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% on Wednesday while the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 1%. The rise came as investors looked ahead to minutes from the Federal Reserve, which are scheduled to be released later in the day.

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The pound briefly rose above $1.40 Wednesday afternoon in London as Bank of England policy makers said salaries for Britons appear to be strengthening, a view they outlined in this month’s quarterly inflation report. “A pick up in wages is starting to take root,” Andrew Haldane, the central bank’s chief economist, told a Treasury committee meeting. Wage pressures were weak early in 2017, he said, and “arithmetically, given what we’ve seen over the past few months, it’s very likely average weekly earnings growth will nudge up to have a ‘3’ in front of it, which is our forecast for Q1.” Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said there’s been steady firming in private-sector earnings excluding bonuses. “As we get towards full unemployment … we are seeing a variety of indicators that are consistent with the firming of wage pressures,” said Carney. The pound hit $1.4010 as the policy makers spoke, but has since fallen back to $1.3975. Data released Wednesday showed wage growth grew 2.5% in the three months to December. Earlier Wednesday, sterling was the worst performer among major U.S. dollar rivals, driving to a low of $1.3905 after an unexpected rise in the U.K. unemployment rate, to 4.4%.

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Shares of Regeneron Inc. slid Wednesday, after Canaccord downgraded the stock to hold from buy and slashed its price target by 32% to $356 from $522. Analysts led by John Newman said they were concerned about the company’s decision to no longer provide guidance for Eylea, a treatment for macular degeneration and other eye diseases, that has been a core revenue component for some time. “Also, unlike most biotech drugs, price increases for EYLEA are very difficult and unlikely given low-cost competition from off-label Avastin use,” Newman wrote in a note. “In addition, we are surprised at the lack of guidance since EYLEA has continued to grow well for a ~$4B drug in the US (+11% growth 2017 vs 2016).” At the same time, there is growing competition for the company’s Dupixent, a treatment for eczema in adults, said the note. “Most importantly, we believe Dupixent will need pediatric approval to unlock
the majority of revenue potential, which may not come until 2021. We estimate the pediatric market makes up ~2/3 of the market,” said the note. Canaccord is also expecting Eylea to face competition from Roche’s RG7716, a treatment for diabetic macular edema, and Novartis’ brolucizumab, a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration. Regeneron shares were down 0.6% but are down 14% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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Walmart Inc.’s shares were sinking on Wednesday, putting the world’s largest retailer on pace to book its worst weekly decline in more than 9 years, following Tuesday’s brutal selling. Shares of the component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off 2.3% on the day, after showing some brief signs of life at the open of Wednesday’s session. The embattled retail stock suffered its worst percentage decline in 30 years in the prior session, and its steepest dollar decline on record, after it reported fourth-quarter results that showed softness in its online business as it competes against juggernaut Amazon.com Inc. . Walmart’s stock looked on pace for a weekly fall of 12.3% at $91.85, which would represent its sharpest such percentage stumble since Oct. 10, 2008, when it saw a weekly drop of 14.7%, according to FactSet data. For the month, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer is on pace for a monthly tumble of 13.6%, which would mark its worst such loss since January of 2009.

Read: Ditch Walmart: Here’s the big investor mistake with that

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From:: Stock Market News