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Shares of Apple Inc. gained 0.3% in premarket trade Thursday, after RBC Capital boosted its price target, citing expectations that iPhone sales will start to grow in the fiscal first-quarter ending December. Analyst Amit Daryanani lifted his stock price target to $117, which was 8% above current levels, from $115 and reiterated the outperform rating. The reason for Daryanani’s optimism is his understanding that the December quarter will have 14 weeks this year instead of the normal 13 weeks, which he estimates will boost iPhone unit sales by about 5-to-6 million. He raised his iPhone sales outlook to 79 million units, above the FactSet consensus of 74 million. “While optically this is a transient impact which will create a more severe [quarter-over-quarter] drop in March-qtr, near-term this should certainly make the model look more attractive, with [year-over-year] growth resuming in Dec-qtr,” Daryanani wrote in a note to clients. Apple’s stock has tacked on 2.6% year to date through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 6.1%.

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Macy’s Inc. shares jumped 11% in Thursday premarket trading after the retailer reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates and announced 100 store closures. Net income totaled $11 million, or 3 cents per share, down from $217 million, or 64 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were 54 cents per share, beating the FactSet consensus of 48 cents per share. Revenue totaled $5.87 billion, down from $6.10 billion last year but beating the FactSet estimate of $5.77 billion. Same-store sales on an owned-plus-licensed basis fell 2%, above the FactSet consensus of 4.7%. Macy’s also announced plans to close 100 stores out of its total portfolio of 728. Most will close in early 2017. The company is also negotiating the sale of the Macy’s Men’s Store in San Francisco’s Union Square. If the transaction takes place, the store will likely close and an enhanced men’s department will be built in the main Union Square location. Macy’s shares are down nearly 50% for the past year, while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.4% for the same period.

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SL Green Realty Corp. said Thursday its board has approved a $1.0 billion share buyback program. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 4% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.4%.

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Kohl’s Corp. shares rose 7.3% in Thursday premarket trading after the retailer reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates. Net income totaled $140 million, or 77 cents per share, up from $130 million, or 66 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were $1.22 per share, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.03. Revenue totaled $4.18 billion, down from $4.27 billion last year, but exceeding the $4.16 billion FactSet estimate. Same-store sales fell 1.8%, meeting the FactSet consensus. Kohl’s now sees fiscal 2016 EPS in the range of $3.12 to $3.32. The company sees adjusted EPS between $3.80 and $4.00, down from previous guidance in the range of $4.05 and $4.25. The FactSet consensus is $3.84. Kohl’s shares are down 38.1% for the past year while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.4% for the same period.

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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s stock surged 3.8% in premarket trade Thursday, on track to open at a 14-month high, after the China-based ecommerce giant reported fiscal first-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations. For the quarter ended June 30, earnings fell 77% from a year ago to U.S. dollar equivalent of $1.08 billion, or 44 cents a share. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 74 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 62 cents. Revenue grew 59% to $4.84 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $4.56 billion. Gross merchandise volume rose 24% to $126 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $125.2 billion. The stock has climbed 7.5% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.4%.

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Bill Maris, the founder and CEO of Google Ventures, is leaving the company, according to multiple reports. In 2009, Maris created Google Ventures, which rebranded to simply GV last year after the formation of Alphabet Inc. . It has become Silicon Valley’s most powerful corporate venture-funding arm, managing more than $2.4 billion. The company made early investments in tech success stories such as Uber Technologies Inc., Slack, Nest — which was later acquired by Google — and Jet.com, which was just bought by Wal-Mart for $3.2 billion. Maris will reportedly be replaced by David Krane, a managing partner at GV. Maris is the latest high-profile Google executive to leave in recent months, joining self-driving car chief Chris Urmson and Nest CEO Tony Fadell.

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From:: Stock Market News