Apple declines in late trading on iPhone supplier concerns

Apple Inc. shares fell in late trading Wednesday after chip supplier Qualcomm Inc. reported that a large customer pared orders more than expected in the quarter. Qualcomm, which reported earnings Wednesday afternoon, supplies modems to Apple for its iPhones, and the information was believed to be a signal that Apple curtailed iPhone production earlier than expected. As Bloomberg News noted, another Apple component supplier, Broadcom Ltd. , made a similar disclosure in its own earnings report earlier Wednesday. Apple stock declined about 0.5% in after-hours action; the company is scheduled to reveal initial iPhone X sales in an earnings report Thursday afternoon.

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Vertex Pharma shares rally as results top Street view

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Wednesday after the drugmaker topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Vertex shares surged 5.5% to $176.02 after hours. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $100.7 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with $32.9 million, or 13 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 61 cents a share. Revenue rose to $651.6 million from $458.7 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 53 cents a share on revenue of $592.8 million.

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Pandora hatches plan to save $45 million, expand in Atlanta

Pandora Media Inc. shares rose more than 2% late Wednesday after the streaming company announced a plan to save about $45 million and said it wants to expand in Atlanta. The “organizational restructuring” will focus on ad tech and audience development while also simplifying the organization “into a flatter structure for smarter, faster execution,” Pandora said in a statement. Eliminating roles and other cost-saving measures will be immediate and are expected to result in combined annualized savings of about $45 million to the company’s adjusted EBITDA, Pandora said. “The savings will be reinvested into growth initiatives including ad-tech, non-music content, device integration and marketing technology, toward which the company will redeploy existing employees and hire for new positions,” Pandora’s Chief Executive Roger Lynch said in the statement. “These changes allow us to act faster, invest for growth and extend our leadership as the audio market hits what we believe will soon be a major inflection point,” he said. Pandora is “committed” to keeping its headquarters in Oakland, Calif., Lynch said. Shares of Pandora ended the regular trading day up 3.7%.

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Citrix shares slide as company misses Wall Street’s revenue estimate, quarterly loss

Shares of Citrix Systems Inc. retreated in Wednesday’s extended session after the software company turned in a quarterly loss and a revenue that fell short of expectations. Citrix reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.93 a share versus a profit of $1.26 a share a year earlier. The company cited a one-time charge of $429 million associated with the tax reform law for the loss. On an adjusted basis, it would have earned $1.66 a share. Revenue rose to $777.9 million compared with $734.6 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had projected earnings of $1.60 a share and revenue of $779 million. Citrix forecast earnings per share of $3.18 to $3.33 and adjusted EPS of $4.80 to $4.90 for 2018. Revenue is projected at a range of $2.86 billion to $2.88 billion. Analysts, on average, predicted 2018 EPS of $3.17 and adjusted EPS of $4.83. Revenue is expected to come in around $2.88 billion. Citrix shares dropped 2% to $90.87 after hours.

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Chevron raises dividend to $1.12

Chevron Corp. said late Wednesday its board of directors agreed on a dividend of $1.12 a share, payable March 12 to shareholders of record on Feb. 16. The increase “puts Chevron on track to make 2018 the 31st consecutive year with an increase in annual dividend payout,” the company said in a statement. Chevron in October had announced a $1.08 a share dividend.

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Symantec shares down 5% on lower FY 2018 guidance, quarterly miss

Shares of Symantec Corp. fell nearly 5% late Wednesday after the cybersecurity software maker reported fiscal 2018 third-quarter revenue below expectations and called for much lower per-share earnings and sales for the fiscal year. Symantec said it earned $1.3 billion, or $2.01 a share, in the quarter, compared with 7 cents a share a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, Symantec earned 49 cents in the quarter, compared with 32 cents a year ago. Sales rose to $1.2 billion, compared with $1 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 44 cents a share on sales of $1.3 billion. Symantec said it expects adjusted earnings between 37 cents a share and 41 cents a share on revenue between $1.16 billion and $1.19 billion for fiscal 2018. The analysts surveyed by FactSet expect adjusted earnings of $1.68 a share for the fiscal year on sales of $5 billion. Shares ended the regular trading day up 2.3%.

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PayPal stock falls after fourth-quarter earnings

PayPal Holdings Inc. shares fell in the extended session Wednesday after the payments company reported fourth-quarter results that beat expectations on earnings and outlook. PayPal stock fell than 3.31% after hours to $82.50. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $620 million, or 50 cents a share, compared with $390 million, or 32 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 55 cents a share. Revenue rose to $3.74 billion from $2.98 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $3.63 billion. PayPal also said that it had inked a deal with eBay Inc. that will continue to make PayPal a payment method on eBay through July 2023. EBay as a percentage of total payment volume on PayPal shrank to 13% from 16% a year ago, PayPal said. For the first quarter, analysts model earnings of 40 cents a share on revenue of $3.55 billion. PayPal said it expects first-quarter earnings of 41 cents to 43 cents a share on sales of $3.58 billion to $3.63 billion. PayPal stock has gained 115% in the past year, with the S&P 500 index rising 24%.

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Qualcomm shares shaky as results top Street view, outlook doesn’t

Qualcomm Inc. shares sought direction in the extended session Wednesday after the chip maker’s quarterly results topped Wall Street estimates but its outlook did not. Qualcomm shares fluctauted between slight gains and losses after hours and were last down 0.8% at $67.70. The company reported a fiscal first-quarter net loss of $5.95 billion, or $4.03 a share, compared with net income $682 million, or 46 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings, excluding charges under the new U.S. tax law, repatriation charges, and trade commission fines, were 98 cents a share. Revenue rose to $6.07 billion from $6 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 91 cents a share on revenue of $5.92 billion. For the fiscal second quarter, Qualcomm estimates adjusted earnings of 65 cents to 75 cents a share on revenue of $4.8 billion to $5.6 billion. Analysts expect earnings of 86 cents a share on revenue of $5.58 billion. Separately, Qualcomm said it and Samsung Electronics Co. expanded their strategic relationship “in various technology areas and across a range of mobile devices” through the transition to the 5G standard.

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AT&T shares gain after company beats expectations, vows to close Time Warner deal

Shares of AT&T Inc. rose 3% late Wednesday after the company reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. AT&T said it earned $19 billion, or $3.08 a share, in the quarter, compared with $2.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company said it earned 78 cents, compared with 66 cents a year ago. Revenue rose to $41.7 billion, compared with $41.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 65 cents a share on sales of $41.2 billion. The company highlighted “strong” gains in the postpaid phone market and a record low postpaid “phone churn” in the quarter, and said DirectTV Now has more than 1 million subscribers. “On the Time Warner front, we look forward to presenting our case in court and closing the deal,” Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said in a statement. Shares had ended the regular session up less than 0.1%.

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Shares of Microsoft slide as software giant reports a quarterly loss on tax cuts

Shares of ​Microsoft Corp. slid late Wednesday as the software giant posted a quarterly loss due to the recently passed tax law. Microsoft reported second-quarter loss of 82 cents a share versus a profit of 80 cents a year earlier. The loss include a net charge of $13.8 billion related to tax cuts. Revenue rose to $28.92 billion from $28.28 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company would have earned 96 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 87 cents a share and revenue of $28.41 billion. Microsoft said revenue from Office consumer products and cloud services grew 12% and Office 365 consumer subscribers increased to 29.2 million, while revenue associated with its Intelligent Cloud rose 15% to $7.8 billion. Microsoft shares fell 0.5% after hours. The stock has gained 11% year to date bringing its market capitalization to $726 billion.

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