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Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is offering free delivery during Super Bowl weekend through its partnership with Postmates. The service will be available in the 40 metro markets that Postmates operates in, delivering orders for free during Chipotle restaurant operating hours from Friday to Sunday. The offer is not valid for catering orders. Chipotle shares are up 19.7% for the last three months, but down 22.8% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 24.3% for the last 12 months.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Juniper Networks Inc. tumbled 10.2% in Wednesday morning trading after the company delivered what Needham analyst Alex Henderson called an “ugly outlook.” Juniper blamed “ongoing deployment delays” as a key reason for the disappointing outlook, as it said that large cloud customers are in the midst of an architectural transition. The company also said it received a new authorization to buy back up to $2 billion in shares. “The buyback should help dampen the EPS decline, but we think investors will be hard-pressed to believe management’s explanation that this is simply a architectural shift and temporary,” wrote Needham analyst Alex Henderson following the results. He thinks Juniper is losing share to Arista Networks Inc. . He has a hold rating on shares, which are down 5% over the past 12 months, versus a 24% rise for the S&P 500 .

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Automatic Data Processing Inc. jumped 3% Wednesday, after the payment processor and HR services company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter and raised its guidance. ADP said it had net income of $467.5 million, or $1.05 a share, in the quarter, down from $510.9 million, or $1.13 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 99 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 90 cents. Revenue rose to $3.235 billion from $2.987 billion, squeaking ahead of the FactSet consensus of $3.185 billion. The company said it now expects full fiscal-year revenue growth of 7% to 8%, up from a prior forecast of 6% to 8%. it expects full-year EPS growth of 12% to 13%, up from a prior forecast of down 1% to up 1%. Shares have gained 23% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 24%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

The National Football League on Wednesday said it has officially reached a five-year deal with 21st Century Fox Inc.’s Fox Sports to broadcast Thursday Night Football games. The agreement, beginning with the 2018 NFL season, gives Fox Sports 11 games throughout the season, not including games on Thanksgiving day. Thursday night games were previously shared by Comcast Corp.’s NBC and CBS Corp. . Thursday night games have recently been scrutinized by NFL players and fans who say the games are unsafe and don’t provide players enough recovery time, leading to more injuries. Fox shares have gained close to 21% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 24% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 31%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Activision Blizzard Inc. rose 2.8% in Wednesday morning trading after peer Electronic Arts Inc. reported strong digital results and, separately, Needham analyst Laura Martin raised her price target on shares to $80 from $75. Fellow videogame firm EA delivered strong growth in its “live services” business, which has been a boon to the industry lately. Meanwhile, Martin increased her earnings, free-cash-flow, and valuation estimates for Activision in anticipation of benefits from tax reform. She sees Activision’s assumed book tax rate falling to 12% from 24%. “Activision remains a top pick among our media companies under coverage owing to its deep library of proprietary IP content, its (very) long sequel life-spans, rising margins, limited piracy, and relatively predictable revenue streams,” Martin wrote. The company reports results on Fe. 8 after market close. Activision shares have gained 78% over the past 12 months, with the S&P 500 up 24% in that time.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. equity benchmarks opened higher on Wednesday, recouping some of their losses when the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its most severe one-day drop in eight-months. All three stock indexes rose at the open, partially thanks to gains in technology and transport stocks. The Dow rose 0.8% to 26,301, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.4% at 2,832, and the Nasdaq Composite Index opened 0.6% higher at 7,446. A relatively uneventful State of the Union speech by President Trump late Tuesday also aided investor sentiment, market participants said. ADP employment data earlier showed that 234,000 private sector jobs were added in January, slightly below the 250,000 previously. In individual stocks, Electronic Arts Inc. jumped following better-than-expected quarterly results, while shares of Boeing Co. rose as its results exceeded Wall Street estimates and offered a positive outlook. The aerospace maker and Dow component’s shares were delivering the biggest jolt to the blue-chip gauge.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Apple Inc. slid 0.4% in premarket trading Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform. “There has been much in the press about order cuts for iPhone X, and we believe a weaker mix in Q1 [the December quarter] will push estimates lower for March and beyond,” he wrote. He added that Apple has been very successful in getting customers to pay high prices for phones, but he predicts that only 30% of phones will sell for over $900 given that only 12% of smartphone sales globally are for devices that cost more than $600. Apple’s China business rallied last quarter after several periods of decline, but Long thinks revenue from the region will be flat for the December quarter, with unit sales falling by 9% relative to a year earlier. “We still view the iPhone base as growing, and the devices are on average getting older,” Long wrote. “However, without a compelling product cycle in September, we may see a slow upgrade cycle once again.” Just 10 of the 38 analysts who follow Apple have hold ratings, or the equivalent, on the company’s shares. Apple shares have fallen in six of the last eight trading days, mainly on concerns about a production slowdown for the iPhone X. The stock is up 38% over the past 12 months, compared with a 31% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average , of which Apple is a component.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it plans to raise the size of upcoming bond and note auctions this quarter by $42 billion to meet the increased funding needs from the Federal Reserve’s shrinking of its balance sheet and the recently passed tax bill. The department also announced it will auction $66 billion in notes and bonds next week in its quarterly refunding auctions, $4 billion more than last quarter. Treasury said that it will only be able to fund the government through the end of February unless Congress raises the debt ceiling. Treasury will increase the size of 2-year and 3-year note auctions by $2 billion per month this quarter. In addition, Treasury will increase the auction sizes to each of the next offerings of 5-year, 7-year, 10-year notes and the 30-year bond auctions starting in February.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Boeing Co. rallied 3.6% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the aerospace and defense contractor reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations, and provided a upbeat outlook. Net income for the quarter to Dec. 31 nearly doubled to $3.13 billion, or $5.18 a share, from $1.63 billion, or $2.59 a share, in the same period a year ago. Tax reform added $1.74 to earnings per share. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EPS came to $4.80, well above the FactSet consensus of $2.89. Total revenue rose to $25.37 billion from $23.29 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $24.64 billion, as revenue from its commercial airplanes, defense, space & security and global services businesses all topped expectations. For 2018, Boeing expects adjusted EPS of $13.80 to $14.00, above the FactSet consensus of $11.91, and projects revenue of $96.0 billion to $98.0 billion, which is above expectations of $93.4 billion. The stock has soared 31% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 12%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News