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U.S. stocks opened flat Friday, putting the main benchmarks on track to log their fourth straight weekly gain. A session earlier, the Dow industrials snapped a nine-session win streak — the index’s longest such streak since March 2013. On Friday, a barrage of earnings results drove individual stocks, while the broader market got a boost from better-than-expected earnings from companies like General Electric Co. , Whirlpool Corp. and Honeywell International Inc. . The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10 points, or 0.1%, to 18,527, the S&P 500 index gained a point, or less than 0.1% at 2,166, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2 points, or less than 0.1%, to 5,076.

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From:: Stock Market News

Skechers USA Inc. shares plunged 15% in premarket trade Friday, after the shoe maker’s disappointing second-quarter results prompted a ratings downgrade. Monness Crespi Hardt cut its rating to neutral from buy, citing concerns over the continued deceleration in domestic trends and less favorable valuation. Prior to results, which were reported late Thursday, the stock had climbed 6.5% year to date, while the S&P 500 had gained 5.9%. “Historically, the domestic business has been the leading indicator and international has followed,” Monness Crespi wrote in a note to clients. “As a results, we expect concerns about a potential slowdown overseas will continue to linger and weigh on the stock’s multiple.” Meanwhile, B. Riley analyst Jeff Van Sinderen kept his rating at buy, but cut his stock price target to $32 from $42,

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc. tumbled 4.7% in premarket trade Friday, after Wells Fargo analysts downgraded the stock to market perform from e are lowering our rating to Market Perform from outperform after news of a new partnership with Visa. The deal may create interim pressure on funding estimates, they wrote in a note. “This then presents us with a situation where we believe that upside earnings revisions are less likely and valuations are not likely to expand, as the market and shares are in a “holding pattern” while the market tries to balance the attractive top-line/secular story with the new margin paradigm as investors assess the timing of an inflection point when the benefits of the Visa partnership (easier access to off-line merchants, potential partnerships with issuers) may offset the likelihood that higher funding costs pressure margins,” they wrote. PayPal posted a 15% rise in quarterly revenue and an increase in profit, as payment transactions rose. Shares have gained 11% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Heat Biologics Inc. said Friday that just 16 hours after it announced a planned public offering of common stock shares, it would instead explore “alternative options.” Shares of the biotech dropped 7.9% in pre-market trade after the news. As of the end of March, Heat Biologics had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments equal to about $11.8 million, and expects topline data for two cancer drugs in the fourth quarter of 2016. Heat Biologics shares rose 27.3% over the last three months, compared with a 3.5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. were indicating lower in premarket trade Friday after the company reported top- and bottom-line declines for the second quarter. The airline reported net income of $950 million, or $1.68 a share, compared with $1.7 billion, or $2.41, in the year-earlier period. Analysts on average were anticipating earnings per share of $1.68, according to FactSet. Revenue fell 4.3% to $10.36 billion from $10.83 billion in the year-earlier period, just ahead of the consensus estimate of $10.32 billion. Load factor, a key metric for airlines that measures the efficiency of its service as measured through capacity, declined to 82.9% from 83.4%. Shares of American Airlines have underperformed the S&P 500 recently. The stock is down 8.5% in the past three months and 15.5% in the past year, while the index is up 3.5% and 2.4%, respectively.

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From:: Stock Market News

VF Corp. beat second-quarter earnings expectations but missed on revenue. Earnings for the latest quarter dropped to $51.0 million, or 12 cents per share, from $170.8 million, or 40 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. The latest results include a $97 million loss on the company’s “contemporary brands” business, which it agreed to sell in the second quarter. Adjusted earnings-per-share were 35 cents, compared with the FactSet consensus of 34 cents. Revenue rose to $2.45 billion from $2.43 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $2.52 billion. VF Corp.’s chief executive officer Eric Wiseman said results were in line with expectations “despite a challenging environment with mixed economic and currency conditions around the world.” The company revised its outlook of a mid-single-digit percentage revenue increase for 2016 to an increase of 3% to 4%. VF Corp. shares were down 1.4% over the last three months, compared with a 3.5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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From:: Stock Market News

General Electric Co. reported second-quarter results Friday that included four different earnings-per-share numbers. The conglomerate has said year-over-year comparisons are difficult as the company has recorded both gains and losses from sales of several businesses as part of its GE Capital exit plan, acquired Alstom and recognized pension costs and restructuring charges. The actual bottom line based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) was earnings of $2.74 billion, or 30 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.36 billion, or 13 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. EPS from continuing operations came in at 36 cents, while operating EPS was 39 cents. Non-GAAP, or EPS from industrials operating and verticals was 51 cents. The FactSet EPS consensus, which is often compared with what can be described as EPS from continuing operations, operating EPS or non-GAAP EPS, was 46 cents. GE The stock slipped 0.4% in premarket trade. It has tacked on 4.6% year to date through Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 6.3%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Whirlpool Corp. reported second-quarter earnings that were better than expected early on Friday. Net earnings for the quarter came in at $320 million, or $4.15 per share, compared with $177 million, or $2.21 per share during the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were $3.50 per share, above FactSet’s consensus of $3.39. Sales for the quarter hit $5.20 billion, a slight drop compared with last year’s $5.21 during the same quarter. The FactSet consensus on sales was $5.13 billion. Whirlpool raised its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings to a range of $14.25 per share to $14.75 per share. Whirlpool shares were inactive in premarket trade, but are up more than 24% in the year so far, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 6%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Honeywell International Inc. said Friday it had net income of $1.28 billion, or $1.66 a share, in the second quarter, compared with $1.194 billion, or $1.51 in the year-earlier period. Sales rose to $9.99 billion from $9.775 billion a year ago. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.64 and ales of $10.136 billion. The company said it is now raising the low end of its full-year EPS guidance to $6.60 to $6.70. In its first quarter earnings, the company said it expected full-year EPS of $6.55 to $6.70. It expects sales of $40.3 billion to $40.6 billion, compared with prior guidance of $40.3 billion to $40.9 billion. The company is creating two new business segments, home and building technologies, and safety and productivity solutions, to align its current automation and control solutions business. Shares fell about 1% premarket, but are up about 16% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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