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United Continental Holdings Inc.’s President and Chief Executive Oscar Munoz, who suffered a heart attack last month, said Thursday he is recovering and is likely to return in early 2016. “I am excited to tell you that I am on the road to recovery. My time away will be a little longer than I would like, but based upon discussion with my doctors I will be back in the first quarter,” he said in a letter to employees. Munoz also thanked the staff for their support and encouragement. Munoz had suffered a heart attack in the middle of October only s few weeks after taking the helm at United. The company had named General Counsel Brett Hart as acting CEO until Munoz’ return. Shares of United were unchanged in after-hours trading.

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Stamps.com stock rallied Thursday after the company beat quarterly estimates. Stamps.com said it earned $7.3 million, or 42 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared with 58 cents a share in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the El Segundo, Calif., company said it earned $1.14 a share in the quarter, compared with 72 cents a share a year ago. Total revenue reached $51.7 million in the quarter, up 37% compared with the third quarter of 2014. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Stamps.com to report adjusted earnings of 86 cents a share on sales of $47.8 million. The company said it expects its previously announced $215 million cash deal to buy shipping technology company Endicia, a subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid Inc. , to close on Nov. 18. Stamps.com raised its 2015 revenue outlook to $198 million to $208 million from $170 million to $190 million. The company also increased its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to $3.60 a share to $4 a share from $3.10 a share to $3.50 a share. Shares of Stamps.com rallied 18% in late trading Thursday after ending the regular trading day up 0.9%.

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Honeywell International Inc. and Com Dev International Ltd. said late Thursday that Honeywell plans to buy Com Dev for $455 million. Com Dev said investors will get $5.25 a share plus 0.1977 of a share of Exactearth Ltd., a data-services company to be spun out of Com Dev, for a total value of up to $6.54 a share. Canada-based Com Dev makes hardware components for satellites and other space-based systems. Honeywell expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2016.

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Qorvo Inc. late Thursday reported its second-quarter earnings fell to $4.4 million, or 3 cents a share, from $63.3 million, or 85 cents a share, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company formed from the merger of RF Micro Devices Inc. and TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. earned $1.22 a share, significantly ahead of the $1.11 a share forecast by analysts in a FactSet survey. Revenue jumped to $708.3 million from $362.7 million. Analysts had projected revenue of $699 million. The board also approved a new $1 billion share repurchase plan. Shares of Qorvo rallied 12% in after-hours session.

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Men’s Wearhouse Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Thursday after the menswear retailer slashed its outlook for the third quarter and the year. Men’s Wearhouse shares fell 21% to $31.80 after the company blamed sales weakness at Jos. A. Bank, which it acquired last year. The company now forecasts adjusted third-quarter earnings between 46 cents and 51 cents a share, down from its previous forecast of 87 cents a share. For the year, Men’s Wearhouse expects adjusted earnings of $1.75 to $2 a share, down from its previous outlook of $2.70 to $2.90 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 99 cents a share for the third quarter, and $2.78 a share for the year.

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From:: Stock Market News

Men’s Wearhouse Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Thursday after the menswear retailer slashed its outlook for the third quarter and the year. Men’s Wearhouse shares fell 21% to $31.80 after the company blamed sales weakness at Jos. A. Bank, which it acquired last year. The company now forecasts adjusted third-quarter earnings between 46 cents and 51 cents a share, down from its previous forecast of 87 cents a share. For the year, Men’s Wearhouse expects adjusted earnings of $1.75 to $2 a share, down from its previous outlook of $2.70 to $2.90 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 99 cents a share for the third quarter, and $2.78 a share for the year.

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Nvidia Corp. easily exceeded profit and revenue expectations in the third quarter, and shares jumped nearly 8% in late trading Thursday. The Silicon Valley graphics specialist announced net income of $246 million, or 44 cents a share, on sales of $1.3 billion; after adjustments, Nvidia claimed sales of 46 cents a share. Analysts on average expected Nvidia to report adjusted earnings of 35 cents a share on sales of $1.18 billion, according to FactSet. Nvidia also announced an 18% increase in its dividend, to 11.5 cents a share, which will be paid Dec. 14 to shareholders as of Nov. 20. Shares pushed near $30 in late trading after closing with a 1.1% decline at $27.71; Nvidia’s 52-week high is $28.78.

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Standard & Poor’s downgraded ratings on Kellogg Co. Thursday, citing higher debt levels following recent acquisitions and continued share buybacks. The agency cut the rating by one notch to BBB from BBB-plus, placing it just two notches above speculative, or junk, status. The outlook is stable, meaning that S&P is not expecting to downgrade again any time soon. “While profitability is expected to modestly improve with the company’s cost reduction efforts, we believe that debt leverage will
remain above 3x and funds from operations to debt below 25%,” the agency said in a statement. Kellogg had about $8 billion of debt outstanding as of Oct. 3, it said.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Bank regulators said Thursday they are concerned by a significant rise in leverage lending volumes and continued loose underwriting, as well as the deteriorating credit of oil and gas companies. The comments, from a joint release of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, came in a review of the $3.9 trillion of credits shared by multiple financial institutions. Oil and gas borrowers accounted for 15% of so-called classified commitments, which are assets that are rated substandard, doubtful or loss. Nonbank entities held 67% of all classified credits, U.S. banks held 17.8% and foreign banks held 15.2%.

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Exxon Mobil Inc. is under investigation in New York about whether the oil giant lied to the public about the risks of climate change, or to investors about how it would hurt the energy business, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the probe. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a subpoena late Wednesday to the company, seeking documents, emails and other papers, the paper reported. It quoted Exxon spokesman Kenneth Cohen as acknowledging that the company had received the subpoena and was still deciding how to respond. The probe will look at Exxon’s activities in the 1970s, including a period during which it funded groups that tried to undermine climate science, said the Times. Shares fell 1.4% in afternoon trade, and are down 8% in the year so far, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 0.2%.

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From:: Stock Market News