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U.S. stocks headed south at the open Tuesday as investors digested China’s surprise devaluation of the yuan overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152.9 points, or 0.9%, the S&P 500 shed 14 points, or 0.7%, at 2,087, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 37 points, or 0.7%, to 5,080.52. The downdraft for stocks comes after the Dow snapped a seven-day losing streak as the prospects for a September rate-hike dimmed and a big $32 billion acquisition of Precision Castparts Corp. by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company inspired optimism Monday.

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From:: Stock Market News

Twitter Inc. was initiated at neutral at SIG Susquehanna Financial Group of Tuesday. The bank tacked a $32 12-month price target on the stock, which is 8.5% above Monday’s closing price. Analyst Shyam Patil attributed the rating to uncertainty surrounding the still unfilled CEO position and the company’s ongoing struggles with user growth, which he said creates uncertainty around the future direction of the company and could lead to “advertiser hesitation.” Shares of Twitter fell 2% in premarket trade, putting the stock on track to open around $28.90. Its shares are down 21% over the last three months, underperforming the S&P 500, which is flat.

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From:: Stock Market News

There’s a good reason the Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to sell off at the open, on the heels China’s devaluation of its currency, since most of the index’s components rank China as their second-biggest source of revenue, behind the U.S. Of the 27 Dow components that FactSet has geographic breakdowns of sales, 22 rank China as their second-biggest source of revenue, behind the U.S. Shares of chipmaker Intel Corp. , which as the most China exposure at 19.4%, slid 1% in premarket trade Tuesday. Just behind is Apple Inc. at 16.2%, and the technology giant’s stock shed 1.3% ahead of the open. Shares of Boeing Co. at 11.8% slipped 0.2%, Wal-Mart Stores at 10.8% lost 0.4% and International Business Machines at 10.5% declined 0.8%. Shares of 3M Co. , at 12.6%, were still inactive. Meanwhile, Dow futures were down 137 points.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. fell 8% Tuesday after the company missed revenue expectations. Red Robin reported net income of $11.2 million, or 78 cents per share, up from $9.5 million, or 65 cents per share in the year-earlier period. The company reported GAAP adjusted earnings per share of 78 cents. Analysts surveyed by Factset expected earnings per share of 77 cents. The company reported revenue of $293 million, above $256 million in the year-earlier period, but below the FactSet consensus of $299 million. “We have now outperformed the casual dining industry in reported comparable sales for the last four years and outpaced them on traffic by over 200 basis points during the second quarter,” said chief executive Steve Carley. For fiscal year 2015, the company said it expects total revenue growth close to 12% and to open 20 new Red Robin Restaurants.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. productivity in the second quarter rose by a 1.3% annual pace after two straight negative quarters. Output increased 2.8% in the second quarter while hours worked rose 1.5%, the Labor Department said Tuesday. On a year-on-year basis, productivity remains anemic, rising 0.3%. Unit-labor costs, meanwhile, rose by a 0.5% annual rate in the second quarter after a 2.3% rise in the first three months of the year. Hourly compensation for all workers rose 1.8% in the second quarter, but it fell 1.1% adjusted for inflation. Real compensation is up 0.9% from a year earlier. The decline in productivity in the first quarter was revised up slightly to a negative 1.1% from the prior estimate of 3.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Google Inc.’s stock surged 6.1% in premarket trade Tuesday, as analysts cheered the Internet giant’s move to create an umbrella company named Alphabet Inc. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt upgraded Google to buy from hold, saying the new holding company is like the “Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet.” Berkshire is the holding company of famed billionaire investor Warren Buffett. “We believe this combination leaves the possibility for shares to exceed the S&P 500 return for many years on the back of this new operating structure,” Devitt wrote in a note to clients. Analyst John Cakmak at Monness Crespi Hardt raised his rating to buy from neutral, and has a stock price target of $900, which is 36% above Monday’s closing price of $663.14. He said Google’s move may allow the company to better combat secular trends in mobile, while also creating greater transparency for more informed valuations. The stock was trading at $703.50 ahead of the open, above the July 17 record closing high of $699.62, but below the July 22 intraday record of $713.33.

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From:: Stock Market News

Warren Buffett keeps getting richer, as the 8.4% premium Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. is paying to buy Symetra Financial Corp. boosted the billionaire’s wealth by about $50 million on Tuesday. General Re-New England Asset Management, a subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. , owned 20.05 million shares of Symetra as of March 31, or 17.3% of the financial services company’s outstanding shares, according to FactSet. The $32 a share Sumitomo is paying for Symetra is $2.48 above Monday’s closing price of $29.52, increasing the value of General Re’s stake by $49.7 million. Including the previously-announced special dividend of 50 cents a share Symetra is paying its shareholders, Buffett is making $59.7 million.

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From:: Stock Market News

Japan’s Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. said it has agreed to acquire Symetra Financial Corp. in a deal valued at about $3.8 billion. Shareholders will receive $32 per share in cash, along with a previously agreed 50 cents-per-share cash dividend, equal to a 32% premium over Symetra’s average stock price for the 30 days ending Aug. 5. Symetra, which is based in Bellevue, Washington, offers employee benefits, annuities and life insurance, and will become Sumitomo’s life insurance platform in the U.S. “We are confident that this transaction will further enhance our financial and earnings foundation by expanding the size of overseas revenues, diversifying the revenue base and thereby enabling us to build a well-balanced overseas business portfolio across Asia and the United States,” Sumitomo Chief Executive Masahiro Hashimoto said in a statement. Symetra is 18% owned by White Mountains and 17% owned by Berkshire Hathaway , both of which have agreed to vote in favor of the deal, which is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2016 or early in the second quarter. Symetra shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 28% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.2%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Symantec Corp. reported on Tuesday a fiscal first-quarter net profit of $117 million, or 17 cents a share, down from $236 million, or 34 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 40 cents, missing the FactSet consensus of 43 cents. Revenue fell 14% to $1.5 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $1.53 billion. For its fiscal second quarter, the security software company expects adj. EPS in the range of 40 cents to 43 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 45 cents. Revenue is projected to be $1.49 billion to $1.53 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.54 billion. Separately, Symantec announced a deal to sell its Veritas business for $8 billion in cash, and increase its stock repurchase program to $2.6 billion. The stock, which was currently halted for news dissemination, has dropped 11% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.2%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Symantec Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its information management business Veritas to an investor group led by The Carlyle Group and GIC, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, for $8 billion in cash. Symantec expects to receive $6.3 billion in net cash proceeds and will increase its share buyback program to $2.6 billion and maintain its 15 cents-per-share quarterly dividend. “This transaction strengthens our financial foundation, paving the way for Symantec to grow its security business and increase its lead as the world’s largest cybersecurity company,” Chief Executive Michael Brown said in a statement. The deal is expected to close by Jan. 1, 2016. Shares were halted for news pending, but are down about 11% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.2%.

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