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Hibbett Sports shares rise after results meet expectations

Hibbett Sports Inc. shares rose nearly 1% in Friday premarket trading after fourth-quarter results met expectations. Net income totaled $9.7 million, or 51 cents per share, down from $12.1 million, or 54 cents per share, for the same period last year. The company said the tax overhaul did not have a significant impact on quarterly earnings, however results included a one-time gain of 7 cents per share due to the sale of the Team division and 8 cents per share due to an additional week. Revenue totaled $266.7 million, up from $246.9 million year-over-year. Same-store sales rose 1.6% for the quarter. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 44 cents, sales of $267.0 million and same-store sales growth of 1.6%. The company said e-commerce accounted for 7.6% of sales for the quarter. It launched its e-commerce site in 2017. For fiscal 2019, the company sees EPS in the range of $1.65 to $1.95 and same-store sales in the range of a 1% decline and 2% growth. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $1.97 and same-store sales growth of 2.1%. Hibbett shares are up 7.7% for the last three months, but down 23.2% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 15.4% for the last 12 months.

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Germany’s DAX reopens with 0.4% gain after ‘connectivity’ glitch

Germany’s DAX 30 index opened 0.4% higher at 12,395.55 in a delayed start on Friday, after failing to kick off trade at the usual time. Trading was delayed due to a connectivity issue, with prevented stable access for market participants to the trading system, a spokesperson from Deutsche Boerse said. “Equal access for all traders could not be guaranteed, so that was the reason [for the halt]”, he said. “Why exactly, cannot be assessed yet. They are still looking into this and analyzing… An investigation is standard procedure and we need to know exactly what went on so this can be prevented in the future,” he added. Trading across Europe — including Germany — usually starts at 9:00 a.m. Central European Time, or 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

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Germany’s DAX to reopen after unknown glitch

Germany’s DAX 30 index is set to reopen for trading around 9:40 a.m. local time, or 4:40 a.m. Eastern Time, after being failing to open at the usual time earlier on Friday. A spokesperson from Deutsche Boerse said trading would start again at 9:30 a.m local time with an auction, which usually takes about 10 min. That means regular trade will commence at 9:40-9:45 a.m., he said. “We can’t say anything yet about the reasons for this or the background, but we are checking in to this of course,” he said.

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Trump has decided to oust McMaster: report

President Donald Trump has decided to replace his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, the Washington Post reported late Thursday, but is waiting to find a replacement before making an announcement. The Post said more top administration officials may be ousted soon as well. The imminent shakeup comes on the heels of last week’s resignation of Gary Cohn, Trump’s economic adviser, and Trump’s firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this week. The Post said Trump is feeling more emboldened after recently announcing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and agreeing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Now, the Post reported, Trump is actively seeking out a replacement for McMaster and seeking to make sure the former general is not humiliated by his ouster.

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Trump’s personal assistant was fired over gambling habit: report

John McEntee, President Donald Trump’s personal assistant, was fired from his job earlier this week because his frequent gambling posed a security risk, according to a Washington Post report late Thursday. McEntee was escorted out of the White House on Tuesday after being terminated, but the White House did not give a reason why. The Post reported a background check revealed he gambled tens of thousands of dollars at a time, and while that may have been legal, it opened him up to a potential vulnerability that could have been exploited. After his ouster Tuesday, Trump’s re-election committee said McEntee would join its staff as a senior adviser.

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Zscaler reportedly prices IPO above already raised range

Cloud-based security company Zscaler Inc. reportedly priced its initial public offering above an already elevated range late Thursday. The company priced its IPO at $16 a share, according to IPO Boutique. Zscaler shares begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker symbol ZS. The company was originally planning to sell 10 million shares for $10 to $12 apiece, but recently bumped that up to 12 million shares and a $13-to-$15 price range.

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Fixed Mortgage Rates Retreat First Time Since 2017

For the first time this year, fixed interest rates on residential loans turned lower. But the story was different for adjustable-rate mortgages.

During the seven-day period that concluded on March 15, thirty-year fixed rates averaged 4.44 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Long-term rates retreated by 2 basis points from the preceding week — marking the first time this year that a week-over-week decline was recorded for the 30 year.

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Mortgage Subservicer Hiring Hundreds in Missouri

A company that subservices residential loans has opened a new office in Missouri and plans to add hundreds of new employees by the end of this year.

The company, Cenlar FSB, has opened an office in O’Fallon, Missouri. Cenlar is an employee-owned federally chartered wholesale bank.

Cenlar, which maintains its headquarters in Ewing, New Jersey, claims that it is “the nation’s leading residential mortgage subservicer.”

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Kroger shares tick higher on $1 billion buyback authorization

Kroger Co. shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the supermarket operator said it will buy back up to $1 billion in shares and hopes to raise its dividend in the future. Kroger shares advanced 1.3% after hours, following a 0.8% rise to close the regular session at $23.63. The company said the $1 billion authorization supplements the $76 million remaining on its previous authorization. Kroger also declared its usual a 12.5-cents-a-share dividend, and said it expects “to have an increasing dividend over time” subject to board approval.

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Commentary: Let the Prime-Time Housing Market Begin

By Susanne Dwyer

Scott_Lennox_60x60

In this commentary, J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, discusses the housing market nationally and in Puget Sound/Seattle, Wash.

The arrival of Daylight Savings triggers a burst in new listings, and more listings lead to more sales. In real estate, it’s all about the new listing.

The winter market is now officially over. Patterns in the winter market are more sales than new listings and reduced inventory. This causes a home price appreciation boost during the first part of the year in the more affordable and mid-price ranges and in the high-end market close to job centers. Over the second half of the year, as more listings come on the market, home price appreciation tends to flatten out.

Home mortgage interest rates are up from the first of the year, leading to slightly higher monthly payments, but they have not put a damper on the market. Right now, we are experiencing a mini power surge of buyer demand:

  1. This is the most intense housing market I have ever experienced during my 41 years in the industry. Almost every new listing is selling instantly. Because we’re virtually sold out of homes available for sale, all focus is on new listings coming on the market.
  1. Buyers can be hopeful knowing the number of new listings is on the way up. From January and February, we tend to see a jump of a 60 percent increase in the number of new listings in March and April. In the peak new listings months of May, June and July, we’ll experience another jump of 25 percent over the watermark of March and April.
  1. Seattle has led the nation in home price increases for 17 consecutive months—the longest streak in the country since San Francisco in the early 2000s.
  • Year-over-year price gains for single-family residential homes in the four-county area are in the mid-teens.
  • Year-over-year price gains for condominiums in King/Snohomish counties are above 20 percent.
  1. For the residential market, it’s all about the new listings coming on the market. We are virtually sold out of standing unsold inventory.
  1. The number of homes that went into contract in February 2018, was lower than in February 2017, only due to the limited supply of the number of unsold homes and the low number of new listings on the market.
  1. The pressure cooker continues for the backlog of buyers searching for a home for sale. With interest rates going higher the last few months, it triggers an additional mini power surge of buyer demand, creating the most intense market ever.
  1. The rate of home price appreciation in Seattle/Puget Sound has been running above the historical trend line for the last several years. With slightly higher interest rates on the horizon, the pace of home price appreciation will ease from a sprint to more of an endurance pace in the years ahead.

Lennox Scott is chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. For more information, please visit www.johnlscott.com.

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