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Fitbit Inc. shares are up 0.7% in Wednesday morning trading after analysts at Stifel took an upbeat view of new product announcements made Tuesday. “While facing difficult category trends, we are encouraged to see Fitbit progressing the ecosystem to enhance the value and recruit new customers to the franchise,” wrote the analysts, led by Jim Duffy. He thinks that the company’s new $199.95 Versa smartwatch “occupies a less competitive niche and likely expands the user base.” Meanwhile, he sees potential in the company’s Fitbit Ace kids’ product, which he believes is priced competitively at $99.95. “More targeted offerings are a worthwhile approach though with category units looking for stabilization and the concession in ASP, we don’t yet see a path to revenue stabilization,” Duffy added. He has a hold rating on the stock and a $5.50 price target. Fitbit shares are down 2.7% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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U.S. equity markets opened higher on Wednesday as retail sales and producer prices data showed no significant pick-up in inflation. Monthly retail sales fell for a third month in a row, while producer prices last month rose at a slower pace than in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 120 points, or 0.5%, to 25,125. The S&P 500 index rose 9 points, or 0.4% to 2,774, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 28 points, or 0.4% to 7,539. Among the best performers on the S&P 500, Ford Motor rallied after analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight from underweight. Signet Jewelers Ltd , was the worst performer, dropping sharply after the company unveiled a restructuring plan to be carried out over the next three years.

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U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said her country plans to expel 23 Russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers, according to multiple published reports. May also said U.K. ministers and the British Royal Family won’t attend the World Cup soccer tournament that is scheduled to take place in Russia in June and July. The moves come after May on Monday said it was highly likely Russia was responsible for poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury this month. She had given Russia until the end of Tuesday to provide an explanation.

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Shares of Square Inc. are up 1.3% in premarket trading Wednesday after an analyst at Instinet cited high merchant willingness to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. According to Instinet’s recent survey of Square merchants, 60% said they would be willing to accept Bitcoin, a finding that Instinet analyst Dan Dolev wrote was “surprising, especially amid Bitcoin’s elevated volatility.” The survey also found broad satisfaction for Square’s services among merchants, with 38% rating Square as excellent and 58% rating it as good. “Like Amazon.com Inc. in its early days, we believe that little of Square’s future revenue streams are currently visible,” Dolev wrote. He has a buy rating and a $64 price target on shares, the highest among Wall Street analysts covering the stock, according to FactSet. Square shares are up 209% over the past 12 months,w hile the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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Shares of Century Aluminum Co. shot up 5.0% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the aluminum producer was upgraded at J.P. Morgan, which cited President Trump’s tariff plan and the company’s subsequent decision to restart idled plants. Analyst Michael Gambardella raised his rating to overweight from neutral, and boosted his stock price target to $29 from $18. The stock hasn’t closed above $29 since November 2014. The company said this week that it was restarting three potlines at its smelter in Hawesville, Kentucky that have been curtailed since mid-to-late 2015. “We expect [Century] to benefit significantly from a higher all-in aluminum price and the company’s greater earnings base from Hawesville, leading to higher earnings and cash flow,” Gambardella wrote in a note to clients. Century Aluminum’s stock has run up 37.7% over the past three months, while the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF has gained 3.2% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 4.3%.

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Activist shareholder Starboard Value LP said Wednesday that three of the directors nominated to the board of consumer brand company Newell Brands Inc. have pledged to purchase $25 million of Newell stock with their own money if Starboard succeeds in its aim of replacing the Newell boards. Starboard and other participants in its solicitation own about 4.5% of Newell, which owns brands including Rubbermaid, Papermate and Elmer’s. “Newell is a great company, with great people and fantastic brands,” said Martin Franklin, one of the nominees along with Ian Ashken and James Lillie who have made the pledge. ” Over the past two years, we, along with many shareholders, have suffered significant value destruction under the current leadership team.” The three said if they are elected, they will commit to not selling any of their shares so long as they remain on on the board, unless the stock exceeds its price on April 15, 2016, the day that Newell closed its acquisition of Jarden Corporation. The stock closed that day at $44.33, compared with its current level of $28.60. The stock has fallen 40% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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Shares of Express Inc. soared 8.9% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the apparel retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 3 rose to $29.4 million, or 37 cents a share, from $22.8 million, or 29 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as the impact of recent tax legislation, adjusted earnings per share came to 34 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 32 cents. Revenue rose 2% to $693.8 million from $678.8 million a year ago, above the FactSet consensus of $686.8 million, as the same-store sales decline of 1.0% beat expectations of a 1.9% drop. E-commerce sales increased 20% to $203.3 million, and rose 17% on a comparable basis. The company expects first-quarter same-store to be down 1.0% to up 1.0%, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 0.5% increase. Express’s stock has plunged 28.6% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has gained 3.1% and the S&P 500 has advanced 4.3%.

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Signet Jewelers Ltd. shares slid 4% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the company unveiled a restructuring plan to be carried out over the next three years as it reported earnings for its fiscal second quarter. The company said it had net income of $343 million, or $5.24 a share, in its fiscal second quarter to Feb. 3, up from $287.8 million, or $3.92 a share, in the year-earlier period. The operator of Zales, H. Samuel and Gordon’s jewelry chains said excluding a tax benefit stemming from the December revamp, per-share earnings came to $4.28, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $4.20. Sales rose 1% to $2.3 billion, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $2.2 billion. Same-store sales fell 5.2% in the quarter, matching the FactSet consensus. The company announced that it is launching a three-year transformation plan, aimed at making it an omnichannel leader in its category. The plan includes cost-savings with the proceeds to be used to invest in growth and other measures. The company is planning to sell the remaining portion of its non-prime credit card receivables and to use the proceeds to buy back shares. For fiscal 2019, Signet is expecting same-store sales to be down in the low to mid single digits. It expects sales to range from $5.9 billion to $6.1 billion and adjusted EPS of $3.75 to $4.25. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $6.04, sales of $6.1 billion and a same-store sales decline of 1.15. Shares have fallen 29% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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Broadcom Ltd. said Wednesday it has withdrawn and terminated its hostile bid to buy Qualcomm Inc. , following President Donald Trump’s move this week to block the deal citing national security concerns. The Singapore-based chip maker said it has also withdrawn its nominees for Qualcomm’s board of directors. Qualcomm’s stock rose 0.7% in premarket trade, while Broadcom shares were still inactive. “Although we are disappointed with this outcome, Broadcom will comply with the Order,” Broadcom said in a statement. “Broadcom will continue to move forward with its redomiciliation process and will hold its Special Meeting of Stockholders as planned on March 23, 2018.” Over the past three months, Broadcom’s stock had gained 0.7% through Tuesday, while Qualcomm shares had shed 7.7%, the PHLX Semiconductor Index had run up 15.5% and the S&P 500 had tacked on 4.3%.

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