Author: admin

Shares of United Parcel Service Inc. rallied 1.9% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the package delivery giant was upgraded at Stifel Nicolaus, which said the stock has been “oversold,” the business remains “strong” and the dividend is the “most attractive” among its peers. Analyst David Ross raised his rating to buy from hold, but cut his stock price target to $121 from $127. The stock has plunged 17% since the company announced capital expenditure plans on Feb. 1, which was well above the company’s historical spending levels, while shares of rival FedEx Corp. have lost 7.8%, the Dow Jones Transportation Average has shed 5.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined 4.9%. Ross said just as the stock was too high in January above $132, “it’s now too low” below $106, and he believes “the shares have been oversold and find it the most attractive dividend play in large-cap U.S. transportation.” UPS’s dividend yield is 3.44% through Monday’s close, while FedEx’s yield is 0.83% and the implied yield on the Dow transports is 1.29%.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Ciena Corp. shares surged 6% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the networking company beat earnings estimates for its fiscal first quarter. The company said it had a net loss of $473.4 million, or $3.29 a share, in the quarter to end January, after earnings of $3.9 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The number included a $476.9 million non-cash charge related to the tax revamp signed into law in December. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 15 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 12 cents. Revenue rose to $646.1 million from $621.5 million, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $642.0 million. Shares are down 9% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained about 15%.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Target Corp. reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales that beat expectations but its profit was just in line, and the stock dropped 4.0% in premarket trading Tuesday as it pulled back after outperforming its peers and the broader market by a wide margin the past few months. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 3 rose to $1.10 billion, or $2.02 a share, from $817 million, or $1.45 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as about $388 million benefit from recent tax legislation, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.37, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue rose 10% to $22.77 billion, topping the FactSet consensus of $22.54 billion, as same-store sales growth of 3.6% beat expectations of a 3.1% rise. Comparable digital sales rose 29%. Looking ahead, the discount retailer expects first-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.25 to $1.45, surround the FactSet consensus of $1.40, with the same-store sales guidance of “low-single digit” growth in line with expectations of a 2.4% rise. The stock had run up 23.8% over the past three months through Monday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has edged up 3.2% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.5%.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

North and South Korea have agreed to hold their first summit in more than a decade in late April, the South’s presidential office said on Tuesday, according to media reports. The announcement comes after a senior delegation from South Korea met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Monday, raising hopes for better relations between the two Koreas. North Korea will suspend all weapons testing during the summit in April and has shown a clear intent to denuclearize, a South Korean delegate said, according to media reports. North Korea also said it was open to talking to the U.S. about scrapping nuclear weapons and normalize ties, according to the South Korean delegate.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

d The CSE and the investor group — North America Casin Holdings Inc. — made the announcement to cancel the deal that was announced in Feb. 2016 on Monday, according to media reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission gave the deal the thumbs-down in February, over concerns it would be tough to access China-based shareholder records, and such a tie-up would breach rules limiting how much a shareholder can control an exchange.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Qualcomm Inc. said late Monday that its annual shareholder meeting would be held April 5. The meeting was supposed to be Tuesday morning, but the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States requested a month delay late Sunday after it decided to look at Broadcom Ltd.’s hostile takeover bid for Qualcomm. That order led to another round of verbal bombs from both sides Monday. Broadcom has nominated six directors to Qualcomm’s board in its effort to purchase the company, and a Monday report from Bloomberg News said that shareholders were backing Broadcom’s nominees in early voting. Qualcomm said in its Monday announcement that it would open the meeting Tuesday morning and immediately adjourn until April 5, when the meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Pacific time. The record date for investors to vote is unchanged, so investors will have to have been a stockholder on or before Jan. 8 to vote.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

January sales of semiconductors topped records marking a year and a half of consecutive monthly gains, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association in a statement late Monday. January chip sales rose 22.7% to a record $37.6 billion, SIA said. Year-over-year sales in the Americas saw the largest rise with a gain of 40.6%, followed by Europe with a 19.9% rise, “Asia Pacific/All Other” seeing a 18.6% rise, China gaining 18.3%, and Japan rising 15.1%. “After notching its highest-ever annual sales in 2017, the global semiconductor industry is off to a strong and promising start to 2018, posting its highest-ever January sales and 18th consecutive month of year-to-year sales increases,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and chief executive, in a statement. Over the past 18 months, the PHLX Semiconductor Index has grown 71%, compared with a 24% gain by the S&P 500 index and a 39% gain on the Nasdaq Composite Index

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Gogo Inc. announced Monday that Chief Executive Michael Small has stepped down from his position immediately, by “mutual decision” between the executive and the company. He will be replaced by Oakleigh Thorne, whose family business, Thorndale Farm LLC, is the largest investor in Gogo with about a 30% stake, according to the company. “Oak has made significant contributions to Gogo as a member of our board and has a deep understanding of our business, strategy and operations,” Ronald LeMay, Gogo’s board chairman, said in Monday’s announcement. “On behalf of the Board, we also thank Michael for building Gogo into a global leader and we wish him the best.” Thorne has previously been CEO of two public companies, one of which he led to a $1.9 billion acquisition, and has been on Gogo’s board since 2003, according to Gogo’s announcement. The company, which provides in-flight wireless connectivity, has seen its stock drop 34% in the past six months, while the S&P 500 index has gained 9.5%. Shares rose more than 3% in late trading Monday after the change was announced.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Nordstrom Inc. said late Monday a special committee of its board of directors has received and rejected as insufficient a proposal to take the company private. Shares of Nordstrom fell more than 2% after the news. The committee had been notified by a group consisting of members of the Nordstrom family, including co-presidents Blake W. Nordstrom, Peter E. Nordstrom, and Erik B. Nordstrom, that the group intended to submit a proposal to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the company not already owned by the group, and approximately 21% of the shares owned by the Nordstrom family members in the group, for $50 a share in cash, the company said in a statement. The committee has reviewed the acquisition proposal, in consultation with its financial advisor and legal counsel, “and has determined that the price proposed is inadequate,” Nordstrom said. “The special committee has directed its advisors and management not to provide further due diligence information to the group,” the company said. “Furthermore, unless the group can promptly and substantially improve the price it is proposing to pay for the company, the special committee intends to terminate discussions,” it said. Nordstrom shares ended the regular trading session down 2.2%. Similar talks last year fell through after the family struggled to raise enough money for a deal.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News