Category: Stock Market News

Lennar Corp. reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that rose to $313.5 million, or $1.34 a share, from $281.6 million, or $1.21 a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.28. Revenue climbed to $3.38 billion from $2.95 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.30 billion, as total homebuilding revenue of of $3.01 met expectations while financial services revenue of $195.9 million beat expectations of $189.3 million.”With the anticipation of a new president focusing on accelerating economic growth, we believe that our fortified balance sheet, our diversified business model and our refined product offerings, will continue to hold us in good stead in a high-growth economy, despite the potential of moderately rising interest rates over the next several years,” said Chief Executive Stuart Miller. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 11.2% year to date, while the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF has gained 3.3% and the S&P 500 has climbed 10.5%.

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Homebuilder Lennar Corp. on Monday said profit in the fourth fiscal quarter rose to $313.5 million, or $1.34 per share, from $281.6 million, or $1.21 a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue climbed to $3.38 billion from $2.95 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of $1.28 a share on revenue of $3.3 billion. New orders rose 9% to 6,598 homes during the quarter. “We have consistently believed that the housing market is continuing its slow and steady recovery, and we have crafted our operating strategies specifically to position our company to grow at a measured pace and to act opportunistically in these market conditions,” said chief executive Stuart Miller, in the earnings release.

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Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Hungarian-born actress who was mostly famous for being famous, died Sunday. Though she never admitted her birth date, she was believed to be 99. Her longtime publicist, Edward Lozzi, said the cause of death was heart failure. Gabor was one of Hollywood’s most glamorous celebrities during the 1950s and ’60s, a society figure known more for her gregarious personality and wit than her work in film and TV. One of Hollywood’s first “celebutantes,” Gabor was the predecessor to such modern celebrities as Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. Gabor was married nine times, and once quipped: “A girl must marry for love, and keep on marrying until she finds it.”

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Cold air, rain and snow across the eastern U.S. triggered airport delays in the nation’s capital and major traffic pileups in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Authorities said two people were killed in an accident in Baltimore involving a tanker carrying gasoline that skidded off a highway and exploded, the Associated Press said. Officials said at least 15 were injured in the 55-vehicle pileup and tanker explosion on Interstate-95 in Maryland. In Virginia, State Police said 41 traffic crashes were reported in the northern part of the state. It was unclear how many were because of slick roads. One fatality was reported, the AP said. Two airports serving the nation’s capital were experiencing flight delays or cancellations on Saturday. In central North Carolina, light freezing rain caused scores of traffic accidents, adding to the road problems scattered throughout the Eastern U.S.

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Twitter Inc.’s Vine mobile video app got a new lease on life. The social media company on Friday said that it plans to transition the app to a pared down version dubbed Vine Camera in January rather than completely shutting it down as it had previously announced. “With this camera app you’ll still be able to make six-second looping videos, and either post them directly to Twitter or save them to your phone,” said the company in a statement posted on Medium. Vine will also make it easier for people to follow video makers on Twitter and allow downloads, the company said. Twitter shares fell 0.5% after hours.

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Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. will change its name to “RH”, effective Jan. 1, the upscale home furnishing company said Friday in a filing. The decision does not require stockholder approval and the company has amended its bylaws to reflect the pending change, according to the retailer. The company’s stock will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under its current ticker symbol. Shares were up 0.3% after hours.

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Express Scripts Holding Co. said late Friday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that its board increased the pharmacy-benefits manager’s share buyback program. Express Scripts said the program was increased by 65 million shares, or by $4.54 billion going by Friday’s closing stock price, for a total authorization of 330 million shares. Express Scripts shares were unchanged at $69.92 after hours, following a 1.1% gain Friday.

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U.S. stocks gave up opening gains and ended Friday’s session lower, as news that a Chinese vessel seized an underwater U.S. Navy drone in international waters dented earlier optimism. The main indexes showed mixed weekly performance, during which the Federal Reserve delivered a quarter-percentage point rate hike and signaled further tightening in 2017. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 9.65 points or less than 0.1%, at 19,842.59 but booked a 0.4% weekly gain. The S&P 500 declined 3.97 points, or 0.2%, to 2,258.06 and closed the week down by less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite ended the session off 19.69 points, or 0.4%, at 5,437.16 and booked a 0.1% loss over the week.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama defended his administration’s handling of hacking by Russia, and added that Russian interference ended after he confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin about it. Obama said by then, Wikileaks already got ahold of sensitive information. He said it was worth “taking the time” to consider how to respond to the Russian interference. Obama didn’t present any evidence that Russia interfered with the election directly. See continued coverage of the Obama press conference.

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Oil futures settled higher Friday, fueling a weekly gain of about 0.8%, on growing expectations that major oil producers will be successful in their pledge to curb production at the start of the new year. January West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1, or 2%, to settle at $51.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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