Category: Stock Market News

United Technologies Corp. late Wednesday said it expects adjusted earnings per share of $6.30 to $6.60 and sales in a range of $57.5 billion to $59 billion in 2017. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast earnings of $6.60 a share, on average, and revenue of $59.11 billion in 2017. United Technologies shares were mostly unchanged in late trading after closing at $109.27.

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Hologic Inc. rallied in Wednesday’s extended session after the company said it plans to sell its stake in a blood screening business to Grifols for $1.85 billion in cash. The divestment is expected to improve the company’s “financial flexibility,” said Hologic in a statement. The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter. Shares of Hologic were flat in late trade after closing at $40.79 in the regular session.

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Pier 1 Imports Inc. jumped more than 20% in late trading Wednesday after the home-furnishings retailer trounced earnings expectations, raised its quidance and announced its chairman would serve as interim CEO. Pier 1 reported quarterly net income of $13.6 million, or 17 cents a share, on sales of $475.9 million. After adjusting for costs related to Chief Executive Alex Smith’s departure, which was announced in September, Pier 1 claimed profit of 22 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Pier 1 to detail earnings of 13 cents a share, and the company had projected profit of 9 cents to 15 cents a share. “Sales trends rebounded in the second half of November, following the election, which enabled us to deliver third quarter results well ahead of our forecast,” Smith said in the announcement. The performance led Pier 1 to increase its guidance for the current quarter and full fiscal year, with adjusted earnings for the holiday quarter now expected in the range of 28 cents to 32 cents. Pier 1 also said that Chairman Terry London will take over as interim CEO at the beginning of 2017. Pier 1 stock, which closed with a 0.5% decline at $6.48, challenged the 52-week high of $7.70 in an after-hours spike after the results hit.

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Shares of Nvidia Corp. closed up 6% to a record high of $96.45 on Wednesday as shares were buoyed by a bullish analyst note at Evercore ISI. Evercore analyst CJ Muse upgraded the stock to buy and boosted his price target to $120, according to Barron’s. That would represent the highest target on the stock by a long shot, according to a poll of more than 20 analysts surveyed by FactSet. The average rating on the stock is the equivalent to buy, while the average price target is $66.07, according to FactSet. Nvidia is set to benefit from positive trends in the semiconductor market, particularly as demand for auto and industrial applications, as well as data centers and the Internet of Things, continue to grow, reported Barron’s. Shares of Nvidia have risen 60% in the past three months and nearly 200% in the past year, vastly outperforming the S&P 500 , which is up just 6% in the past three months and 11.5% in the past year.

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Shares of Athenahealth Inc. soared in Wednesday’s extended session after the company issued an upbeat forecast for 2017. Athenahealth projected revenue in a range of $1.29 billion to $1.33 billion and adjusted operating income of $170 million to $190 million in 2017. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are forecasting the provider of cloud-based systems for medical facilities to report full-year revenue of $1.29 billion and operating income of $154 million. Athenahealth shares surged 13% after hours.

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Exxon Mobil Corp. said Wednesday Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson will retire at the end of the year after 41 years with the company. Tillerson, who President-elect Donald Trump nominated to be secretary of state, was scheduled to retire in March 2017, but decided to move up the retirement given the requirements associated with the confirmation process. The oil giant said President Darren Woods has been elected chairman and CEO, effective Jan. 1. Woods, who has been president since January, had joined the company in 1992. Exxon Mobil’s stock was down 2.4% in afternoon trade, amid a sharp selloff in crude oil futures . The stock was still up 5.9% since the election, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 7.9%.

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Financial stocks seesawed back into a negative territory Wednesday, erasing a brief spike higher after the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike announcement. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF was down 0.3% just before the Fed announcement, then rose as much as 1.1% minutes after the announcement, before selling off to be down 0.4% in afternoon trade. Among the ETF’s most heavily-weighted components, Bank of America Corp.’s stock was up 1.1% pre-Fed, then was up as much as 3.1% post-Fed before paring gains to be up just 0.6%. Citigroup Inc.’s stock fell 0.3%, after running up as much as 1.7% post Fed; J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. shares pared a 1.6% post-Fed gain to be up just 0.1%; Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s stock was up 0.6%, after climbing 1.9% post Fed. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%, after peeking into positive territory minutes after the Fed.

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Oil futures settled with a loss on Wednesday, their first in five sessions. Weekly U.S. government data showed that crude inventories fell more than expected but a monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries showed that its member output climbed in November. Shortly before oil prices settled Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced its first interest-rate increase in a year, which provided a lift to the ICE U.S. Dollar Index , pressuring prices for dollar-denominated oil. January West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.94, or 3.7%, to settle at $51.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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The U.S. dollar shot higher against a host of its emerging-market rivals on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates for the second time in a decade. In it’s latest set of projections, released concurrently with its decision on rates, the central bank signaled a faster pace of hikes during the coming year, though its expectations for the pace of hikes in 2018 and 2019 was largely unchanged. The Russian ruble and South African rand were two of the worst performers in the space, with the dollar gaining 1.9% to 61.77 rubles, and 1.9% to 13.85 rand. The greenback rose 0.8%, buying 3.36 Brazilian real. It gained 0.6% to buy 3.5 Turkish lira.

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Treasury yields shot higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a decade. In addition to raising interest rates, which was widely anticipated by financial markets, the Fed signaled that it expects to raise interest rates next year more swiftly than previously thought. The median projection on the Fed’s “dot plot” showed members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee expect three rate hikes next year, though the expected pace for 2018 and 2019 was largely unchanged. The two-year Treasury yield touched 1.235%, its highest level since August 2009. The 10-year traded as high as 2.495, while the 30-year yield edged lower to 3.118%. Short-term Treasury yields are typically the most sensitive to rate-hike expectations.

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