Category: Stock Market News

Volkswagen AG [s:vlkay] plans to cut up to 23,000 jobs in Germany as it moves focus from traditional car making to electric vehicles and digital mobility, the German auto maker said in a statement Friday. The company expects its restructuring to have a positive earnings effect of 3.7 billion euros ($3.9 billion) a year from 2020, it said. In addition, VW said it is investing about 3.5 billion euros in its shift to e-mobility, including setting up a pilot plant for battery cells. As for the job cuts, VW plans to rely on partial retirement and other fluctuations in roles to avoid redundancies. Shares in Volkswagen rose 1.1% in Frankfurt after the news.

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Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has been offered the job of national security adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, according to multiple news reports. Flynn served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency until he was fired by President Obama in 2014 over his contentious leadership style. Flynn, 57 and a registered Democrat, advised Trump on national security matters during his presidential campaign. While Flynn has a distinguished military career, he has been the subject of much controversy in recent years over his radical views on Islam and social media posts spreading conspiracy theories and obscene memes. As national security adviser, Flynn’s appointment would not need Senate approval.

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Nike Inc. said late Thursday its board approved a 13% increase in the company’s quarterly dividend. The 18-cents-a-share dividend is payable Jan. 3 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 5. Shares of Nike ticked up 0.1% to $51.68 after hours, following a 1.8% climb during the regular session.

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Gap Inc. shares fell 2.3% in late Thursday trading after the retailer offered guidance that falls below the current consensus. Gap, whose brands include the namesake Gap stores, Banana Republic and Old Navy, reported third-quarter net income of $204 million, or 51 cents per share, down from $248 million, or 61 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share were 60 cents, meeting the FactSet consensus. Sales totaled $3.80 billion, also meeting the FactSet consensus. Same-store sales fell 3% for the quarter, including a negative impact of two percentage points from an August fire at the Fishkill, NY distribution center. Gap and Banana Republic both reported an 8% same-store sales decline, while Old Navy’s same-store sales rose 3%. Gap sees full-year 2016 EPS in the range of $1.41 to $1.50, and adjusted EPS in the range of $1.87 to $1.92. The FactSet consensus is $2.01. Gap shares are up 24.3% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up 7% for the same period.

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Shares of Salesforce.com Inc. soared more than 6% in after-hours trade Thursday following a stronger-than-expected earnings report. The company reported a loss of $37 million, or 5 cents a share, bigger than a year-earlier loss of $25 million, or 4 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, however, the company reported a profit of 24 cents, topping average analyst estimates of 21 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue soared 25% year-over-year to $2.14 billion, compared with the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion, prompting Salesforce to raise its fiscal 2017 revenue guidance to a range of $8.36 billion to $8.37 billion, ahead of the $8.31 billion currently forecast by Wall Street. Salesforce attributed the earnings growth to a surge in new bookings. For fiscal 2018, it is calling for revenue in the range of $10.1 billion to $10.15 billion, compared with the FactSet estimate of $10.07 billion. Prior to the after-hours rally, shares of Salesforce had been down 1.5% in the past three months, underperforming the S&P 500 , which is up 0.2%.

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Shares of Marvell Technology rose 9% in after-hours trade Thursday after the company beat third-quarter earnings expectations. It reported net income of $73 million, or 14 cents per share, compared to a loss of $54.4 million, or 11 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. It reported adjusted earnings per share of 20 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 12 cents. Marvell reported revenue of $654 million, down from $674 million in the year-earlier period and above the FactSet consensus of $615 million. Additionally, the company announced a $1 billion share buyback program and said it intends to repurchase about $500 million worth of shares in the next 12 months. Marvell issued a fourth quarter outlook of $565 million for revenue. The FactSet consensus was for revenue of $594 million. Shares of Marvell have gained 15% in the past three months, compared to the S&P 500’s gain of less than 1%

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Shares of Ross Stores Inc. gained in Thursday’s extended session after the retailer posted better-than-expected earnings. Ross reported its third-quarter earnings rose to $244.5 million, or 62 cents a share, from $215.7 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue grew 11% to $3.09 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 56 cents a share on revenue of $2.96 billion. The clothing store predicted a “very promotional” holiday season due to uncertain economic, political and retail environments but maintained its fourth-quarter same-store sales outlook at 1% to 2% growth and earnings per share of 72 cents to 75 cents versus an average estimate of 75 cents. Ross shares rose more than 2% after hours.

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Shares of Applied Materials Inc. slumped 5.1% in after-hours trade Thursday, after the chip equipment maker’s fiscal fourth-quarter sales came up a bit shy, although profit beat expectations. Earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 30 rose to $610 million, or 56 cents a share, from $336 million, or 28 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 66 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 65 cents. Revenue rose to $3.297 billion from $2.368 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $3.307 billion, as a 25% increase in the value of new orders to $3.03 billion missed expectations of $3.21 billion. For the fiscal first quarter, the company expects revenue of $3.20 billion to $3.34 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $3.14 billion, while the adjusted EPS outlook of 62 cents to 70 cents is above expectations of 59 cents. The stock has soared 65% year to date through Thursday’s close, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index has run up 31% and the S&P 500 has gained 7%.

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Amazon.com Inc. is reportedly planning to play global catchup with Netflix Inc. . Amazon is preparing to launch its streaming video service into about 200 countries, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. The Journal reported the news on Thursday following a YouTube video that hinted at the rollout. Netflix stock dropped as much as 1.4% to an intraday low of $113.56 minutes after The Journal broke the news, before paring the losses.Shares of Amazon were up more than 1% in afternoon trade and are up nearly 12% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 Index is up nearly 7%.

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Oil futures turned lower late in Thursday’s session to finish with a loss. A rise in the U.S. dollar index to multiyear highs and doubts that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will adhere to individual production quotas, even if they are set at a meeting later this month, combined to pull prices lower. Prices had spent most of the session trading higher after comments from Saudi Arabia’s oil minister fed expectations that the group will finalize its output plan. December West Texas Intermediate crude fell 15 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $45.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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