Category: Stock Market News

Oil futures settled sharply lower on Friday to tally a weekly loss of about 1.5%. Recent reports show record crude production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, fueling expectations that the group of major oil producers will not be able to finalize a deal to curb output later this month. December West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.25, or 2.8%, to settle at $43.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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U.S. stocks retreated on Friday as a dramatic postelection rally ran out of steam. The S&P 500 index fell 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,163. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , which surged to record highs on Thursday, slid 18 points, or 0.1%, to 18,793. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 21 points, or 0.3%, to 5,193. Oil prices moved sharply lower, weighing on energy shares. Amazon.con Inc. weighed on the technology sector as the tech giant was on track for a fifth straight weekly loss. Other big tech losers were Chinese e-commerce giant Baidu Inc. and Apple Inc. . The S&P was on track for its best week since October 2014, while the Dow was on track for its best week since December 2011.

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Alibaba Group Holding Limited said Thursday that sales settled through Alipay in the first five minutes of of the 2016 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, known as Singles Day, exceeded $1 billion. “Chinese consumers purchased more in the first hour of 11.11 this year than the entire 24 hours in 2013,” said Chief Executive Daniel Zhang in a statement. The annual shopping day kicked off at 12 a.m. China time. Sales at the 19 hour 37 minute mark, according to Alibaba’s live blog of the shopping event, reached $15 billion. Total sales in 2015 were $14.3 billion. Alibaba shares are down 1.2% in premarket trading, but up 16.1% for the year so far. The S&P 500 Index is up 6% for 2016 to date.

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J.C. Penney Co. Inc. shares sank 7.3% in Friday premarket trading after the retailer reported a third-quarter sales miss. THe company had a net loss of $67 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with a loss of $115 million, or 38 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted loss per share was 21 cents, in line with the FactSet consensus. Sales totaled $2.86 billion, down from $2.90 billion last year and below the $2.95 billion FactSet estimate. Same-store sales declined 0.8%, below the 2.2% increase FactSet forecast. J.C. Penney expects positive adjusted EPS for full-year 2016 and same-store sales up 1% to 2%. The FactSet consensus expects full-year EPS of 14 cents and same-store sales growth of 2.2%. J.C. Penney shares are up 32.3% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 6% for the same period.

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United Parcel Service plans to invest more than $400 million to build a package sorting facility in Atlanta, Georgia. The regional hub will be the third largest processing facility in the UPS network and will create 1,250 jobs, UPS said in a statement Thursday. It is expected to become operational by the end of 2018. Shares in UPS were unchanged in premarket trading Friday.

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Singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen has died at the age of 82. “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away,” a statement read on his Facebook page late Thursday. The statement did not include the cause of death. Cohen is perhaps best known for his 1967 song “Suzanne” and 1984’s “Hallelujah.” Cohen’s career spanned five decades, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

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Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC reported Thursday that it owned 2.5 million shares of Apple Inc. and 2.6 million shares of Alibaba Group Holdings at the end of September, according to a regulatory filing. It raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. to 550,000 shares and increased its position in Facebook Inc. to 5.5 million shares versus 3.8 million previously. Third Point’s new holdings also included Visa Inc. and Humana Inc. . However, the hedge fund trimmed its stakes in Allergan PLC to 3.8 million from more than 5.4 million at the end of June and it no longer listed Activision Blizzard Inc. among the list of stocks it owned.

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Shares of Nvidia Corp. skyrocketed late Thursday after the chip maker reported fiscal third-quarter 2017 earnings well above expectations and raised its dividend. Nvidia said it earned $542 million, or 83 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter, from $246 million, or 44 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, the company said it earned $570 million, or 94 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $255 million, or 46 cents a share, a year ago. Sales rose to $2 billion, 54% higher than the $1.3 billion it reported a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $1.69 billion in the quarter. Nvidia raised its dividend by 22% to 14 cents a share, from 11.5 cents a share, to be paid on Dec. 19 to shareholders of record Nov. 28.

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Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. shares fell 2.4% in Thursday after-hours trading after the luxury apparel and handbag company forecast fiscal full-year results that were below consensus. Net income was $160.9 million, or 95 cents per share, down from $193.1 million, or $1.01 per share, for the same period last year. The FactSet consensus was 88 cents per share. Revenue totaled $1.09 billion, down from $1.13 billion last year, but in line with the FactSet consensus. Same-store sales fell 5.4%, beating the FactSet estimate for a 5.8% decline. Results were impacted by declines in mall traffic and tourism in major cities, along with pullbacks in the wholesale channel, said Chief Executive John Idol in a statement. Micheal Kors now expects fiscal 2017 revenue of about $4.55 billion and earnings per share in the range of $4.32 to $4.38. Adjusted EPS is forecast in the range of $4.37 to $4.43. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $4.64 billion and EPS of $4.58. Michael Kors shares are up 29.2% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 6% for the same period.

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The Walt Disney Co. reported disappointing earnings and revenue Thursday, as the company’s cable networks took a hit from lower advertising revenue and higher costs for ESPN. The media conglomerate reported net income of $1.77 billion, or $1.10 a share, on sales of $13.1 billion, with adjusted earnings the same on a per-share basis. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Disney to report adjusted earnings of $1.16 a share on revenue of $13.5 billion. Cable networks’ operating income fell $207 million year-over-year to $1.4 billion, and ESPN was a big reason why, Disney said. “The decrease at ESPN reflected lower advertising and affiliate revenue and higher programming and production costs,” Disney said in its earnings announcement. “Lower advertising revenue was primarily due to fewer impressions and lower rates.” ESPN has suffered from cord-cutting and the rising price for rights to live sports broadcasts. Disney stock, which ended Thursday’s session with a gain of 0.3%, fell more than 3% in late trading.

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