Category: Stock Market News

Baxter International Inc. said Tuesday that it increased its stock repurchase program by $1.5 billion, but kept its quarterly dividend unchanged at 13 cents a share. The health care company said the share repurchase program, which was originally approved in July 2012, is now at $1.9 billion. The company said the next dividend will be payable Jan. 3 to shareholders of record on Dec. 2. Based on the stock’s closing price of $47.62, the annual dividend of 52 cents implies a dividend yield of 1.09%, while the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield is 2.18%, according to FactSet. “These actions reflect our commitment to returning meaningful value to shareholders while also balancing reinvestment in the business to drive long-term, sustainable growth,” said Chief Financial Officer Jay Saccaro. The stock, which edged up 0.4% in premarket trade, has soared 25% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has lost 5.3% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.3%.

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CVS Health Corp. shares sank 11.3% in Tuesday premarket trading after the pharmacy chain lowered and narrowed its full-year guidance and missed on revenue. Net income was $1.54 billion, or 1.43 per share, up from $1.25 billion, or $1.10 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.64, beating the $1.57 FactSet consensus. Revenue was $44.6 billion, up from $38.6 billion, but missing the $45.3 billion FactSet consensus. Same-store sales increased 2.3%, and pharmacy same-store sales rose 3.4%. Pharmacy same-store sales were affected by about 340 basis points because of recent generic drug introductions, the company said. CVS lowered and narrowed its full-year adjusted EPS outlook to $5.81 to $5.89 from $5.77 to $5.83. For the fourth quarter, CVS expects adjusted EPS $1.64 to $1.70. Pharmacy network changes, which are expected to cause some prescriptions to migrate out of its pharmacies, and slowing subscription growth are the reason for the guidance cut. CVS expects full-year 2017 adjusted EPS in the range of $5.77 to $5.93, which includes the projected loss of more than 40 million retail prescriptions. The board has approved a new share repurchase program for up to $15 billion. CVS shares are down 14.7% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.3% for the same period.

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D.R. Horton Inc. reported Tuesday fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that rose to $283.6 million, or 75 cents a share, from $238.1 million, or 64 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was 77 cents. Revenue rose to $3.65 billion from $3.09 billion, just shy of the FactSet consensus of $3.68 billion. Home sales increased to $3.64 billion from $3.05 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $3.58 billion, while land and lot sales of $13.5 million, down from $39.0 million, missed expectations of $18.5 million. The number of homes closed rose 16% to 12,247, while the value rose 19% to $3.6 billion. Separately, the home builder raised its quarterly dividend by 25% to 10 cents a share from 8 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable Dec. 12 to shareholders of record on Nov. 28. The company affirmed its fiscal 2017 outlook for revenue of $13.4 billion to $13.8 billion. The stock, which was indicated down nearly 2% in light premarket trade, has lost 8.3% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.3%.

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SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. reported Tuesday third-quarter earnings that fell to $65.7 million, or 77 cents a share, from $98.0 million, or $1.14 a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.06. Revenue declined 2% to $485.3 million from $496.9 million, just shy of the FactSet consensus of $485.5 million. Attendance was flat, as declines in international attendance and the impact of adverse weather in the northeast U.S. was offset by increases in Florida and improving trends in Texas and California. Revenue per capital fell 2% to $58.18, missing the FactSet consensus of $58.50. The theme park company revised its 2016 outlook for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) slightly lower to $310 million to $330 million from $310 million to $340 million. “Overall, we are seeing indications of stabilization, and we believe our results by the end of 2017 and beyond will materially benefit from our focus on significant cost reductions, our brand repositioning, our strategic marketing and pricing initiatives and our continued commitment to consistent and disciplined capital investments,” said Chief Executive Joel Manby. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has plunged 28% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.3%.

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Tesla Motors Co. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire privately-held German company Grohmann Engineering for an undisclosed sum. The electric car maker said the Pruem, Germany based engineering company will become Tesla Grohmann Automation, and said it expects to add more than 1,000 skilled jobs in Germany in the next two years. The company specializes in highly automated manufacturing and will design and make several critical elements of Tesla’s automated manufacturing systems. “Combined with our California and Michigan engineering facilities, as well as other locations to follow, we believe the result will yield exponential improvements in the speed and quality of production, while substantially reducing the capital expenditures required per vehicle,” the company said in a statement. Shares were indicating slightly higher premarket, but are down 19.5% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 4%.

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Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won an early test of the presidential race, with the eight voters of the New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch casting the state’s first-in-the-nation ballots at midnight Tuesday. Clinton outpaced Republican candidate Donald Trump 4-2. There was one vote for independent candidate Gary Johnson and one voter wrote in 2012 Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Dixville Notch has a tradition of being the first community in the U.S. to announce its elections results.

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Shares of Hertz Global Holdings Inc. skidded in Monday’s extended session after the car rental company posted disappointing earnings. Hertz reported its third-quarter earnings fell to $42 million, or 49 cents a share, from $237 million, or $2.60 a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company would have earned $1.58 a share. Revenue slipped 1% to $2.54 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $2.73 a share on revenue of $2.59 billion. In the fourth quarter, Hertz expects adjusted earnings per share of 51 cents to 88 cents. Shares of Hertz fell 25% after hours.

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Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. said late Monday Chief Executive John Presley has resigned, effective Wednesday, and the company has named Dennis R. Knowles, Lumber Liquidators’ chief operating officer, Presley’s successor. Presley will resign from the company’s board of directors Dec. 15, and Knowles has been appointed to the board effective that date. Knowles joined the Toano, Va., company in March. Presley had been a director of the company since April 2006 and stepped up as CEO in November 2015 as part of a turnaround effort following the fallout from a “60 Minutes” report in March 2015 saying that Lumber Liquidators allegedly sold China-made wood flooring containing dangerous levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde.A federal ruling in June indicated that a full recall of some of the China-made flooring wasn’t necessary given that none of the tests found formaldehyde above the remediation guideline. Shares of Lumber Liquidators were flat in the extended session after ending the regular trading day down 0.6%.

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It was a history-making rally for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to Dow Jones data. The Dow industrials rallied 2.1% to 18,259.60 on Monday, along with the S&P 500 index , the Nasdaq Composite Index , and the broader global market ahead of the U.S. presidential election. In particular, for the Dow it was the sharpest rally coming the day before a presidential election since 1932. At that point, the Dow soared 3.5% on Nov. 7 1932, before Franklin D. Roosevelt won the first of four presidential terms. The rally came after head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, announced Sunday that the FBI stands behind its prior decision not to recommend charges against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, following newly found emails from her tenure as Secretary of State were reviewed. Stocks had been dealing with a nine-session decline amid uncertainty wrought by the Oct. 28 revelation that the bureau was looking at more emails, which raised fears that Republican candidate Donald Trump might win the election. A Trump victory is seen as fraught with uncertainty for stock-market investors.

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Shares of Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares rose more than 11% late Monday after the San Diego, Calif.-based company reported a loss in line with expectations and sales that were well above forecasts. The company reported a net loss of $71.6 million, or 61 cents a share, compared to a net loss of $38.9 million, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $5.27 billion in the first full quarter of full commercialization for the company’s drugs, from $39 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a per-share loss of 60 cents on sales of $2.6 billion. The stock ended the regular trading day up 6%.

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