Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Kindred Healthcare Inc. sank in Monday’s extended session after the healthcare company posted wider losses and announced its decision to exit the nursing facility business. Kindred reported its third-quarter loss widened to $685.6 million, or $7.89 a share, from a loss of $14.6 million, or 17 cents a share, a year ago. Kindred cited various items including impairment and restructuring charges for deeper losses. Revenue grew to $1.79 billion from $1.76 billion. The company also plans to exit the nursing facility business as part of its growth strategy. “This decision will reduce annual rent obligations by approximately $90 million and annual capital expenditures by approximately $30 million,” said Kindred in a statement. For 2016, the company projected revenue of $7.2 billion and earnings of 70 cents a share to 80 cents a share. Kindred shares plunged 18% after hours.

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Gap Inc.’s same-store sales fell 1% in October, hurt by a fire at its distribution center in Fishkill, New York, the retailer said Monday. The clothing company also projected its third-quarter earnings per share in the range of 50 cents to 51 cents and adjusted EPS at 59 cents to 60 cents. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are projecting an average of 53 cents a share. Gap’s stock edged up 0.1% after hours.

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Depomed Inc. fell more than 12% in late trading Monday after a disappointing quarterly earnings report that showed weaker than expected sales for the company’s two biggest drugs. Depomed reported a net loss of $12.9 million, or 21 cents a share, on sales of $110.5 million; after adjustments for stock-based compensation and other factors, Depomed claimed profit of 28 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Depomed to report adjusted profit of 35 cents a share on sales of $126.8 million. The shortfall came from weak sales of painkillers Nucynta and Gralise, which came in at $65.3 million and $20.6 million, well below projections from Depomed and analysts. “Although our third quarter revenues increased by 5% over the previous year’s quarter, they did not meet our expectations, as several factors, including a disconnect between prescription demand and wholesaler shipments, influenced net sales of the Nucynta franchise and Gralise,” Chief Executive Jim Schoeneck explained in Monday’s announcement. Depomed shares — which have been volatile all year due to an activist-investor campaign, acquisition attempt, a big court win and reports of a potential sale effort — fell to less than $20.50 in late trading, after closing with a 1% gain at $22.89.

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Shares of Priceline Group Inc. rose nearly 3.9% late Monday after the online travel site reported third-quarter per-share earnings and sales above expectations. Priceline said it earned $506 million, or $10.13 a share, in the quarter, compared with $1.2 billion, or $23.41 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Priceline said it earned $1.6 billion, or $31.18 a share, in the quarter, compared with $25.35 a share a year ago. Sales rose to $3.69 billion in the quarter, from $3.10 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of $29.92 a share on sales of $3.62 billion in the quarter. The company said its profits were dragged down by a non-cash charge of $941 million relating to OpenTable, the company’s online restaurant reservation business it acquired in 2014. Priceline said the charge is related to changes in OpenTable’s business strategy “as it relates to OpenTable’s international expansion and other growth opportunities.” The change in strategy resulted in OpenTable updating its forecasted financial results to reflect a “material reduction” in forecasted long-term financial results from the initiatives, Priceline said. “While OpenTable will continue to pursue these growth opportunities, they will do so on a more measured and deliberate basis,” it said. Shares of Priceline had ended the regular session up 3.9%.

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U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 index snapping a historic 9-day losing streak, after FBI Director James Comey’s revelation that the bureau won’t pursue charges against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sparked a sharp relief rally. Stocks rallied into the close, with the S&P 500 climbing 46.34 points, or 2.2%, to 2,131.52, with financial shares seeing the largest gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 371.80 points, or 2.1%, to 18,260.08 as all of its components finished in the green. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. were among the blue-chip gauge’s best performers. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 119.80 points, or 2.4%, to 5,166.17.

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Ride-hailing startup Lyft Inc. announced Monday that it had added Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, to its board of directors. Andreeseen Horowitz is an existing investor in the company. Other board members include General Motors President Dan Ammann and Jonathan Christodoro of Icahn Capital. The company said it had “big plans” for 2017 and that it had 1 million new passengers on the Lyft platform in October.

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Gold futures dropped Monday, suffering from their largest percentage loss since Oct. 4. Prices were hit by a rally in the U.S. dollar , which climbed following news that the Federal Bureau of Investigation won’t bring charges against presidential nominee Hillary Clinton after a review into Clinton’s emails. December gold settled at $1,279.40 an ounce, down $25.10, or 1.9%. That was the lowest finish since Oct. 27, according to FactSet data.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above its 50-day moving average in intraday trade Monday for the first time in a month. The Dow was up 335 points at 18,223, while the 50-day MA, which many chart watchers view as a guide to the shorter-term trend, currently extends to 18,216. The Dow hasn’t closed above the 50-day MA since Sept. 8. Since then, it rose above the 50-day MA intraday on Sept. 22 and Oct. 10, but pulled back below it before the close. The Dow hasn’t closed above its 50-day MA line for 42 sessions; the last time it stayed below that line that long was when it was below it for the 54 sessions ending Oct. 9, 2015. Back then, the Dow soared 1,073 points over the next month.

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The Dow Jones Transportation Average surged 2.1% in morning trade Monday to break out of a resistance level that capped the index’s gains for the past eight months. That bodes well for the broader stock market, said Oppenheimer technical analyst Ari Wald, who wrote in a note to clients that “transports are a bullish tell.” Five previous rallies above 8,000 all peaked and pulled back before exceeding resistance at the 8,050 to 8,150 range. On Monday, the index was headed for the highest close since Nov. 20, 2015. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 308 points at 18,195, but still well below its Aug. 15 closing high of 18,636.05. “In terms of market leadership, we’re encouraged about the relative resiliency in the Dow Jones Transportation Average because we view it as the’right’ leadership and another piece of evidence that points to buyable weakness,” Wald wrote. He said the 2012 election period was also characterized by broader market weakness and outperformance by the Dow transports, and eventually led to a resumption of broader market strength.

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L Brands Inc. was downgraded to underperform from hold at Jefferies on Monday on concerns that Victoria’s Secret is in danger of losing its dominant position in the intimates industry. Jefferies lowered the price target to $50 from $70. “Now, the industry is becoming more fragmented (including the rise of Aerie), creating unprecedented hurdles for Victoria’s Secret,” Jefferies wrote in a note. Aerie is an American Eagle Outfitters Inc.’s brand. The bralette trend is also hurting L Brands. “Victoria’s Secret has been able to drive higher tickets by convincing consumers to trade up for push-up and padding,” Jefferies said. “However, the rise of the bralette (priced about 60% lower than regular bras) is driving average unit retail pressure, while training consumers to pay less. We estimate that every 10% shift in mix to bralettes equates to about a 7 cents hit to L Brands earnings per share and think the risk of broader price deflation is real.” Bath & Body Works, L Brands’ purveyor of soaps, candles and other fragrance items, has done well and Jefferies analysts expect the brand to have a good holiday season. But they wonder how long it can “support the business.” L Brands shares are up 1% in Monday trading, but down 31.5% for the year to date. The S&P 500 Index is up 3.8% for 2016 so far.

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