Category: Stock Market News

Oracle Corp. said Thursday that it would be acquiring Zenedge, a cybersecurity company that helps protect cloud-based critical IT systems. The company helps businesses secure applications and databases from dangerous web traffic via its web application firewall (WAF) and distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation products, Oracle said. “The combination with Zenedge equips Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with integrated, next-generation network and infrastructure security, to address modern security threats,” said Don Johnson, Oracle’s senior vice president of product development, in a release. Zenedge’s chief executive said in the release that the company’s products contribute to a “99% reduction in illicit website traffic [and] a 99.75% improvement in page load times.” Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Oracle shares are up 19% over the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 is up 15% in that time.

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Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. said Thursday it will raise its quarterly dividend by 32% to 22.5 cents a share, from 17 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable on March 30 to shareholders of record on march 9. Based on Wednesday’s stock closing price of $33.65, the new annual dividend rate of 90 cents a share, implies a dividend yield of 2.67%, compared with the payout yield for the SPDR S&P Retail ETF of 1.50% and the implied yield for the S&P 500 of 1.89%, according to FactSet. “The significant increase in our dividend demonstrates the strength of our balance sheet and the confidence we have in our company’s future,” said Dick’s Chief Executive Edward Stack. The stock, which was little changed in premarket trade, has run up 25.3% over the past three months, while the retail ETF has climbed 14.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 5.2%.

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LyondellBasell Industries NV said Thursday it has reached an agreement to acquire plastics maker A. Schulman Inc. in a deal valued at $2.25 billion. The deal “builds upon LyondellBasell’s existing platform in this space to create a premier Advanced Polymer Solutions business with broad geographic reach, leading technologies and a diverse product portfolio,” the plastics, chemicals and reining company said in a statement. Under the terms of the agreement, A. Schulman shareholders will receive $42 per share in cash and one contingent value right per share. The combined entity will have revenue of $4.6 billion and is expected to generate run-rate cost synergies of $150 million within two years of closing and to boost earnings within the first year. The deal is expected to close in the second half. A. Schulman shares jumped 9% premarket on the news, and are up 15% in the last 12 months, matching the S&P 500’s gain.

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Shares of Shopify Inc. slumped 1.5% in premarket trade Thursday, after the cloud-based commerce platform beat fourth-quarter profit and sales expectations but providing a mixed first-quarter outlook. The net loss for the quarter to Dec. 31 narrowed to $3.0 million, or 3 cents a share, from a loss of $8.9 million, or 10 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 15 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 5 cents. Revenue rose to $222.8 million from $130.4 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $209.7 million. Monthly recurring revenue as of Dec. 31 was $29.9 million, up 62% from a year ago, while fourth-quarter gross merchandise volume increased 65% to $9.1 billion. For the first quarter, the company expects revenue of $198 million to $202 million, above the FactSet consensus of $195.6 million, and projects an adjusted operating loss of $6 million to $8 million. Based on 99.55 million shares used to calculate fourth-quarter per-share losses, the FactSet consensus of a 1-cent-per-share loss for the first quarter implies a loss of about $1.0 million. The stock has soared 40.3% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.2%

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Shares of Antares Pharma Inc. and Amag Pharmaceuticals soared in premarket trade Thursday, after Amag said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved their Makena subcutaneous auto injector drug-device combination product, a ready-to-administer treatment to reduce the risk of preterm birth in women who are pregnant with one baby and who spontaneously delivered one preterm baby in the past. Under the terms of a deal agreed between the two companies in 2014, Amag will make and supply the drug product to Antares, which will manufacture the device, assemble and package it for sale to Amag at cost plus margin. Antares will receive high single digit to low double digit royalties on sales and be eligible for milestone payments. Antares shares soared 26%, while Amag shares were up 19%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.5%.

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Avon Products Inc. reported Thursday fourth-quarter net income of $91.5 million, or 17 cents a share, after a loss of $10.7 million, or 4 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as a $50 million tax benefit, adjusted earnings per share came to 12 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 7 cents. Revenue was unchanged at $1.57 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $1.60 billion. EMEA reveue rose 3%, while North Latin America was flat, South Latin America fell 2% and Asia Pacific declined 3%. Active representatives declined 2%, while the average order and ending representatives were unchanged. Gross margin improved 0.70 percentage points to 61.0%. The beauty products company realized cost savings of over $250 million in 2017 as part of its transformation plan, exceeded its target of $230 million. “Our top line remains under pressure as we continue to operate in challenging macro and competitive conditions, particularly in our largest markets,” said Chief Financial Officer Jamie Wilson. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 20.7% over the past three months but has tumbled 61.3% the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 gained 5.2% the past three months and 14.9% the past year.

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U.S. stocks futures pushed higher early Thursday, a day after Wall Street equities booked a fourth-straight gain. Dow futures climbed 126 points, or 0.5%, to 24,987, while S&P 500 futures rose 11.35 points, or 0.4%, to 2,708.25. Nasdaq-100 futures rose 37.25 points, or 0.6%, to 6,725. On Wednesday, investors shook off data that showed a jump in consumer prices to drive a 253-point gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average . The S&P 500 rose 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.9%. Asia followed up on that upbeat day with a near 1.5% rise for the Nikkei 225 index and almost a 2% jump for the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index . European stock futures also pointed to a firmer session. The dollar was weaker Thursday, with the ICE Dollar Index dropping 0.3%.

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More than 100 top White House officials lacked permanent security clearances a year into Donald Trump’s presidency, according to separate reports Wednesday by NBC News and CNN, including the president’s daughter, son-in-law and the White House counsel. Having only an interim clearance can hinder the job performance of staffers, CNN said, since they may not be able to access all pertinent information. NBC News reported more than 130 staffers lacked permanent clearance as of November, 47 of those reporting directly to Trump. Of the 24 officials on the National Security Council, 10 — about 42% — lacked permanent clearance, NBC News reported. A number of lawmakers and former government officials said it was highly unusual for so many staffers to lack permanent clearance so long into an administration. Among the most prominent names still working with an interim clearance: Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner; White House counsel Don McGahn; and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Lacking permanent clearance does not necessarily signal they are security risks. CNN reported that staffers with sizable wealth and ties to foreign nationals and governments posed particular problems, since their finances must be vetted, which can be a long process.

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Billionaire hedge-fund investor David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management was a buyer of technology, energy and bank shares in the fourth quarter, according to a Wednesday regulatory filing. Between the end of the third and fourth quarter, Appaloosa boosted its stake in Bank of America Corp. , upping his position by 170% to 10.8 million shares. He also increased his stake in Apple Inc. , raising that investment to 3.2 million shares and raising his stake in Micron Technology Inc. to 10.45 million shares, representing his largest holding according to WhaleWisdom.com. The hedge-fund luminary also lifted his position in Facebook Inc. by about 70% to 2.2 million shares, while adding to his holdings in the tech-heavy PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 to 4.3 million shares. Meanwhile, Tepper took a long position in the exchange-traded Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF , purchasing $280 million worth, though the fund also sold call options in the ETF worth $35 million. Call options give the holder the right but not the obligation to buy an asset a set price and time. Appaloosa also made bullish bets in the energy-centered Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF for $35 million. The investor was a buyer in gambling assets, with new stakes in Caesars Entertainment Corp. , about 5.86 million shares, and MGM Resorts International , where he picked up 2.3 million shares, from the end of the third quarter. Tepper notably divested his entire stake in Kinder Morgan Inc. , Chesapeake Energy Corp. , Whirlpool Corp. and General Motors , recent filings showed. Large investors are required to reveal their long equity holdings at the end of each quarter in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Billionaire hedge fund investor David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, as previously disclosed, boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial Inc. and took a small stake in Twitter Inc. in the final quarter of 2018, while trimming holdings of General Motors Co. , according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. In a 13-F form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the fund said it boosted its holdings in Brighthouse by more than 4.2 million shares to a total of 11 million shares. It also bought nearly 2.8 million Twitter shares. Greenlight reduced its stake in GM by nearly 8.7 million shares from the end of the third quarter, leaving it with a stake of around 25.8 million shares. GM still made up the largest chunk of the fund’s reported portfolio at 19.3%, while Brighthouse was No. 2 at 11.7%, according to filings tracking firm Whalewisdom.com.

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