Category: Stock Market News

Swift Transportation Co. shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the trucking company announced its founder and chief executive Jerry Moyes would retire. Swift shares jumped 8.5% to $21.40 after hours. Moyes founded Swift 50 years ago. The company said President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Stocking, 46, and Moyes will serve as co-CEOs until Dec. 31, after which Moyes will retire.

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Finisar Corp. hit a 52-week high in Thursday trading, then soared 12% higher in after-hours action following an earnings beat. The Silicon Valley networking company reported profit of $23.95 million, or 22 cents a share, on sales of $341.3 million; after adjustments for stock-based compensation and other costs, Finisar claimed earnings of 38 cents a share. Analysts on average expected adjusted earnings of 30 cents a share on sales of $334 million, according to FactSet. The company also predicted the current quarter would far surpass expectations, predicting adjusted earnings of 44 cents to 50 cents a share on sales of $355 million to $375 million. Analysts on average were forecasting earnings of 32 cents a share on sales of $344 million, according to FactSet. Chief Executive Jerry Rawls attributed the performance to booming sales of certain transceivers and switches in Thursday’s news release. Finisar hit a 52-week intraday high of $23.65 Thursday before closing with a 1.8% decline at $23.23, but shares neared $26 in late trading; Finisar has not traded at more than $25 since 2014.

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Shares of Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. [r: rh] rose more than 5% late Thursday as the retailer beat Wall Street sales and per-share earnings expectations but reported declining sales after a double-digit increase last year. Restoration Hardware said it earned $7 million, or 17 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with $30 million, or 71 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2015. Adjusted for one-time items, Restoration Hardware said it earned 44 cents a share, compared with 85 cents a share a year ago. Revenue reached $543 million in the quarter, from $507 million in the year-ago period, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 29 cents a share on sales of $512 million. Comparable-store sales fell 3% in the quarter, versus 16% growth for the same quarter last year. Restoration Hardware shares ended the regular session up 1.2%.

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Oil futures Thursday settled at their highest settlement in almost two weeks after data showed the largest drop in crude supplies in 17 years. October West Texas Intermediate crude gained $2.12, or 4.7%, to settle at $47.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said domestic crude supplies fell 14.5 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 2 versus a 425,000-barrel increase projected by analysts.

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Gett, a ride-hailing company, is integrating with Google Maps in the U.S., the company announced Thursday. Uber is already integrated with Google Maps . When using the Google Maps app for directions on iOS or Android phones, users will see pickup times, travel time and an estimated fare for a Gett car. The user can tap the Gett car on the map to open the app. Gett cars are operating in more than 60 cities internationally.

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Oil futures rallied on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies dropped by 14.5 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 2. A 425,000-barrel climb was expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, while the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday reported a decline of 12.1 million barrels. A recent hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico had caused a shut down of production in the region last week. Gasoline supplies fell 4.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 3.4 million barrels, according to the EIA. October crude rose $1.38, or 3%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $46.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $46.20 before the data.

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Shares of Nike Inc. took a nearly 2% slide after being downgraded to neutral from overweight at Piper Jaffray. Analysts at Piper Jaffray, led by Erinn Murphy, wrote in a note to clients the resurgence of Adidas has taken a toll on Nike’s growth rate in Germany, the U.K. and France. “Adidas’ strength is undisputed in the market with the brand eclipsing the growth rate of Nike for several athletic retailers since earlier this year,” Murphy wrote. “While we recognize that Adidas is not new news and we saw signposts to this trend back [in the spring], we believe Adidas’ strength has been accelerating.” Adidas footwear classics like the Superstar, Stan Smith and the Gazelle styles have been working well for the company. Murphy said increased competition is also coming from classic styles from New Balance and Adidas-owned Reebok, Under Armour and Puma , which is starting to make a comeback. “Bottom line, we believe these competitive pressures could weigh on Nike for the next 6-12 month period.” Shares of Nike are down more than 9% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 7%.

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Apple Inc. says it will no longer release first-weekend pre-order sales data beginning with the iPhone 7, because it expects to run into supply issues, according to a statement. The company said it expects to sell out of the iPhone 7, given the fact that it is launching in more countries than usual over the first weekend and there is limited supply. “We are now at a point where we know before taking the first customer pre-order that we will sell out of iPhone 7,” the company said. “These initial sales will be governed by supply, not demand, and we have decided that it is no longer a representative metric for our investors and customers.” The company also reiterated its financial guidance for the September quarter. Shares of Apple fell 2.4% to $105.77 in morning trade. They’re down 6.9% in the past three months, versus a 2.6% increase for the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Analysts at Cowen and Co. started covering Tesla Motors Inc. stock, giving it their equivalent of a sell rating in a note to clients Thursday. There’s “execution risk” within the next year and a half, and the impending deal to buy SolarCity Corp. adds complexity at a time Tesla would do better focusing on its battery factory and the Model 3 launch, the analysts said in the note. They set a price target of $160 for Tesla, which represents a 16% downside from Thursday’s prices. According to FactSet, analysts covering Tesla average a price target of $243.53 on the stock and most rate it neutral.

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Natural-gas futures extended earlier gains on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 36 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 2. That was below the average rise of 42 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.437 trillion cubic feet, up 196 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 306 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. October natural gas rose 9.7 cents, or 3.6%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $2.773 per million British thermal units. It traded at $2.745 before the data.

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