Category: Stock Market News

Univision has reportedly won a bidding war to buy beleaguered online news outlet Gawker Media for $135 million. In a report from Recode citing a person familiar with the deal, Univision topped Ziff Davis LLC in the bid for Gawker. Soon after, The Wall Street Journal confirmed the report through a source, adding that Ziff Davis withdrew from the auction after the price exceeded its threshold. Gawker filed for bankruptcy back in June after losing an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against pro wrestler Hulk Hogan. The deal would need to be approved by a bankruptcy court judge before it’s finalized.

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Cree Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Tuesday after fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and outlook fell short of Wall Street targets. Cree shares fell 6% to $25.85 after hours. The LED light maker reported adjusted earnings of 19 cents a share on revenue of $388.4 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 20 cents a share on revenue of $385.8 million. Cree forecast adjusted first-quarter earnings of 10 cents to 16 cents a share on revenue of $310 million to $330 million. Analysts expect 20 cents a share on revenue of $390.5 million.

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Oil futures fell in electronic trading Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported a bigger-than-expected 1 million-barrel decline in U.S. crude supplies, but also revealed an unexpected climb of 2.2 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles for the week ended Aug. 12, according to sources. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a drawdown of 200,000 barrels for crude and a fall of 1.8 million barrels for gasoline inventories. The closely watched Energy Information Administration report will be released Wednesday. September crude was at $46.48 a barrel in electronic trading, down from the contract’s settlement of $46.58 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Barnes & Noble Inc. said Chief Executive Ronald D. Boire is leaving the company, adding Boire was “not a good fit” for the bookseller and that his departure was “in the best interest of all parties.” Barnes & Noble will start a search for a new CEO immediately and executive chairman Leonard Riggio, alongside other executives, will assume CEO duties. Riggio was scheduled to retire in September but will postpone his retirement, the company said in a statement. Shares of Barnes & Noble were flat in late trading after ending the regular session down 1%.

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Urban Outfitters Inc. shares rose more than 10% Tuesday after the retailer reported second-quarter sales and per-share earnings that were above expectations. The parent company of Anthropologie and Vetri Family said it earned $77 million, or 66 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with $67 million, or 52 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose 3% to $891 million, from $867 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Urban Outfitters to report earnings of 55 cents a share on sales of $886 million. “Substantial” improvements in margins led to the results, the company said in a statement. Urban Outfitters shares had ended the regular trading day flat.

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The Nasdaq Composite on Tuesday ended a streak of three straight sessions of all-time closing highs and the other stock benchmarks pulled back from Monday’s records as investors fretted about hawkish statements from Federal Reserve officials. William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, made comments that put the possibility of a rate increase by the U.S. central bank on the table. Dudley’s comments came as the dollar had been falling throughout the session, with the yen strengthening sharply against the buck. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 83.03 points, or 0.5%, at 18,552.02, while the S&P 500 index dropped 12 points, or 0.6%, to 2,178.15, and the Nasdaq Composite Index finished off 34.90 points, or 0.7%, at 5,227.11, ending three straight days of all-time closing highs for the tech-heavy index. Moves for equities came as investors weighed consumer-price index data that showed U.S. inflation remains tepid.

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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s stock has done too well for Bernstein Research analyst John McDonald to stay bullish. He downgraded the banking giant to market perform from outperform, saying the stock price’s strength relative to its peers, and its approach to his target of $67, leaves “insufficient upside over the next 6-12 months” to maintain a bullish rating. His price target is just 1.2% above current levels. McDonald said the shares have now approached their historical price-to-earnings valuations, while many other bank stocks continue to trade at a discount. “In the absence a clear macro catalyst–either hope for higher [interest] rates or fear of deteriorating credit–we see the best value in names trading at a deep discount and/or with some self-help levers,” McDonald wrote in a note to clients. The stocks he covers trading at the deepest discounts are Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. . J.P. Morgan’s stock has lost 3% over the past 12 months, while shares of Bank of America have lost 15% and Citigroup have dropped 19%. The SPDR Financial ETF has shed 5% while the S&P 500 had gained 4.2%. Other banks McDonald downgraded because of valuation were Regions Financial Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. , both to market perform from outperform.

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StemCells Inc. shares jumped more than sixfold to $2.35 per share in early afternoon trade Tuesday after the company said it would merge with Israeli private company Microbot Medical Ltd. to develop robotics-based medical devices. The company closed Monday at 37 cents per share. StemCells shares dropped 53.0% over the last three months, compared with a 5.5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Gold futures settle higher Tuesday, at their highest level in almost two weeks, with a drop in the dollar and a decline in the U.S. stock market raising investor interest in the precious metal. December gold rose $9.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,356.90 an ounce. That’s the highest settlement since Aug. 4, according to FactSet data.

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Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said Aetna Inc.’s decision to withdraw from 11 of the 15 states where it offers plans through Affordable Care Act exchanges shows the law commonly known as Obamacare is “slowly imploding.” Aetna is the latest major national health insurer to pull back sharply from the law’s marketplaces after steep financial losses. Trump aide Dan Kowalski said in a statement that the Republican nominee has vowed to replace Obamacare and that “under a Trump presidency the government will work for the people again.”

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