Category: Stock Market News

The dollar slumped Friday after official data showed retail sales declined in July, snapping three straight months of strong gains. Meanwhile, the Labor Department’s producer price index showed prices paid to domestic producers for their goods declined last month, disappointing investors who had expected a slight uptick. The dollar traded at 101.30 yen after the data, compared with 101.93 yen shortly beforehand. The euro bought $1.1212 after the data, compared with $1.1167 before. The pound strengthened to $1.3021, compared with $1.2973.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

BlackBerry Ltd.’s stock climbed 2.3% toward a 4 1/2-month high in premarket trade Friday, after it was upgraded at Raymond James, which cited an upbeat outlook for the company’s software business. Analyst Steven Li raised his rating to outperform, after being at market perform for at least the last three years. He lifted his stock price target to $10.50, which is 30% above current trading levels, from $8. “Stop worrying about hardware–only positives from here on,” Li wrote in a note to clients. “We think the narrative shifts to BlackBerry software.” He said he likes what he sees in software, with 80% recurring revenue, 15% organic growth and a 30% margin for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. He also sees near-term catalysts in the company’s radar offering and the buying back of convertibles. The stock has run up 19% over the past three months through Thursday, but had still lost 15% year to date. In comparison, the S&P 500 has gained 5.9% in three months and 6.9% so far this year.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of InvenSense Inc. surged 4.3% in premarket trade Friday, after Pacific Crest turned bullish on the maker of gyroscopes used in smartphones, on the belief that the rise of Pokemon Go and augmented reality will create a “significant opportunity.” Analyst John Vinh upgraded InvenSense to overweight, after being at sector weight since October 2014. His stock price target of $9 is 27% above current trading prices. “Without a gyro in a smartphone, users are unable to effectively play Pokemon Go today because of limited navigation capabilities,” Vinh wrote in a note to clients. He sees opportunities for InvenSense in a 500 million unit total addressable market, with every 10% market share raising his 2018 earnings-per-share estimate by 11 cents. The stock has tumbled 34% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 index has gained 6.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Airgain Inc. said Friday it priced its initial public offering at $8.00 a share. The provider of embedded antenna technologies sold 1.5 million shares to raise $12 million. The stock will start trading later Friday on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ‘AIRG.’ Northland Capital Markets and Wunderlich were joint book-running managers on the deal.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. shares fell 2.4% in Friday premarket trading after the retailer reported narrower-than-expected second-quarter losses, though sales were just below estimates. Net loss for the quarter was $56 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a loss of $117 million, or 38 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted losses were 5 cents per share, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 14-cents-per-share loss. Sales for the quarter totaled $2.918 billion, up from $2.875 billion for the same period last year, and just below the $2.928 billion FactSet consensus. Same-store sales grew 2.2%, meeting the FactSet estimate. J.C. Penney reaffirmed full-year 2016 guidance, with same-store sales expected to increase 3% to 4% against a FactSet consensus of 2.2%. J.C. Penney shares are up 49.3% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 6.9% for the same period.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Endo International plc said Friday it is withdrawing its supplemental new drug application relating to specific abuse deterrent labeling for Opana, an opioid agonist used to manage severe pain. The company said the decision was made following discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and that it would continue to analyze data relating to the drug. The company’s financial forecasts for 2016 did not assume approval of the application. “We anticipate the generation of additional data and we will seek collaboration with FDA to appropriately advance OPANA(R) ER,” said Sue Hall, Ph.D., executive vice president, chief scientific officer and global head of research & development and quality at Endo. Opana is used for pain that is so severe it requires daily, around-the-clock opoid treatment. Shares rose 4.7% in premarket trade, but are down 62% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained about 7%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Nvidia Corp. hit record highs Thursday, then rose even more in late trading after beating earnings expectations. The graphics-chip specialist reported net income of $253 million, or 40 cents a share, on sales of $1.43 billion. Analysts on average expected Nvidia to report profit of 37 cents a share on revenue of $1.35 billion, according to FactSet. “Strong demand for our new Pascal-generation GPUs and surging interest in deep learning drove record results,” Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang said in Thursday’s news release. Nvidia hit an all-time intraday high of $59.95 before closing with a 2% gain at $59.70 Thursday; in immediate late trading after the earnings report was released, shares neared $62.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Ruby Tuesday Inc. shares sank 10.2% in Thursday after-hours trading after the restaurant chain reported quarterly losses and said it would close about 95 underperforming restaurants by next month. Ruby Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $27.6 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with net income of $4.3 million, or 7 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings totaled 10 cents per share, missing the 11 cents-per-share FactSet estimate. Revenue totaled $279.3 million, down from $296.8 million last year and below the $285 million FactSet consensus. Same-restaurant sales fell 3.7%. Ruby Tuesday announced a turnaround initiative that includes food and beverage improvements and restaurant redesigns. The closures, part of that initiative, are a large portion of the $43.8 million expense that reduced net earnings. Employees impacted by the closures will be offered positions in nearby locations, when possible. Ruby Tuesday had 724 restaurants as of May 31, 2016. The restaurant’s stock is down 45.3% for the past year while teh S&P 500 Index is up 4.9% for the same period.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Nordstrom Inc. rose more than 10% late Thursday after the retailer reported sales in line with expectations and earnings above forecast. Nordstrom said it earned $117 million, or 67 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $221 million, or $1.11 a share, in the year-ago period. Sales reached $3.6 billion, down 0.2% from $3.7 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Nordstrom to report earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $3.7 billion. “Over the past several quarters, our team has been actively addressing our inventory, expense and capital, and in the second quarter, made substantial progress by bringing down inventory in-line with sales,” Blake Nordstrom, Nordstrom’s co-president, said in a statement. “Those efforts, along with the strength of our Anniversary Sale and a great response from customers to that event, drove better than expected results for the second quarter.” Shares of Nordstrom ended the regular trading session up 7.5%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

One year after its Wall Street debut, Planet Fitness Inc. stock jumped to new highs Thursday after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The chain of gyms said net income in the second quarter reached $18.1 million, or 11 cents a share, on revenue of $91.5 million; after adjustments for interest and other factors, the company claimed profit of 17 cents a share. Analysts on average expected Planet Fitness to report adjusted earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $85 million, according to FactSet. Analysts also projected same-store sales to grow 5.9% in the period, FactSet reported, while Planet Fitness said same-store sales jumped 7.6%. After closing with a 0.8% gain at $20.33 Thursday, Planet Fitness shares topped the all-time intraday high of $21.06 in late trading.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News