Category: Stock Market News

Humana Inc. reported earnings for the second quarter Wednesday, which rose to $636 million, or $2.06 per share, from $793 million, or $2.85 per share in the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings-per-share were $2.30, compared with the FactSet consensus of $2.21. The company’s “consolidated revenue,” which includes investment income, rose to $14.0 billion from $13.7 billion. The FactSet revenue consensus was $13.6 billion. Humana said it would not host a conference call this quarter nor does it expect to do so for future quarters, given its planner merger with Aetna, which the Department of Justice challenged last month in court. Humana’s stock had lost 4.2% over the last three months, compared with a 4.5% rise inn the S&P 500 .

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MasterCard Inc. said on Wednesday 80% of its consumer credit cards in the U.S now have EMV chips, which the company said represents an 88% increase in chip card adoption since the last year’s Oct. 1 chip card liability shift. The shift put the responsibility for fraud on merchants if customers have a chip card, but they don’t use it. Chip cards, primarily when used with a pin number, are a more secure payment method than magnetic stripe. MasterCard also said it has 1.7 million chip-active merchants on its network, which would represent nearly 30% of the U.S. merchant population. MasterCard shares have dropped more than 2% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up more than 5%.

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Intercontinental Exchange Inc. said Wednesday it plan a 5-for-1 stock split, subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission and shareholders. The provider of futures, stock and option exchanges also authorized a $1 billion stock buyback program. “This announcement reflects our consistently strong growth in earnings and cash flow generation, as well as our commitment to returning capital as we build on our decade-long track record of earnings growth,” said Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher. Separately, the company reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has gained 3% year to date to close Tuesday at $263.93, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.5%.

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Kate Spade & Co. shares dropped 0.8% in Wednesday premarket trading after the clothing and accessories company lowered its full-year 2016 guidance. Second-quarter net income totaled $26.8 million, or 21 cents per share, up from $8.5 million, or 7 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings were 19 cents per share, beating the 14 cents per share FactSet consensus. Revenue for the quarter was $319.7 million, up from $281.1 million for the same period last year and above the $318 million FactSet estimate. The results fell below the company’s expectations due largely to the retail landscape and tourist headwinds, according to Craig Leavitt, chief executive of Kate Spade. Kate Spade updated its full-year 2016 guidance, now expecting sales between $1.37 billion and $1.40 billion, down from previous revenue guidance in the range of $1.39 billion to $1.41 billion. The company now expects earnings per share in the range of 63 cents to 70 cents, down from previous guidance of 70 cents to 80 cents. Full-year FactSet estimates are for sales of $1.408 billion and earnings of 78 cents per share. Kate Spade shares are up 13.3% for the year so far, while the S&P 500 Index is up 5.5% for the same period.

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Time Warner Inc. shares jumped nearly 2% in premarket trade after the company reported improved second-quarter earnings and said it has invested 10% in streaming service Hulu — a joint venture of Walt Disney Co. , 21st Century Fox Inc. and Comcast Corp. . Time Warner’s net income for the quarter was $952 million, or $1.20 per share, compared with $971 million, or $1.16 per share during the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings for the quarter came in at $1.29 per share, well above the FactSet consensus of $1.16 per share. Revenue during the quarter hit $6.95 billion, down compared with the $7.35 billion the company reported in the year earlier period. The FactSet revenue consensus was for $7.06 billion. Revenue at Warner Bros. film studio fell more than 19% in the quarter to $2.66 billion, while revenue at Turner and HBO saw improvements. Shares of Time Warner are down nearly 14% in the last 12 months, but are up more than 17% in the year to date, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up more than 5%.

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. plans to buy Allergan PlC’s Anda Inc. distribution business for $500 million, Allergan said Wednesday morning. Anda Inc. distributes a variety of pharmaceutical products but particularly generic pharmaceuticals, and is the fourth largest distributor of in the U.S., according to Allergan. The purchase marks a continuing trend towards consolidation in the generics and pharmaceutical distribution space. Allergan said the Anda business will be reported as discontinued operations starting in the second quarter, with the business expected to generate $375 in net sales and about 5 cents per share in the second quarter, amounting to about $1.5 billion in net sales for 2016 and about 15 cents per share in 2016. Teva’s shares dropped 20.9% in the year to date, compared to a 5.5% rise in the S&P 500 in the same period.

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An Emirates airplane caught on fire following a crash landing on Wednesday in Dubai, according to multiple media reports. All passengers on Emirates flight EK521 were evacuated safely and no injuries have been reported so far, Dubai authorities said on Twitter. All 275 passengers and crew have been safely evacuated, and all flights at the airport have been delayed, the authorities also said. Emirates described the incident as “an accident” in one tweet. The Boeing 777 had flown to the United Arab Emirates city from the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram.

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Genworth Financial Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Tuesday after the insurer topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Genworth shares jumped 18% to $3.25 a share after hours. The company reported fiscal second-quarter net operating income of 25 cents a share on revenue of $2.24 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 21 cents a share on revenue of $2.08 billion.

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The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, said Tuesday that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 1.3 million barrels in the latest week, according to news reports. Oil futures gained ground in electronic trade after settling at a nearly 4-month low. September crude traded at $39.72 a barrel, up 0.5% from Tuesday’s regular trading session close. The API data is watched as traders await official inventory data due Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration. A survey by The Wall Street Journal found analysts forecasting a 900,000 barrel decline in crude inventories and a 200,000 barrel drop in gasoline stocks.

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Electronic Arts Inc. shares swung between gains and losses Tuesday afternoon after the video game publisher exceeded earnings expectations but came up light on projections for the current quarter. EA reported net income of $440 million, or $1.40 a share, on sales of $1.27 billion; after adjustments for deferred revenue and other factors, EA reported earnings of 7 cents a share on sales of $682 million. Analysts expected an adjusted loss of 2 cents a share on sales of $651 million on average, according to FactSet. For the current quarter, in which EA will stop adjusting its financials for deferred revenue, the company projects a loss of 17 cents a share on sales of $915 million, while analysts on average expected revenue of $1.11 billion, according to FactSet. Later Tuesday afternoon, an EA spokesman emailed MarketWatch to say that the FactSet consensus was based on adjusted revenue, and that EA’s adjusted forecast would be $1.08 billion, closer to analysts’ projections. EA stock added 2%, then fell to a loss of 2% before settling closer to the closing price of $76.78 in late trading.

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