Category: Stock Market News

The Senate Banking panel on Thursday approved Marvin Goodfriend’s nomination to a seat on the Federal Reserve board, in a close 13-12 vote that followed party lines. Final approval by the full Senate remains in doubt, analysts said, as liberal activists have urged Democrats to oppose the nomination. Goodfriend, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, had a rough confirmation hearing last month, getting flustered as Democrats grilled him for being much too worried about inflation at the expense of unemployed workers.

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Snap Inc. shares are down 8.1% in Thursday morning trading, on track for their 7th-biggest-ever decline, after the stock rose 48% a day earlier on the heels of the company’s better-than-expected earnings release. That rally was more than four times Snap’s prior record gain of 11.4%. The company is hoping to capitalize on the Winter Olympics, which kicked off Wednesday. CFO Andrew Vallero said on Snap’s earnings call that the company was the “biggest mobile partner” for the games and had success at the Summer Olympics two years back. Separately, Twitter Inc. CFO Ned Segal said in response to a question about the Olympics that there were “a number of events coming up this year” that presented opportunities. Snap is planning to present at a Goldman Sachs technology conference on Feb. 15. Shares are up 12% from their IPO price of $17, while the S&P 500 Index has gained 13% since Snap went public last March.

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Amazon.com Inc. has launched two private-label women’s denim brands, which could have a “modest impact” on Gap Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. , according to KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts led by Edward Yruma. The two brands are Hale and Denim Crush. Hale was designed by Adriano Goldschmid, who is behind the AG Jeans, Diesel and Gap 1969 brands. KeyBanc has identified 85 private-label Amazon brands, including 71 apparel brands, with many of them designated as Prime exclusive. “We view the continued push as detrimental to many of the traditional apparel companies under our coverage, and see Amazon’s entrance to premium denim as most negative to Gap (denim focus but lower price points), VFC Corp. (denim, but lower price points), and Nordstrom (strong premium denim assortment),” analysts wrote. Among VFC’s brands are Wrangler and Lee. Amazon shares are up more than 69% for the past year, outpacing Gap (up 36.8%), VFC (up 63.4%) and Nordstrom (up 7.7%) for the period. The S&P 500 index is up 15.3% for the last 12 months.

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Boeing Co. shares are down 2.2% in Thursday morning trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was holding talks to acquire Woodward Inc. , a maker of aerospace parts. The two companies have reportedly been talking for months, the report said, citing someone familiar with the companies’ discussions. Woodward shares have gained 6.6% following the story. A deal could potentially help Boeing keep costs down as it battles for share with Airbus Group , the Journal wrote, noting that the company is also trying to do a deal for Embraer . Boeing shares are up 103% over the past 12 months, while Woodward’s stock is up 19% and the S&P 500 Index has gained 17%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, of which Boeing is a component, is up 23%.

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The National Retail Federation is forecasting a 3.8% to 4.4% increase in retail sales for 2018. The forecast includes online and other non-store sales, which are expected to grow 10% to 12%. “With consumer confidence high, unemployment low and wages growing, there is every reason to believe that retail sales will be robust throughout the year,” said NRF Chief Executive Matthew Shay in a statement. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is up 5.6% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 15.7% for the period and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 24.1%.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday that domestic supplies of natural gas fell by 119 billion cubic feet for the week ended Feb. 2. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts had forecast a decrease of 109 billion, while the five-year average withdrawal is 151 billion. Total stocks now stand at 2.078 trillion cubic feet, down 503 billion cubic feet from a year ago, and 393 billion below the five-year average, the government said. March natural gas was up 2.3 cents, or 0.9%, at $2.726 per million British thermal units, little changed from before the data.

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she’ll vote against a two-year budget deal that would boost domestic and defense spending. The California Democrat has demanded a vote on protecting Dreamers, but the issue of undocumented immigrants isn’t in the budget measure. The Senate and House are expected to vote later Thursday on the bill, which would also stave off a government shutdown at midnight and suspend the debt limit through March 2019. Read: What’s in the budget deal.

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Shares of Ubiquiti Networks Inc. plunged 14% in Thursday morning trading after the company delivered fiscal second-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ expectations. Ubiquiti reported a net loss of $51.5 million or 66 cents per share, compared with a $60.6 million profit a year ago, or 74 cents on a per-share basis. The company attributed the loss to a $110.7 million tax charge incurred as a result of the new law. Adjusted net income was $59.6 million or 76 cents per share, down from $74.9 million and 92 cents, respectively, a year earlier. Analysts had been expecting adjusted net income of $71.8 million or 89 cents per share, according to FactSet. Revenue rose to $250.8 million from $213.5 million and came in ahead of expectations for $239.9 million. Looking ahead to the fiscal third quarter, Ubiquiti projected revenue of between $245 million and $260 million as well as adjusted EPS of between 92 cents and 99 cents. The midpoints of these ranges are below the FactSet consensus estimates calling for $255 million in revenue and 98 cents in EPS. Ubiquiti shares are up 6.6% over the past 12 months, whereas the S&P 500 Index has gained 17%.

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Salesforce.com Inc. said Thursday it is planning to invest $2 billion in its Canadian business in the next five years. The announcement came ahead of a meeting between Salesforce Chief Executive Mark Benioff and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the company’s headquarters in San Franciso later Thursday. More than 6,000 Canadian companies use Salesforce’s software, the company said, including Air Canada, Husky Energy and TD Bank. Shares were slightly lower Thursday, but have gained 35% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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The U.S. central bank is “a long way away” from having to raise interest rates due to higher inflation caused by higher labor costs, said Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, on Thursday. In a moderated discussion in Pierre, South Dakota, Kashkari said the January jobs report, which caused the violent market reaction, was actually only “mixed” in terms of wage growth. “If you dig beneath the surface, wages went up a little but hours went down. And so it was not actually a resoundingly strong report in terms of the outlook for wages,” Kashkari said. “We need to see that wages are going to go up consistently across the board. We need to see that that is actually going to translate into inflation,” he said. He noted wages can rise without even sparking higher inflation. Kashkari is not a voting member this year. He dissented from all three rate hikes last year, saying the Fed should hold steady until inflation moves up toward the central bank’s 2% target.

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