Category: Stock Market News

Office Depot Inc. said it planned to hire 8,000 seasonal workers for the back-to-school season, up from 6,000 a year ago. The seasonal workers will have the potential to transition to a regular position if they become available. The office and school supply retailer said both its regular and seasonal employees will receive a 10% discount at its stores. “We’re looking forward to bringing in more associates this year to ensure our customers get the best, personal service to fulfill their back-to-school shopping needs,” said Lynn Gross, Office Depot’s vice president of human resources. The stock, which climbed 1.8% in premarket trade, had tumbled 41% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 had gained 1.5%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Office Depot Inc. said it planned to hire 8,000 seasonal workers for the back-to-school season, up from 6,000 a year ago. The seasonal workers will have the potential to transition to a regular position if they become available. The office and school supply retailer said both its regular and seasonal employees will receive a 10% discount at its stores. “We’re looking forward to bringing in more associates this year to ensure our customers get the best, personal service to fulfill their back-to-school shopping needs,” said Lynn Gross, Office Depot’s vice president of human resources. The stock, which climbed 1.8% in premarket trade, had tumbled 41% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 had gained 1.5%.

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.

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The U.S.-listed shares of YY Inc. dropped 3% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the China-based social platform said an investor group has withdrawn its proposal to buy the company because of unfavorable market conditions. The investor group is led by YY Chairman June Lei and Chief Executive David Xueling Li. Separately, YY said it set a new program to repurchase up to $200 million worth of its stock or convertible debt over the next year. When YY received the going-private proposal on July 9, 2015, the investor group said it would pay $68.50 in cash for each American depositary share outstanding, which represented a 17% premium to the July 8 closing price of $58.35. Since then, the stock has tumbled 35% through Tuesday. The S&P 500 has gained 1.4% over the same time.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said Wednesday its board has appointed Thomas Ross as lead independent director. Ross has been a board member since March 8, sits on the company’s nominating and corporate governance committee and is chairman of its conduct and compliance committee. Three new independent directors were voted to Valeant’s board at its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday. Dr. Argeris N. Karabelas, Russel C. Robertson and Dr. Amy B. Wechsler will join the eight directors who were re-elected. Valeant shares have fallen 76% in the year so far, after a scandal surrounding the company’s drug pricing policies and accounting practices.

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Celgene Corp. authorized an additional $3 billion stock buyback program on Wednesday, in an open-ended program effective immediately. This brings the value of the company’s total outstanding shares available for repurchase to $5.3 billion. Since 2009, Celgene has repurchased roughly $15.2 billion worth of shares in similar programs. Shares of Celgene rose 1.2% to $102.21 in premarket trade. They are up more than 3% over the last three months, slightly outperforming the S&P 500.

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Ebix Inc. said Wednesday it is offering to buy insurance technology software company Patriot National Inc. for $9.50 a share. Ebix, which provides on-demand software and e-commerce services to the insurance, financial and healthcare industries, said the offer is equal to a 37% premium over Patriot’s closing price on Tuesday. Ebix plans to finance the deal with a mixture of cash and stock and expects it to immediately boost earnings per share. “The merged entity would become the world’s largest provider of straight through processing in the insurance services industry, offering on-demand based front end systems, back end systems, exchanges, strategic consulting and risk compliance services all under one roof,” the company said in a statement. Ebix has postponed a planned 3-for-1 stock split and related special shareholder meetings until further notice. Patriot shares surged 30% in premarket trade on the news.

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.

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From:: Stock Market News

Ebix Inc. said Wednesday it is offering to buy insurance technology software company Patriot National Inc. for $9.50 a share. Ebix, which provides on-demand software and e-commerce services to the insurance, financial and healthcare industries, said the offer is equal to a 37% premium over Patriot’s closing price on Tuesday. Ebix plans to finance the deal with a mixture of cash and stock and expects it to immediately boost earnings per share. “The merged entity would become the world’s largest provider of straight through processing in the insurance services industry, offering on-demand based front end systems, back end systems, exchanges, strategic consulting and risk compliance services all under one roof,” the company said in a statement. Ebix has postponed a planned 3-for-1 stock split and related special shareholder meetings until further notice. Patriot shares surged 30% in premarket trade on the news.

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Hillary Clinton cruised to victory in the Washington D.C. Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, closing out her primary campaign on a high note. With 17% of the vote counted, the Associated Press declared Clinton the winner, with 78.3% support. Clinton clinched the delegates needed for the Democratic nomination last week, putting her on track to become the first female presidential candidate of a major party in U.S. history. Neither Clinton nor rival Bernie Sanders spent much effort campaigning in the district, which had 20 delegates at stake. Headed into the Tuesday’s vote, Clinton led Sanders in delegates, 2,784 to 1,877.

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Bob Evans Farms Inc. shares declined in the extended session Tuesday after the restaurant operator and food distributor’s earnings outlook for the year fell short of Wall Street estimates. Bob Evans shares slumped 6% to $42.08 after hours. The company forecast adjusted 2017 earnings of $2 to $2.15 a share on revenue of $1.28 billion to $1.33 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $2.19 a share on revenue of $1.32 billion. Bob Evans also forecast “negative low-single digit to flat same-store sales for fiscal year 2017.” For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported adjusted earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $345.6 million. Analysts had expected 43 cents a share on revenue of $345.3 million.

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MSCI on Tuesday said it will delay the inclusion of China’s A shares in its emerging markets index until it sees further market improvement in accessibility to foreign investors. The index provider also said it will not reclassify Korea as a developed market for now. The decision on China was somewhat unexpected as many analysts had recently projected that Chinese financial authorities had largely met MSCI’s demands to allow more access to foreigners. “There have been significant steps toward the eventual inclusion of China A shares in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index,” said Remy Briand, MSCI global head of research. But “international institutional investors clearly indicated that they would like to see further improvements in the accessibility of the China A shares market before its inclusion.”

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