Category: Stock Market News

Amazon.com Inc.’s stock price target was boosted on Tuesday to $930 from $780 by analyst Jason Helfstein at Oppenheimer, following what he said were “very bullish” checks suggesting the Amazon Web Services business is even more efficient than he projected. Helfstein’s new target, which is 28% above the current share price, is now the second highest among the 44 analysts surveyed by FactSet; the highest is Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner’s $1,000 target. “Following very bullish checks, we believe AWS’ competitive advantages in procuring, designing and architecting datacenters and compute/storage resources are driving even higher profitability and lower capital intensity than previously expected,” Helfstein wrote in a note to clients. He said he believes Amazon’s ecommerce business will continue to benefit from growth in consumer packaged goods and apparel categories. The stock, which slipped 0.4% in midday trade, has climbed 7.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.6%.

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Apple Inc. filed Tuesday for the sale of 30-year bonds in Taiwan, to be denominated in U.S. dollars. Taiwan is where a number of Apple suppliers, including Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. , are headquartered. Apple’s stock rose 0.8% in morning trade. It was still down 5.5% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 3.2%. Apple sold the bonds, with a yield of 4.15%, to raise between $1 billion and $1.2 billion, according to a Reuters report, which citing people familiar with the deal.

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Pandora Media Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to launch a new visual advertising experience, with the beta beginning this summer. The internet and mobile radio company, which boasts 80 million monthly active users, hopes more native, mobile ad formats will give marketers a more impactful and effective way to reach listeners, while also giving users more control over the ads they see. The new visual ads will play within the square space usually occupied by album art and can be dismissed by swiping or tapping, according to a news release. The company said the number of listeners who engaged with advertisers’ landing page for more than 30 seconds doubled during the pilot phase of the new ad offering. The visual ads will support Interactive Advertising Bureau standards. Express Inc. and the Lexus Dealer Association are partners for the beta and Pandora will make the ad offering available to all advertisers later this year.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s stock was the most active trading on U.S. exchanges Tuesday, as it plunged as much as 22% intraday to the lowest level since August 2010 before recovering slightly, after the drug maker slashed its earnings outlook for the year. Volume hit 52 million shares within the first hour of the regular session, compared with the full-day average over the past 30 days of 32.7 million shares, according to FactSet. The stock has lost 16% since March 21, which is when the company announced that billionaire activist investor Bill Ackman had joined its board of directors. The latest filings indicate Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management owned 21.6 million Valeant shares as of March 31; with the stock down 8.2% since then, Ackman has lost nearly $47 million on his investment in a little over two months.

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Under Armour Inc. said Tuesday that it launched its first mobile shopping app, UA Shop, which is built on the Under Armour Connected Fitness platform. The app draws information from the user’s workout history, purchase history, and other data to make shopping recommendations. The app has Apple Pay , customer reviews, and other features. UA Shop is launching with the new Under Armour Account, which creates a single user profile for all Under Armour apps. Under Armour shares are up 0.2% in Tuesday trading, but down 11.4% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 3.5% for the year to date.

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U.S. stocks opened modestly higher Tuesday, extending Monday’s gains as Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s comments on Monday signaled a tentative plan to end accommodative monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53 points, or 0.3%, to 17,975, the S&P 500 index tacked on 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,112, while the Nasdaq Composite Index opened little-changed at 4,969. Shortly before the opening bell, government data showed productivity of businesses and workers fell in the first quarter but by less than initially reported. Shares of Apple , up 0.9%, led early gains in blue-chip shares, while Ralph Lauren Corp.’s stock sank nearly 8% in early trade after the retailer announced a restructuring plan.

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Shares of Discovery Communications Inc. fell 2.3% in premarket trade Tuesday after the stock was downgraded to underperform from market-perform at Bernstein Research, on concerns the company is overleveraged. While there are positives and negatives about Discovery’s competitive positioning, and analyst Todd Juenger said he still believes the business has “many attractive elements,” he said an analysis of the company revealed that it’s a “clear underperform.” The company has borrowed a lot of money and strayed “well off-brand over the past couple of years” without improving ratings, he said. Juenger reduced his 12-month target price on the stock to $23 from $29. Shares of Discovery have declined by more than 16% over the last 12 months, underperforming a 0.8% increase for the S&P 500.

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Ralph Lauren Corp. shares extended their losses Tuesday, tumbling 10% in premarket trade, after the company unveiled a restructuring plan aimed at boosting profitability. The high-end clothing retailer said it will take a number of steps to reduce supply chain lead times, overhauling sourcing and improving its multi-channel distribution model. “We have assessed every value-creating component of the company and, with our Way Forward Plan, we will build on our strengths, refocusing on our core brands and instilling a financial discipline that is highly focused on return on investment,” Chief Executive Stefan Larsson said in a statement. The company is expecting to book charges of up to $400 million and an up to $150 million inventory charge related to the reduction of inventory out of current liquidation channels. The charges are expected to be mostly realized by the end of fiscal 2017. The company expects to generate $180 million to $220 million in annualized cost savings from the restructuring. It is now expecting first-quarter revenue to be down at a mid-single digit rate, and full-year revenue to decline at a low-single digit rate. Shares are down about 14% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has lost 3.2%.

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Six Flags Entertainment Corp. said Tuesday that it has expanded its share repurchase program by $500 million. The company has repurchased $1.3 billion in stock since the beginning of its buyback program in February 2011, and has about $10 million available under its current plan. Six Flags plans to raise $300 million in a private placement of senior notes, with half of the money to be used to pay a portion of the company’s outstanding senior secured term loan, which matures in 2022. The other half will be used for corporate purposes including share repurchases and refinancing fees. Six Flags shares are up 0.4% in premarket trading, and up 23.4% for the last 12 months. The S&P 500 is up 0.8% for the past year.

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Six Flags Entertainment Corp. said Tuesday that it plans to raise $300 million in a private placement of senior notes. Half of the money will be used to pay a portion of the company’s outstanding senior secured term loan, which matures in 2022. The other half will be used for corporate purposes including share repurchases and refinancing fees. Six Flags shares are up 0.4% in premarket trading, and up 23.4% for the last 12 months. The S&P 500 is up 0.8% for the past 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.

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