Category: Stock Market News

Oil futures edged lower in electronic trading Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. crude supplies rose by 3.45 million barrels for the week ended May 6, according to sources who reviewed the report. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 300,000 barrels for crude inventories. The closely watched Energy Information Administration report will be released Wednesday. June crude was at $44.52 a barrel in electronic trading, down from the contract’s settlement of $44.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Shares of the Walt Disney Co. tanked in late trading Tuesday after the media company missed fiscal second-quarter sales and earnings expectations. Disney said it earned $2.1 billion, or $1.30 a share, in the quarter, compared with $2.1 billion, or $1.23 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the media company earned $1.36 a share in the quarter, up from $1.23 a share a year ago. Sales reached $13 billion, up from $12.5 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the media company to report earnings of $1.39 a share on sales of $13.2 billion. Disney shares fell 6% after ending the regular trading day up 1.2%. The company said its sales from media networks were flat at $5.8 billion, while cable-network sales fell 2% and broadcasting revenue rose 3%. Revenue from Disney’s parks and resorts businesses rose 4%. Attendance at Disney’s theme parks was flat, the company said.

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Planet Fitness Inc. shares rose in the extended session Tuesday after the gym operator topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Planet Fitness shares advanced 5.6% to $16.50 after hours. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $83.3 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 13 cents a share on revenue of $78.8 million. For the year, Planet Fitness sees adjusted earnings of 62 cents to 65 cents a share on revenue of $360 million to $370 million. Analysts had forecast earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $361.4 million.

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Planet Fitness Inc. shares rose in the extended session Tuesday after the gym operator topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Planet Fitness shares advanced 5.6% to $16.50 after hours. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $83.3 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 13 cents a share on revenue of $78.8 million. For the year, Planet Fitness sees adjusted earnings of 62 cents to 65 cents a share on revenue of $360 million to $370 million. Analysts had forecast earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $361.4 million.

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Planet Fitness Inc. shares rose in the extended session Tuesday after the gym operator topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Planet Fitness shares advanced 5.6% to $16.50 after hours. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $83.3 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 13 cents a share on revenue of $78.8 million. For the year, Planet Fitness sees adjusted earnings of 62 cents to 65 cents a share on revenue of $360 million to $370 million. Analysts had forecast earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $361.4 million.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday raised its 2017 estimate for U.S. crude-oil production and forecast for West Texas Intermediate crude prices. In its monthly energy outlook report, the government agency forecast an average U.S. crude output of 8.19 million barrels a day for 2017, up from a prior estimate of 8.04 million. The EIA left its estimate for 2016 at 8.6 million barrels a day. WTI prices are seen at $50.65 a barrel next year, up nearly 25% from the previous estimate of $40.58, the EIA said. WTI prices were trading at $44.48 a barrel Tuesday, up $1.04, or 2.4%.

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Bats Global Markets Inc. , an exchange operator that went public on April 15, was initiated Tuesday at equal weight at Barclays and neutral weight at Citigroup. Barclays analysts gave the company a $25 price target and said that the company has a big positive of diverse revenue avenues with ETFs, options and currencies. But the Citi analysts say the company already has a high valuation, which the company has to grow into by executing at a high level. Citi analysts gave the company a $29 price target and also spoke to the diverse growth revenues, as well as the expectation that shares would pull back after the IPO bounce. Shares of Bats have gained 7% in the past month-to-date, compared to the S&P 500’s gain of less than 1%.

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Hasbro Inc. was downgraded Tuesday to neutral from overweight at Piper Jaffray on the analyst’s belief that the company’s shares are fairly valued on a seasonal basis. The price target remains at $88. “Among consumer product sectors, trading seasonality is highly pronounced in the toy industry, with stocks outperforming from January to May, volatile from June to September and typically vacillating postive/negatively surrounding the holidays based on product level catalysts and category drivers,” the bank wrote in a note. Analysts say there’s a “rally” around the third quarter, with December usually one of the worst performing months. Piper Jaffray analysts believe Hasbro is in a good position going into the second half of the year with Star Wars and Disney Princess businesses working in its favor, and said the multi-year view is positive. But they “are reluctant to further stretch expectations.” Hasbro shares are down 0.2% in Tuesday trading, but up 27.5% for the year to date. The S&P 500 is up 1.5% for the year so far.

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Hasbro Inc. was downgraded Tuesday to neutral from overweight at Piper Jaffray on the analyst’s belief that the company’s shares are fairly valued on a seasonal basis. The price target remains at $88. “Among consumer product sectors, trading seasonality is highly pronounced in the toy industry, with stocks outperforming from January to May, volatile from June to September and typically vacillating postive/negatively surrounding the holidays based on product level catalysts and category drivers,” the bank wrote in a note. Analysts say there’s a “rally” around the third quarter, with December usually one of the worst performing months. Piper Jaffray analysts believe Hasbro is in a good position going into the second half of the year with Star Wars and Disney Princess businesses working in its favor, and said the multi-year view is positive. But they “are reluctant to further stretch expectations.” Hasbro shares are down 0.2% in Tuesday trading, but up 27.5% for the year to date. The S&P 500 is up 1.5% for the year so far.

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OPEC member Kuwait is targeting an almost 50% increase in oil production over the next four years in a bid to secure future economic growth for the oil-dependent nation, a Kuwaiti oil official said on Tuesday. Speaking at the Platts Crude Oil Summit in London, Abdulaziz Al Attar, head of research at state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp., said the country aims at producing 4 million a barrels a day by 2020 and maintaining that level through 2030, reiterating its goal of ramping up production. Such an increase would mark a 44% jump on Kuwait’s output of 2.77 million barrels a day in March, according to the latest monthly report from OPEC. It would also be the country’s highest output level ever, according to Bloomberg data. “We also intend to provide fuel stock capabilities to counter for seasonality and domestic energy demand,” Al Attar said at the conference. The comments come after a three-day strike in Kuwait sent its oil production tumbling to 1.5 million a day in April. However, Al Attar brushed off concerns that similar events would significantly impact production in the future. “I don’t think there will be any future risks of strikes,” he said. The oil representative said Kuwait plans to grow domestic refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels a day and boost international cooperation.

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