Category: Stock Market News

Hain Celestial Group Inc. said Wednesday it had third-quarter net income of $49.0 million, or 47 cents per share, up from $33.4 million, or 32 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were 49 cents per share, meeting the FactSet consensus. Revenue for the quarter totaled $749.9 million, up from $662,7 million the year before. The FactSet consensus was $735 million. The organic food company has named James Meiers to the newly-created position of chief operations officer, responsible for finding cost savings across the company’s global operations. Hain Celestial has already conducted a strategic review and identified $100 million in global cost savings, which it expects to achieve between fiscal years 2017 and 2019. The company will also establish five strategic platforms within Hain Celestial U.S. in fiscal 2017: Fresh Living, Better-for-You Baby, Better-for-You Snacking, Better-for-You Pantry and Pure Personal Care. A venture unit called Cultivate Ventures will invest in the company’s smaller brands as well as products and technologies focused on health and wellness. And the company will sell certain brands with sales of $30 million that “no longer fit with its core strategy for future growth,” Hain Celestial said in the earnings release. The company updated its full-year sales guidance to between $2.95 billion and $2.97 billion, from between $2.90 and $3.04 billion. And it updated its EPS guidance to between $2.00 and $2.04 from between $1.95 and $2.10. Hain Celestial shares are unchanged in premarket trading, but down 32.7% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 2.4% for the last 12 months.

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Time Warner Inc. shares gained nearly 6% in premarket trade after the company posted improved profit and revenue for the first quarter that came in above Wall Street’s expectations. The media and entertainment company said on Wednesday net income rose to $1.21 billion, or $1.51 per share, compared with $970 million, or $1.15 per share during the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings were $1.49 per share, above the FactSet consensus of $1.29 per share. Revenue for the quarter rose to $7.31 billion, compared with $7.13 billion and above the $7.29 billion FactSet consensus. The media and entertainment company said that was thanks to growth at Turner and HBO, but was offset by a 3% decline at its Warner Bros. film studio. Warner Bros.’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has grossed roughly $863.12 worldwide so far, but faced strong first-quarter comparisons in last year’s “American Sniper” and “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.” Revenue at HBO saw an 8% increase due to a 5% bump in subscription revenue, while revenue at Turner rose 7% thanks to a 11% bump in subscription revenue and a 5% increase in advertising revenue. Shares of Time Warner are up more than 13% in the year to date, outperforming the S&P 500 Index, which is up almost 1%.

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Kate Spade & Co. said Wednesday it had first-quarter net income of $11.6 million, or 9 cents per share, after a loss of $55.2 million, or 43 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were 1 cent per share, below the FactSet consensus of 5 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter was $274.4 million, up from $255.3 million last year, exceeding the FactSet consensus of $268 million. The clothing and accessories company reaffirmed its full-year 2016 revenue guidance between $1.39 billion and $1.41 billion, and its earnings per share guidance between 70 cents and 80 cents. Kate Spade shares are unchanged in premarket trading, but up 41.4% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 1% for the year to date.

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Priceline Group Inc.’s stock tumbled 12% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the online travel services company reported first-quarter results that beat expectations, but provided a second-quarter profit outlook that was well below analyst projections. For the latest quarter, earnings rose to $374.4 million, or $7.47 a share, from $333.3 million, or $6.36 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $10.54, above the FactSet consensus of $9.64. Revenue grew to $2.15 billion from $1.84 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $2.12 billion, as better-than-expected agency and advertising and other revenue offset a miss in merchant revenue. Bookings increased 21% to $16.7 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $16.3 billion. For the second quarter, the company expects EPS of $11.60 to $12.50, well below the FactSet consensus of $14.96. “The group is looking forward to continued investments in product, service and branding that will drive long-term growth for our leading brands,” Interim Chief Executive Jeffery Boyd said. The stock has climbed 6.3% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.

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The People’s Bank of China on Wednesday set the yuan’s daily reference rate at 6.4943 to the dollar, weakening the currency by about 0.6%, according to multiple published reports. The cut by China’s central bank was the biggest downward move since it devalued the currency in August and rattled markets worldwide, an AFP report said.

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Privately held 7-Eleven Inc. said Tuesday it will aim to use only cage-free eggs in its stores by 2025. It is becoming important for customers for the store to “serve more humanely sourced eggs,” the convenience-store chain said in a statement. Several fast-food companies such as McDonald’s Corp. have similarly pledged to serve cage-free eggs.

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Privately held 7-Eleven Inc. said Tuesday it will aim to use only cage-free eggs in its stores by 2025. It is becoming important for customers for the store to “serve more humanely sourced eggs,” the convenience-store chain said in a statement. Several fast-food companies such as McDonald’s Corp. have similarly pledged to serve cage-free eggs.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Tuesday said he was against intervention by Japan in its currency market. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Lew said Japan has “lived by the agreements it has made to refrain from competitive devaluation, to refrain from exchange rate targeting. We’ve made it clear we think it is important for all parties to the agreements to continue to live by them,” he said. He said Japanese authorities should focus on fiscal policy measures and structure reform and not rely only on “aggressive” monetary policy steps already taken. Japanese officials are worried that the strengthening of the yen over the last month may hurt the country’s economy. The yen has risen further against the dollar after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady last week.

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Apple Inc. rebounded on Tuesday, breaking an eight-day losing streak after Chief Executive Tim Cook talked up the company’s future growth potential in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer late Monday. The stock rose 1.6% to close at $95.18, after a 13% retreat over eight sessions, its longest run of consecutive losses in 18 years. The stock, which soared 38% in 2014 on iPhone’s success, fell 4.6% in 2015 and is off nearly 10% year to date. During an appearance on CNBC, Cook said the market overreacted to Apple’s disappointing earnings and dismissed fears about flagging iPhone sales in China.

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