Category: Stock Market News

Constellation Brands Inc. shares rose 2% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the company posted stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, raised its dividend, announced the acquisition of luxury wine brands and said it’s evaluating an initial public offering of part of its Canadian wine business. The alcoholic drinks distributor said it had net earnings of $243 million, or $1.19 a share, in the quarter, up 13% in the case of net profit, and up 12% in the case of EPS from the year-earlier period. Sales rose 14% to $1.543 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.14 and sales of $1.521 billion. The company said it now expects fiscal 2017 adjusted EPS to range from $6.05 to $6.35, compared with a current FactSet consensus of $6.94. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 29%, raising the Class A stock dividend to 40 cents and the Class B stock dividend to 36 cents. The company said it is buying The Prisoner Wine Co. portfolio of super-luxury brands for about $285 million, in a deal expected to boost earnings for fiscal 2017 by 3 cents to 5 cents. Shares have gained 6% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.1%.

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The Connecticut women won their unprecedented fourth straight NCAA basketball title Tuesday night, cruising to an easy 82-51 win over Syracuse. All-American Brianna Stewart powered the Huskies, scoring a game high 24 points with 10 rebounds, and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for the fourth time. UConn finished the season 38-0 and has won 75 games in a row. The win was the 11th championship for head coach Geno Auriemma, who passed UCLA great John Wooden for the most in NCAA basketball history.

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The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, on Tuesday reported that U.S. inventories of crude oil fell by 4.3 million barrels in the latest week, according to news reports. The API data is closely watched for clues to official data, which will be released Wednesday morning by the Energy Information Administration. Analysts surveyed by oil-data firm Platts have forecast a 2.9 million barrel rise in inventories.

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Wynn Resorts Ltd. late Tuesday said it expects first-quarter revenue from its Macau operations to drop to a range of $603 million to $613 million, compared with $705.4 million a year earlier. Adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a metric commonly used by gaming companies, is projected to slip to $187 million to $195 million versus $212.3 million in the first quarter of 2015. Revenue for its Las Vegas operations is estimated to come in at $384 million to $394 million, compared with $386.9 million a year earlier. Adjusted property EBITDA is forecast at $105 million to $113 million, compared with $110.7 million in the first quarter of 2015. The casino and hotel operator is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings on April 19. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are projecting Wynn to report first-quarter earnings of 78 cents a share on revenue of $1 billion. Shares of Wynn were mostly flat in the extended session after closing down 2.7% to $90.92.

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Cree Inc. shares fell in the extended session Tuesday after the LED light maker forecast lower-than-expected results for the fiscal third quarter. Cree shares fell 15% to $24.78, following a brief trading halt after hours. The company said it expects adjusted third-quarter earnings of 13 cents to 15 cents a share on revenue of about $367 million because of weakness in its lighting products business. Cree had previously targeted revenue of $400 million to $430 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 24 cents a share on revenue of $414.4 million.

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U.S. stocks closed down for a second session on Tuesday in line with the global equities rout as investors shied away from assets perceived as risky on persistent economic uncertainties. The S&P 500 fell 20 points, or 1%, to close at 2,045 with all 10 sectors ending in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 132 points, or 0.8%, to finish at 17,604, weighed down by a 2% drop in Cisco Systems while the Nasdaq shed 47 points, or 1%, to close at 4,843. In contrast, assets viewed as safe plays attracted investment helping gold prices rise and pushing the Japanese yen higher against the U.S. dollar .

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Oil futures ended modestly higher Tuesday after moving between gains and losses throughout the trading session. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $35.89 a barrel, a rise of 19 cents, or 0.5%. Analysts said oil struggled for direction as market participants await weekly U.S. supply data due Wednesday amid fading hopes that major producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, will agree to a production freeze at a meeting later this month. U.S. crude stockpiles likely grew by 2.9 million barrels in the week ended April 1, pricing provider Platts said, based on its survey of analysts

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil futures ended modestly higher Tuesday after moving between gains and losses throughout the trading session. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $35.89 a barrel, a rise of 19 cents, or 0.5%. Analysts said oil struggled for direction as market participants await weekly U.S. supply data due Wednesday amid fading hopes that major producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, will agree to a production freeze at a meeting later this month. U.S. crude stockpiles likely grew by 2.9 million barrels in the week ended April 1, pricing provider Platts said, based on its survey of analysts

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Gold futures closed higher Tuesday as investors rushed toward safety plays amid a global stock-market downdraft. June gold closed $10.30, or 0.8%, higher at $1,229.60 an ounce, after retreating Monday on worries that the Federal Reserve might lift benchmark interest rates sooner than later. On Tuesday, the yellow metal drew support from growing concerns about the global economy, which pushed investors into assets viewed as havens. Gold is “moving higher today on the back of the risk-off trade,” said Naeem Aslam, AvaTrade’s chief market analyst, in a note. May silver ended sharply higher, up 1.2% at $15.12 an ounce.

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The prime minister of Iceland, David Gunnlaugsson has resigned, according to media reports Tuesday, including from the national broadcaster RUV. Gunnlaugsson came under criticism after his name showed up in the “Panama Papers,” documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm detailing offshore accounts held by a wide range of political and business leaders. The papers were revealed on Sunday by a consortium of news outlets that had spent months examining them. The news led to mass protests in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik on Monday. The offshore company containing Gunnlaugsson’s name is alleged to have had holdings in Iceland’s collapsed banks.

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