Category: Stock Market News

Darden Restaurants Inc. reported Tuesday fiscal third-quarter earnings that fell to $105.8 million, or 82 cents a share, from $133.8 million, or $1.05 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.21, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.19. Revenue rose to $1.85 billion from $1.73 billion, matching the FactSet consensus of $1.85 billion, as better-than-expected sales at Olive Garden and fine dining restaurants offset a slight miss at LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants. Overall same-restaurant sales grew 6.2%, above expectations of a 5.9% rise. The company now expects full fiscal year EPS of $3.48 to $3.52, compared with the FactSet consensus of $3.48. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has climbed 5.8% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.1%.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares dipped 0.7% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the drug store chain posted weaker-than-expected sales for its fiscal second quarter. Walgreens said it had net earnings of $930 million, or 85 cents a share, in the quarter, down sharply from $2.04 billion, or $1.93 a share, in the year-earlier period when the company benefited from a non-cash gain of $814 million. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.31, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.28. Sales rose 13.6% to $30.2 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $30.7 billion. The company said it is raising the low end of its EPS guidance for fiscal 2016 by 5 cents to $4.35 to $4.55, which wraps around the current FactSet consensus of $4.48. Shares are up 1.4% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained just 1.1%.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares dipped 0.7% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the drug store chain posted weaker-than-expected sales for its fiscal second quarter. Walgreens said it had net earnings of $930 million, or 85 cents a share, in the quarter, down sharply from $2.04 billion, or $1.93 a share, in the year-earlier period when the company benefited from a non-cash gain of $814 million. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.31, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.28. Sales rose 13.6% to $30.2 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $30.7 billion. The company said it is raising the low end of its EPS guidance for fiscal 2016 by 5 cents to $4.35 to $4.55, which wraps around the current FactSet consensus of $4.48. Shares are up 1.4% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained just 1.1%.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

China’s banking regulator has called on the country’s lenders to step up risk management in their overseas operations, Dow Jones Newswires reported Tuesday. In a notice posted online, DJN said, the China Banking Regulatory Commission urged banks to assess the economic and political situations in their external markets, be cautious about giving credit to overseas customers and not rely on credit-rating agencies alone when considering overseas bond investments.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

In one of the most dramatic endings to a championship game in NCAA basketball history, Villanova upset North Carolina, 77-74, on Monday night on a buzzer-beating three-pointer. The shot by Kris Jenkins as time expired bested an almost-as-dramatic game-tying three-pointer by North Carolina’s Marcus Paige with 4.7 seconds left in the game. No. 1-seeded North Carolina had rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final minutes, but No. 2-seed Villanova held on for the school’s second NCAA men’s basketball title.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

The Treasury Department on Monday took new steps to crack down on inversions, deals in which a U.S. company moves its legal address abroad for tax benefits. The Treasury said it was moving to prevent foreign companies that buy multiple U.S. companies from increasing their sizes and avoiding inversion thresholds for more U.S. acquisitions. Also, the department tightened rules on “earnings stripping,” in which a foreign parent company lends money to its U.S. operation, and the interest is then deducted. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said only legislation can stop inversions and urged Congress to take action on comprehensive business tax reform.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Walt Disney Co. fell in Monday’s extended session after the entertainment company announced that Chief Operating Officer Thomas Staggs is resigning on May 6. He will, however, remain with Disney as a special advisor to Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger. The news of Staggs’ resignation is expected to throw the company’s succession plan into disarray as he had been tapped to lead the company after Iger’s retirement, the New York Times reported. Disney shares are off 1.3% in after-hours trading.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Microchip Technology Inc. late Monday said it expects its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings to come in at the high end of the range it projected earlier this year. It also expects to report record-high revenue. The chip maker in February had forecast earnings per share of 65 cents to 69 cents and revenue of $552 million and $568.5 million. The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on May 4. Microchip also announced that it finalized the purchase of semiconductor maker Atmel and will consolidate results from the two companies in the future. Shares of Microchip were flat in the extended session after closing up 0.2% to $48.38.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Tesla Motors Inc. said Monday that it delivered fewer than 15,000 cars in the first quarter, including 2,400 units of its latest model, the Model X. Tesla shares declined 2% in late trading as the total of 14,820 came in short of the electric-car maker’s projection of approximately 16,000 deliveries. While maintaining a goal of delivering 80,000 to 90,000 cars in the calendar year, Tesla admitted that production of the latest all-electric vehicle introduced by the company, the Model X, was hemmed by a shortage in parts. “The Q1 delivery count was impacted by severe Model X supplier parts shortages in January and February that lasted much longer than initially expected,” the company reported in a statement. “Once these issues were resolved, production and delivery rates improved dramatically.” Tesla stock hit its highest prices since September 2015 on Monday, as Chief Executive Elon Musk said advance orders for the company’s next offering, the lower-priced Model 3, surpassed a quarter-million since its unveiling last week.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

National Instruments Corp. shares dropped after the company warned of worse-than-expected results due to weakness from industrial and wireless customers. National Instruments shares fell 10% to $27.04 after hours, following a halt before the outlook was released. The engineering tech product company forecast adjusted first-quarter earnings of 14 cents to 15 cents a share on revenue of $288 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 16 cents a share on revenue of $303 million.

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.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News