Category: Stock Market News

Solar company Sunrun Inc. said Thursday it is ceasing all operations in the state of Nevada, after new rules mandating higher solar metering rates. The announcement comes a a day after SolarCity said it would cut more than 550 jobs in Nevada. Sunrun said its move will cause hundreds of job losses. It said the decision to leave is ” the direct result of new rules adopted by Governor Sandoval’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) as well as actions taken by NV Energy and Nevada politicians.” The PUC introduced new rules on Jan. 1 that reduce the savings solar panel users were enjoying. Sunrun shares were down 5% in early trade.

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U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday, as another trading halt in Chinese shares and sliding oil prices fueled heavy selling on Wall Street. The S&P 500 opened 24 points, or 1.2%, lower at 1,970. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 225 points, or 1.3%, to 16,676. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the day down 102 points, or 2.1%, at 4,734.

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Barnes & Noble Inc. said holiday sales in stores and online fell 0.8% to $1.1 billion for the nine weeks ending Jan. 2, 2016. The decline was attributed to lower online sales and store closures. Same-store sales were up 1.6%, excluding Nook products. Nook sales decreased 25.8% to $41.2 million, with digital content sales totaling $21.3 million and device and accessory sales totaling $19.9 million for the period. The company maintained its fiscal 2016 same-store sales guidance, forecasting an increase of about 1%. Barnes & Noble shares are up 1.9% in premarket trading but down 42.8% for the past 12 months. The S&P is down 1.8% for the same period.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Inflation is likely to move back to the U.S. central bank’s 2% annual target in the “near-term,” said Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, on Thursday. “After the price of oil bottoms out, I would expect to see headline inflation move significantly higher,” Lacker said in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Raleigh, N.C. Most Fed officials, including Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen have been more cautious, saying that inflation will move higher over a more loosely-defined “medium term.” Lacker is a hawk on the Fed’s interest rate committee, having dissented at the Fed’s September and October meetings in favor of an increase in interest rates. He is not a voting member of the Fed policy committee this year.

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E-commerce shoppers turned to their smartphones more than their tablets for the first time in 2015, according to the State of Retailing Online 2016 report. Shop.org, Forrester Research Inc. and Bizrate Insights surveyed 195 companies across the apparel, footwear, general merchandise, home furnishings, and personal care industries in September and October 2015, and found that smartphones accounted for 17% of total online retail sales for the year, while tablets accounted for 14% of sales. Thirty percent of the companies surveyed said they invested less than $10,000 on smartphone platforms in 2015 and 17% kept their budgets between $10,000 and $50,000. One-third of respondents plan to increase their smartphone investment by more than 20% in 2016.

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Signet Jewelers Ltd. said it had total holiday sales of $1.94 billion for the eight weeks ending Dec. 26, up 5% from $1.85 billion last year. Same-store sales increased 4.9% for the period, driven by mall-based stores, outlets, and Ernest Jones stores in the U.K., the company said in a statement. Digital sales were $139.7 million, up 10.9% from $126 million last year. The company narrowed its fourth-quarter earnings per share guidance to between $3.44 and $3.50 from between $3.30 and $3.50. Signet also narrowed its same-store sales guidance to between 4.6% and 5% from between 3.5% and 5%. Signet shares are down 2.7% for the past 12 months while the the S&P is down 1.8%.

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Constellation Brands said on Thursday it plans to build a new $1.5 billion brewery in Mexicali, Mexico. The company’s new brewery will have the capacity to produce 10 million hectoliters of product (one hectoliter is equal to 100 liters), with the ability to expand to 20 million hectoliters. Constellation Brands hope the brewery will be completed in the next four to five years. Chief Executive Rob Sands said in a statement the company’s Mexican beer business has been exceeding sales seen in the U.S. market. In addition to the $1.5 billion to build the new brewery, $500 million will be spent to invest in land, water rights, infrastructure and other site requirements at the Mexicali location, according to a news release. Constellation Brands will also expand production capacity at its brewery in the Nava Municipality to 27.5 million hectoliters from 25 million. That project, expected to be completed by early 2018, will cost about $250 million. Constellation Brands is the company behind Corona, Modelo, Svedka, Black Box Wine and Pacifico, to name a few.

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Constellation Brands inc. said Thursday it had net income of $271 million, or $1.33 a share, in its fiscal third quarter, up about 22% from the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.42, well ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.31. Sales rose 6% to $1.64 billion, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.62 billion. “Our wine and spirits business significantly improved margins driven by the Meiomi wine acquisition, as well as favorable mix trends and COGS benefits, while the Canadian business posted solid results, gaining dollar share across major market segments,” Chief Executive Rob Sands said in a statement. The distributor of alcohol brands, including Cornoa beer, Robert Modavi wines and Svedka vodka raised its free cash flow outlook for the full year, and lowered its capex outlook. It said it now expects full-year EPS of $5.30 to $5.40, which compares with a current FactSet consensus of $5.96. Shares rose 1.3% in premarket trade, and are up 39% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has lost 1.8%.

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J.C. Penney Co. Inc. shares were up 2.9% in premarket trading after it said it saw a 3.9% year-over-year same-store sales increase during the November and December holiday selling season. Same-store sales increased despite the affect of unseasonable weather on apparel sales because of the focus on private brands, digital sales and merchandise selection, said Chief Executive Marvin Ellison said in a statement. Online sales were also at record levels, and Ellison said many customers took advantage of the buy-online-pick-up-in-store option.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said Thursday it had net income of $1.1 billion, or $1.01 a share, in its fiscal first quarter, compared with $850 million, or 89 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.03, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 96 cents. Sales rose 48.5% to $29 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $29.251 billion. The company said it is raising the low end of its outlook for fiscal 2016 adjusted EPS by 5 cents to $4.30 to $4.55. The current FactSet consensus is for full-year EPS of $4.44. Shares fell 1.4% in premarket trade, but are up 4% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has lost 1.8%.

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