Category: Stock Market News

KB Home said Thursday it had net income of $44 million, or 43 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, down from $852.8 million, or $8.36 a share, in the year-earlier period, which was boosted by a tax gain. Revenue rose 24% to $985.8 million. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 50 cents and revenue of $1.068 billion. “While inclement weather and trade shortages in certain markets tempered our fourth-quarter deliveries and revenues, we have a positive rhythm in our business and substantial momentum as we enter 2016,” Chief Executive Jeffrey Mezger said in a statement. The company had a backlog of $1.28 billion at the end of the quarter, up 40% from the year earlier. The number of homes in backlog rose 36% to 3,966. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 28% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 is down 1.8%.

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Stocks in London sank on Thursday, with resource companies leading the charge south after another trading halt in China and a major selloff in oil prices. The FTSE 100 index slumped 2.7% to 5,907.89, setting it on track for its lowest close since mid-December. For the week, the London benchmark was looking at a more than 5% drop, which would be the largest since August. The depressed trading mood followed steep losses on Chinese markets, which came after the People’s Bank of China allowed the yuan to fall further against the dollar. Sliding oil prices also hit investor sentiment, as crude oil [s:clg6] traded around the lowest level since 2003, below $33 a barrel. Miners topped the list of decliners in London, tracking most metals lower. Shares of Anglo American PLC slid 9.5%, Glencore PLC [:s glcnf] fell 6.8% and BHP Billiton PLC erased 6.2%. The only miner on the rise was Randgold Resources Ltd. , up 0.2%, benefiting from safe haven flows to gold. Among energy companies, shares of BG Group PLC dropped 6.3% and BP PLC lost 5.3%.

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U.S. stock futures slumped on Thursday, indicating a downbeat open on Wall Street as another trading halt in China and sliding oil prices fueled heavy selling. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 332 points, or 2%, to 16,506, while those for the S&P 500 index dropped 42.40 points, or 2%, to 1,945.50. “China was once again at the center of the storm after the People’s Bank of China sharply devalued the yuan, fixing it at its lowest midpoint since 2011,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda in a note. “The move triggered another meltdown by investors, exacerbated once again no doubt by the new circuit breaker rules [in China],” he added. Oil was also a major concern to investors, with crude oil sliding more than 4% to trade around the lowest level since 2003.

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European stock markets moved sharply lower at the open on Thursday on the back of more turbulence in China, where markets were halted for trade after significant losses. This is the second time this week newly-implemented circuit breakers in China have been triggered by steep falls in the stock market. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index slumped 2.2% to 346.66, setting in on track for its lowest close since September. Germany’s DAX 30 index [x: dx:dax] lost 2.7% to 9941.28, sliding below the 10,000 level for the first time since mid-October. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index gave up 1.8% to 5,955.45, while France’s CAC 40 index dropped 2.2% to 4,380.63. Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 1.9% to 20,045.32.

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Yahoo Inc. is preparing to slash at least 10% of its workforce, according to a report Wednesday night by Business Insider. That would eliminate more than 1,000 jobs, according to the report, and cuts may begin as soon as this month. The Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet giant has been reeling in recent years. CEO Marissa Mayer’s turnaround efforts have largely failed, and activist investors are calling for change. This week, Starboard Value LP urged the company to shake up management and overhaul its strategy. Yahoo shares fell more than 35% last year.

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United Continental Holdings Inc. said Wednesday President and Chief Executive Oscar Munoz underwent a heart transplant earlier Wednesday and is recovering from the surgery. The transplant “was considered the preferred treatment and was not the result of a setback,” the company said in a statement. Munoz is expected to return to work between April and June, the airline said. Shares of United Continental fell 0.4% in late trading Wednesday after ending the regular session up 0.3%. Munoz suffered a heart attack in October; United named Brett Hart interim CEO later that month.

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Fitbit said that a class-action suit filed by consumers against the company over its heart-rate technology does not have merit. “Fitbit stands behind our heart-rate technology and strongly disagrees with the statements made in the complaint and plans to vigorously defend the lawsuit,” a Fitbit spokesperson said Wednesday. Consumers filed a lawsuit against Fitbit on Tuesday claiming that two of Fitbit’s wearable fitness trackers did not accurately track heart rates. But the company added that its devices are centered around tracking fitness goals, and not meant to be medical devices.

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Greg Fleming, president of Morgan Stanley’s wealth management and investment management divisions, is set to leave the firm, according to people familiar with the matter. Colm Kelleher, head of the firm’s investment banking and trading, will be named president–a role that places him as CEO James Gorman’s No.2. Gorman is expected to stay on as the bank’s top boss for several years, according to a source familiar. Fleming, who has harbored aspirations of running a major Wall Street firm, has told those close to him that he decided to leave Morgan Stanley with the prospect of attaining the CEO title at the firm unlikely. Fleming helped shepherd Morgan Stanley’s renaissance in wealth management at a time when its trading platform was shaky. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2009 after helping oversee the sale of Merrill Lynch, where he was president and chief operating officer, to Bank of America during the heart of the financial crisis. A Morgan Stanley spokesman was unable to comment immediately.

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NetApp Inc. late Wednesday said Chief Financial Officer Nick Noviello is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities and that it has named Jeffrey Bergmann, vice president of corporate finance, as interim CFO. The storage and data management solutions company also reaffirmed its third-quarter revenue outlook of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. It also maintained its earnings-per-share forecast of 47 cents to 52 cents and adjusted EPS target of 66 cents to 71 cents. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are projecting third-quarter adjusted EPS of 68 cents and revenue of $1.45 billion. The company is scheduled to announce its quarterly results on Feb. 17. NetApp shares were flat in after hours after falling 2.1% in the regular session.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Wednesday in the southern California neighborhood of Porter Ranch, in the San Fernando Valley, where thousands of residents have been evacuated due to a leaky gas storage facility. “All agencies of state government shall utilize all necessary state personnel, equipment, and facilities to ensure a continuous and thorough response to this incident,” according to the declaration. Southern California Gas Co. has estimated it could take months before the well could be plugged. The storage facility began leaking in late October.

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