Category: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday appeared set to surge above 25,000 for the first time, carving out a fresh intraday record, but also notably notching its fastest climb to such a milestone ever. The blue-chip benchmark is on track to post a close above 25,000 in a blistering 23 trading days, which would represent the fastest rally to such a mark, outpacing the 24 sessions it took to ascend to 21,000 last March and the move to 11,000 back in May of 1999. Of course, its worth noting that with each climb higher that the percentage moves become less significant. In fact, the move to 25K represents a meager 3% advance for the Dow average compared with the more than 10% surge to 11K about 19 years ago.The moves for the Dow come as investors have grown increasingly bullish about an array of fiscal stimulus measures espouse by President Donald Trump’s administration that are being viewed as pro-business. Meanwhile, volatility in the market has been curiously absent, fostering a relatively steady climb for equity markets. To be sure, these advances toward milestone are largely psychologically significant rather than having more meaning to investors. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 index broached its own psychologically important level above 2,700, while the Nasdaq Composite Index eclipsed 7,000 on Tuesday. Both benchmarks are looking to join the Dow in positive territory.

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J.C. Penney Co. Inc. reported a 3.4% same-store sales increase for the nine weeks ending Dec. 30, 2017, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance in a Thursday announcement. The fourth-quarter FactSet consensus is for same-store sales growth of 0.8%. The retailer saw improved same-store performance across apparel, particularly in women’s and kids, and double-digit sales growth in e-commerce, according to a statement from Chief Executive Marvin Ellison. And the company is now able to fill e-commerce orders from all of its brick-and-mortar stores, Ellison said. J.C. Penney reaffirmed its previous guidance for full-year fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings per share of 2 cents to 8 cents and flat to a 1% same-store sales decline. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of 7 cents and a same-store sales decline of 0.5%. J.C. Penney shares are unchanged in Thursday premarket trading, and up 4.5% for the past three months. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 7% for the period.

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Cellect Biotechnology Ltd. shares rocketed 79% in premarket trade Thursday, after the Israeli company said it has made a breakthrough in a stem cell trial. The company said it has successfully completed transplantation of stem cells in the first group of three patients using its ApoGraft technology in a mid-stage trial. After a month, all three patients had demonstrated full acceptance of the transplant with no adverse events or reactions. The company is planning to recruit another three patients once the data has been reviewed. “The company believes that these interim results of ApoGraft present the first signs of a breakthrough in stem cell transplantation,” it said in a statement. “The product is transplantable within less than 12 hours from donation through a simple process performed on the bedside after selective physiological elimination of immune reaction-causing cells.” Shares have gained 117% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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Celsion Corp. shares rose nearly 20% in premarket trade Thursday after the company said the Food and Drug Administration had cleared its ovarian cancer therapy for a phase 1/2 clinical trial. The company plans to begin enrolling patients in the phase 1 part of the trial in the first half of the year, and expects to have a quarter of the study enrolled by the end of 2018. GEN-1 is a DNA-based immunotherapy for the local treatment of ovarian cancer. Celsion shares have plummeted 28.4% over the last three months, compared with a 6.9% rise in the S&P 500 and a 10% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Macy’s Inc. said Thursday that same-store sales during the months of November and December 2017 rose 1% on an owned basis and were up 1.1% on an owned-plus-licensed basis. Macy’s Chief Executive Jeff Gennette says the same-store sales result sets the retailer up “for a positive fourth quarter.” The company saw double-digit growth online and improved holiday sales across Macy’s, Macy’s Backstage, Bloomingdale’s and its outlet, and the beauty brand Blue Mercury. The fourth-quarter FactSet consensus is for same-store sales decline of 1.7%. Included in announced cost management efforts will be staffing adjustments, with some stores seeing reductions as others hire, and 11 store closures in early 2018. Four of those closures were previously announced. Stores will close in Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities nationwide. That brings the number of shuttered stores since 2015 to 124. Macy’s expects annual expense savings to total $300 million beginning fiscal 2018, and one-time charges of $160 million, or about 33 cents per share, which will be booked in the fourth quarter. Macy’s also updated its guidance, and now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share of $3.59 to $3.69 including tax reform measures, versus previous guidance of $3.38 to $3.63. The company expects same-store sales on an owned basis to decline between 2.4% and 2.7%, and a decline between 2% and 2.3% on an owned-plus-licensed basis. Sales are expected to be down between 3.6% and 3.9%. The FactSet consensus is for full-year EPS of $3.44 and a same-store sales decline of 3.4%. Macy’s expects a non-cash tax benefit in fiscal 2017 of $550 million to $650 million from the federal tax rate reduction. Macy’s shares are down 1.5% in Thursday premarket trading, but up 22.8% for the last three months. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 7% for the past three months.

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Monsanto Co. reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that were below Wall Street expectations. The seed and farming company reported net income of $169 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with $29 million, or 7 cents per share during the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 41 cents, just below FactSet’s consensus for per-share earnings of 42 cents. Revenue for the quarter was $2.66 billion, up slightly from $2.65 billion a year ago, but below FactSet’s $2.77 billion revenue consensus. The company pointed to its merger with Bayer as the reason for improved earnings. “The combination with Bayer will allow our two companies to accelerate the pace of innovation,” Chief Technology Officer Robb Fraley said in a statement. The company also pointed to the growth in soybean sales, which were up to $728 million from $600 million last year, driven by global demand for new technologies. Shares of Monsanto were up less than 1% in premarket trade, but have gained nearly 12% in the trailing 12-month period. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up more than 19% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 25%.

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Victoria’s Secret parent L Brands Inc. shares slid almost 10% premarket Thursday, after the company lowered guidance for fourth-quarter per-share earnings. The company said it now expects EPS of about $2.00 for the period, compared with prior guidance of $1.95 to $2.10. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $2.04. The company said same-store sales rose 1% in December, while net sales rose 3% to $2.516 billion. For the 48 weeks through Dec. 30, it had net sales of $11.592 billion, down from $11.769 billion in the year-earlier period. “The exit of the swim and apparel categories had a negative impact of about 3 percentage points and 5 percentage points to total company and Victoria’s Secret comparable sales, respectively,” the company said. Shares have fallen 14% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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CVS Health Corp. set guidance for 2018 on Thursday, saying it expects revenue growth of 0.75% to 2.5%. The drug store chain, which is expecting to close its acquisition of health insurer Aetna Inc. in the second half of the year, said it expects benefits from a streamlining program to be partly offset by costs associated with the implementation of its contract to provide PBM (pharmacy benefit management) services to Anthem, Inc. beginning in 2020, as well as the recent divestiture of RxCrossroads. “Together, these two factors reduce expected adjusted consolidated operating profit growth by approximately 125 basis points,” the company said. The company is also expecting to benefit from the tax reform signed into law in December, which should reduce its 2018 tax rate to about 27%, equal to an increase in cash flow of about $1.2 billion. CVS revised its fourth-quarter outlook, however, citing softer margin performance in its PBM client and retail network. It now expects EPS for the quarter to come in at the low end of its $1.88 to $1.92 range. Shares rose 0.7% premarket, but are down 8% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares rose 1.2% premarket, after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal first quarter through Nov. 30. The drug store chain said it had net income of $822 million, or 81 cents a share, in the quarter, down from $1.07 billion, or 97 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.28, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.26. Sales climbed to $30.7 billion from $28.5 billion, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $30.4 billion. Chief Executive Stefano Pessina said earnings were driven by continued prescription volume and market share growth in retail pharmacy in the U.S. The company raised the low end of its fiscal 2018 EPS guidance range by 5 cents to $5.45 to $5.70. Shares have fallen 9% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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Debenhams PLC has warned on profit after reporting a disappointing start to its post-Christmas sale. In its Christmas trading update released Thursday, the department store chain said like-for-like sales dropped 1.8% in the 17 weeks ended Dec. 30. Sales in the six-week Christmas period were 1.2% higher, but the company had made price cuts to help spur growth after the early weeks of the quarter were disappointing. “However, the first week of post-Christmas sale was below expectations despite further markdown investment, particularly in the highly seasonal gift category,” Debenhams said in a statement. The retailer said that if the “competitive and volatile environment” continues, full-year 2018 profit is now likely to be in the range of £55 million ($74.6 million) to £65 million.

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