Category: Stock Market News

Trucking company J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. shares slid 1.3% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company offered guidance for the fourth quarter that fell short of estimates. The Lowell, Ark.-based company said it now expects fourth-quarter per-share earnings of 77 cents to 82 cents, below the FactSet consensus of $1.02. The company said it will book an 11 cents-a-share charge for a reserve on a cash advance for the purchase of new trailing equipment from a manufacturer that will not meet delivery, as well as a 10 cents-a-share increase in reserves for insurance claims. Revenue is expected to range from $1.9 billion to $2.0 billion, compared with a FactSet consensus of $1.9 billion. The company said it expects the tax reform enacted on Dec. 22 to create a one-time benefit for 2017. “We are in the process of understanding the widespread applicability of the Act to our financial statements but believe it will primarily affect our balance sheet accounts,” it said. Fourth-quarter earnings are scheduled for release on Jan. 18. Shares have gained 19% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 20%.

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Apple Inc. paid Chief Executive Tim Cook more in 2017 as the iPhone maker’s revenue returned to growth after a decline in 2016. According to Apple’s annual proxy statement, which was released Wednesday afternoon, Cook received total compensation of $12.8 million in Apple’s 2017 fiscal year, including a $3 million base salary and a $9.3 million cash bonus. Apple determines cash bonuses based on a three-tiered target set before the year begins; Apple’s 2017 fiscal-year revenue and profit totals landed between the second and third tiers and led to bonuses of 155.5% of the base amount, well lower than the 400% Apple executives could have received by hitting the top tier of targets. In 2016, Cook received a $5 million bonus after Apple’s financial performance declined slightly, and had total compensation of $8.75 million. Cook did not receive a stock award and received $440,000 in other compensation such as private plane rides, which Apple began requiring of Cook in 2017 due to safety concerns.

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The American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday showed that U.S. crude supplies declined by 6 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 22, according to sources, compared with expectations for a drawdown of 3.75 million barrels. However, the API data also showed a gain of 3.1 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while inventories of distillates rose by 2.8 million barrels, sources said. Supplies at the crude hub in Cushing, Okla., were down 1.3 million barrels, versus forecasts for a decline of 590,000. Supply data from the more closely followed Energy Information Administration will be released Thursday. Both inventory reports are delayed by a day because of the Christmas holiday. February crude was down 0.7% at $59.58 a barrel in electronic trading, off from the settlement of $59.64 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Roku Inc. announced Wednesday that the head of its advertising business, Scott Rosenberg, will be promoted to lead the company’s platform efforts. Rosenberg will take over for Steve Shannon, who plans to leave the company at the end of the year. Roku believes its streaming-television platform is the key to growth in its business, with money coming from advertising on the platform and its own Roku-branded channel, as well as royalties from companies that sell subscriptions on the Roku platform and licensing its technology to other companies like television manufacturers. Roku stock closed at $54.76 Tuesday, up more than 290% from the $14 price charged in its September initial public offering; the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 10.7% in that same time frame.

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Robert Half International Inc. said late Wednesday it expects a non-cash charge of $34 million to $38 million in the fourth quarter following the U.S. tax overhaul. The one-time charge works out to a charge of 27 cents to 31 cents a share. The company expects fourth-quarter earnings of 29 cents to 39 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 64 cents a share. Shares of Robert Half were unchanged at $55.43 after hours.

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U.S. stock benchmarks logged slight gains on Wednesday, helping to halt a two-day skid for equities. However, volumes were seasonally low and activity muted as investors are reluctant to make big bets with just a few trading days remaining in 2017. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up about 28 points, or 0.1%, at 24,774, the S&P 500 index finished up 2 points, or 0.1%, at 2,682. Gains in health care, up 0.2%, technology, up 0.2%, and real-estate, 0.4% higher, helped to offset losses in energy, down 0.3%, as crude-oil prices retreated from a 2 1/2-year high. Meanwhile the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 3 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,939. The advances were enough to avoid a three-session skid for the major benchmarks, which would have been the longest in three months. In corporate news, shares of Celgene Corp. ended down 2.4% after its shares were downgraded to market perform by Bernstein.

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Oil prices retreated Wednesday, finishing the session lower, a day after touching levels not seen in more than 2 years. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery closed off 33 cents, or 0.6%, at $59.64 a barrel. On Tuesday, the benchmark finished at its highest level since June of 2015 on concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East. Market participants attributed Wednesday’s slide, in low-volume trade, on some investors cashing out of futures contracts after the previous day’s rise to multiyear highs. Also, reports indicated that a Tuesday pipeline blast in Libya could be repaired as soon as next week. Looking ahead, investors will be waiting for inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute due later Wednesday.

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Gold futures finished higher on Wednesday, logging a fifth-straight day of gains while metals and commodities overall attracted bids. February gold rose $3.90, or 0.3%, at $1,291.40 an ounce, adding to its previous session gains when it hit a 2 1/2-year high. The move was supported partly by weakness in the greenback, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index down about 0.3%. Because many commodities are priced in dollars, a weaker greenback can be supportive to a climb in metals’ prices. Meanwhile, industrial metals also enjoyed gains, highlighted by high-grade copper for March delivery adding to its more than four-year high, on the back of reports of increased demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy.

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United Parcel Service Inc. says National Returns Day is expected to take place on Jan. 3, when returns will hit a peak of 1.4 million packages, a fifth consecutive annual record, up 8% from last year. E-commerce sales on Black Friday and through the following week set the holiday returns season in motion, and in Dec. 2017, shoppers returned more than 1 million packages daily. Those returns are part of a total 750 million packages UPS expects to deliver between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. UPS shares are up 2.4% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 18.2% for the period.

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Shares of biotech Celgene Corp. slid 2% Wednesday, after Bernstein downgraded them to market perform and said pipeline setbacks have crushed much of the stock’s potential upside. Celgene said last week a trial of cancer treatment Revlimid as a treatment for follicular lymphoma failed to meet its main goals. The drug, which currently accounts for $8.2 billion of Celgene’s sales, was expected to grow to $13.8 billion by 2023, partly because of its use in treating that condition. “We were quite bullish on this potential, modeling $16B by 2022 (of which $3-$4B were for follicular lymphoma),” Bernstein analysts wrote in a note. The news comes after Celgene announced plans to abandon 3 clinical trials for its GED-0301 therapy in Crohn’s disease, shedding a part of its inflammation and immunology portfolio that was viewed as having strong potential. Celgene paid $710 million upfront for GED-0301 in 2014 – making the decision a major blow. “Part of the excitement around Celgene is the ‘bet on innovation’- CELG focuses on identifying promising targets early and is not afraid to invest heavily to obtain them,” wrote Bernstein analysts. “However, some of that shine has eroded recently.” Celgene shares have fallen 9% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained about 20%.

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