Category: Stock Market News

The Communications Workers of America as well as several individuals filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that Amazon.com Inc. , T-Mobile US Inc . and several subsidiaries of Cox Enterprises Inc. sought to discriminate by age in several job ads on Facebook Inc. . The suit alleges that the defendants used Facebook ad-targeting tech to “routinely exclude older workers from receiving their employment and recruiting ads on Facebook, and thus deny older workers job opportunities.” The story was first reported by the New York Times and ProPublica. Plaintiffs included several examples of the ads in court papers, including one from Facebook itself, that allegedly used Facebook’s targeting technology to make job ads invisible from older Facebook users. Federal statutes such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibits discrimination of people over 40, and laws in some states, prohibit bias against hiring workers of certain ages. Facebook defended its targeting. “Used responsibly, age-based targeting for employment purposes is an accepted industry practice and for good reason: it helps employers recruit and people of all ages find work,” Facebook vice president Rob Goldman said in a statement to the Times.

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PG&E Corp. shares dropped in the extended session Wednesday after the power company suspended its dividend amid potential liabilities for October’s Northern California wildfires. PG&E shares fell 10% to $46.04 after hours. The company said its board will suspend the dividend beginning in the fourth quarter. PG&E last paid out a dividend of 53 cents a share for the third quarter. “After extensive consideration and in light of the uncertainty associated with the causes and potential liabilities associated with these wildfires as well as state policy uncertainties, the PG&E boards determined that suspending the common and preferred stock dividends is prudent with respect to cash conservation and is in the best long-term interests of the companies, our customers and our shareholders,” said PG&E Chairman Richard Kelly in a statement.

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Pinterest is expected to go public in 2019 after missing its more than $500 million revenue target for 2017, The Information reported, citing anonymous sources. The social network is expected to have losses of about $100 million on revenue of about $490 million, according to the report. This year’s full-year revenue is expected to be a 64% increase over the year earlier. Investors have valued privately-held Pinterest at $12.3 billion and it has recently raised $150 million. The report did not make the reasons for the revenue shortfall clear and said the company expects to have 220 million monthly active users. Gross margins in the first three quarters of 2017 improved by 47% compared with 2016, the report said.

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Comcast Corp. said late Wednesday it would award special bonuses to thousands of employees based on tax overhaul measures and the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to scrap so-called net neutrality rules. Comcast said it would award more than 100,000 eligible employees a special $1,000 bonus each, and to invest more than $50 billion in infrastructure over the next five years. Last week, the FCC voted to roll back Obama-era regulations for internet service providers. Earlier Wednesday, AT&T Inc. said it would pay $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 employees if President Donald Trump signed a tax overhaul bill into law before Christmas. Comcast shares were unchanged at $39.38 after hours.

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Wells Fargo & Co. said late Wednesday that it will raise its hourly minimum wage to $15 and plans to give $400 million to community and nonprofit organizations in 2018. Wells Fargo stock is flat at $60.14 after hours. The wage hike for U.S. employees is an 11% raise from $13.50, which the bank announced in 2017, the company said. San Francisco, where Wells Fargo is headquartered, recently voted to raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2018. The $400 million philanthropic effort is a 40% increase from 2017, the company said, and will include gifts to the Untied Way, Habitat for Humanity as well as several programs the bank runs to provide small businesses access to capital and people with help buying homes. A fake-accounts scandal first made public in 2016 has continued to drag on the company. Wells Fargo stock is up 9.1% this year, as the S&P 500 index has gained 20%.

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Allergan PLC shares ticked higher in the extended session Wednesday after the drugmaker said the Food and Drug Administration accepted for review a marketing application for a new acne treatment. Allergan shares rose 0.2% to $166 after hours, following a 2.3% decline in the regular session. The company said the FDA accepted a New Drug Application for Seysara to treat moderate-to-severe acne in patients 9 years old and older. Allergan expects a decision on the application in the second half of 2018. Allergan has the U.S. rights to Seysara, while Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc. retains rights outside the U.S. Paratek shares rose 4.5% to $18.55 after hours.

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M&T Bank Corp. announced late Wednesday that René F. Jones has been appointed chairman and chief executive of M&T and its main banking subsidiary, M&T Bank. Jones was also elected to the board of directors of both M&T and M&T Bank. He succeeds M&T’s longtime Chairman and CEO Robert G. Wilmers, who died “suddenly and unexpectedly” at home on Saturday, the company said in statement. M&T shares ended the regular trading day down 0.8%.

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Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond initially rose more than 5% late Wednesday after the retailer reported third-quarter per-share earnings above Wall Street expectations and comparable-store sales that declined less than forecasts. Shares later turned lower. Bed Bath & Beyond said it earned $61.3 million, or 44 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $126 million, or 85 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Net sales fell slightly to $2.954 billion, from $2.955 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 38 cents a share on sales of $2.90 billion. Comparable-store sales fell 0.3% in the quarter. The analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a 2.4% decline. The company’s board of directors also declared a dividend of 15 cents a share, payable April 15 to shareholders of record March 16. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond ended the regular session up 2.5%.

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Oil futures settled higher Wednesday after government data showed U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week. After an initial wobble following the data, oil returned to the upside, with February West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange rising 53 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $58.09 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories fell 6.5 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 15. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast, on average, a decline of 3.2 million barrels.

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The National Retail Federation applauds the passage of the Republican tax reform bill, calling it a “major victory for retailers who currently pay the highest tax rate of any business sector.” The overhaul cuts the corporate tax rate to 21%. “Our priorities were clear: reform must jumpstart the economy, encourage companies to invest here in the United States, increase wages and expand opportunities for employees, and protect our small business community, of which the vast majority are retailers,” said NRF Chief Executive Matthew Shay in a statement. Analysts at Wedbush say brands and retailers like Steve Madden Ltd. and Foot Locker Inc. should see the most upside. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is up 2.8% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index has rallied nearly 20% for the period.

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