Category: Stock Market News

Barnes & Noble Education Inc. shares soared 14.5% in early Tuesday trading after the bookseller reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales that jumped from last year’s results. Net income totaled $48.4 million, or $1.03 per share, up from $29.3 million, or 63 cents per share, for the same period last year. Revenue was $886.9 million, up from $770.7 million. Adjusted EPS of $1.06 and beat the one analyst estimate of 82 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue also beat the analyst estimate of $859.0 million. Chief Executive Michael Huseby attributed the gains to the recent acquisitions of MBS Textbook Exchange and Student Brands. The company has also recently partnered with The Princeton Review and renewed its partnership with Target Corp. . Same-store sales at Barnes & Noble College Booksellers (BNC) were down 4.4%, which the company attributes largely to a 5% decline in textbook sales and 1.9% decline in general merchandise sales. Barnes & Noble Education expects sales at BNC to be about flat for fiscal 2018 with a low-to-mid-single digit percentage point range same-store sales decline. Sales are expected to be in the range of $2.25 billion “before intercompany eliminations” the company said. Sales last year were $1.87 billion. Barnes & Noble Education shares are up 48.1% for the last three months, but down 32.4% for the year to date. The S&P 500 index is up 17.9% for the year so far.

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Fitbit Inc. shares gained 0.9% after the company announced that it was expanding the app offerings for its Ionic smartwatch. The watch will support four new apps, including Etrade and the New York Times, starting Tuesday. By the end of the year, the company will introduce six others, including TripAdvisor and United Airlines. Fitbit’s Ionic watch first went on sale in October with a limited set of app offerings. The company hopes a pivot to smartwatches and away from basic trackers will revive the stock’s fortunes. Shares of Fitbit are down 7.8% so far in 2017, compared with an 18% gain for the S&P 500 Index .

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Snap Inc. shares rallied 5.9% in Tuesday trading after analysts at Barclays upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight. The firm is upbeat on Snap’s decision to redesign its app and sort content in an algorithmic way, rather than in chronological order. The analysts noted that Twitter and Instagram “benefited greatly” from similar shifts. Barclays also expects the company to start meeting Wall Street’s revenue expectations and post accelerating growth. “In short, we think the worst is behind Snap and the company is likely to get back on track in 2018,” the analysts wrote. Snap shares have lost 15.5% of their value since the company’s March IPO. The S&P 500 is up 11% in that time.

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U.S. stocks turned slightly higher after a mixed open on Tuesday, with the Dow on track to set another closing record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 32 points, or 0.1%, to 24322. The S&P 500 was up 2 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2641. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6 points, or 0.1%, to 6781, attempting to rebound from previous day’s selloff.

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Starbucks Corp. has opened its second Roastery location in Shanghai, a 30,000-square-foot location that features the longest coffee bar of any Starbucks at 88 feet long, a 3D printed tea bar, and an augmented reality (AR) experience that can be accessed through customer mobile devices. The AR experience is available on a custom-designed Roastery digital web-app platform or on Alibaba’s Taobao app. Customers can also purchase Shanghai Roastery and Reserve merchandise for home delivery and register for coffee-tasting events at the Shanghai location at Tmall. The Shanghai location also features a Teavana Bar. Starbucks has more than 600 stores in China and is the company’s fastest growing market with a new store opening every 15 hours. Starbucks shares are nearly flat in premarket trading and up nearly 6% for the year to date. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 18% for the period and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 23% for 2017 to date.

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Revance Therapeutics Inc. shares surged nearly 33% in premarket trade on Tuesday after the company reported positive results for its wrinkle-relaxing injection in two late-stage clinical trials. If approved, the product, DaxibotulinumtoxinA for Injection (RT002), would be the first of its kind to last six months. Products currently on the market, including Allergan’s market-leading Botox, last three to four months. In two trials, the product showed highly statistically significant improvement relative to the placebo in reducing frown lines or wrinkles between eyebrows. Revance’s product is also being tested in a long-term safety trial, with results expected in the second half of next year; if the trial is successfully completed, Revance expects to file for approval in the first half of 2019 and, if it’s approved, launch the product in the U.S. in 2020. Botox has been a wildly profitable product for Allergan, since patients largely pay out-of-pocket for it, and analysts have noted that new rivals could pose a long-term risk for the company. Revance shares have surged nearly 6% over the last three months to $26.00, compared with a 7.4% rise in the S&P 500 and a 11.7% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Dish Network Corp. said on Tuesday that Chief Executive Charlie Ergen will step down in order to focus more on the company’s new wireless business. Dish’s former Chief Operating Officer, Erik Carlson, will replace Ergen as CEO. However, Carlson will still report to Ergen, who will remain the company’s chairman. Carlson has been at Dish since 1995. Dish also said that it’s restructuring its operational and staff leadership framework in order to more effectively support Dish TV, Sling TV and its wireless business. Along with Carlson’s new role, Dish named Wal-Mart Stores Inc. veteran David Scott to the role of chief Human Resources Officer. Shares of Dish have declined nearly 11% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up close to 18% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 23%.

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Lands’ End Inc. shares spiked 10.2% in Tuesday premarket trading after the retailer reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. Net income totaled $162,000, or a penny per share, compared with a loss of $7.2 million, or 23 cents per share, for the same period last year. Revenue was $325.5 million for the quarter, up from $311.5 million last year. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 4 cents per share and sales of $320.0 million. Direct segment sales increased 6.7% year-over-year to $290.3 million, while retail segment sales fell 10.8% to $35.1 million, due primarily to fewer Lands’ End Shops at Sears . Same-store sales fell 1.3% for the quarter. Lands’ End shares are down 27% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 19.7% for the period.

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Piper Jaffray Cos. said Tuesday Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Duff will retire from his CEO role, a position he’s held since 2000. The investment bank and asset management company said it named Chad Abraham as CEO, effective Jan. 1. Duff will remain as chairman. Abraham is currently the global co-head of investment banking and capital markets. The company also named current Chief Financial Officer Deb Schoneman as president, effective Jan. 1. The stock is currently halted for news. It has soared 45% over the past three months, to be up 7.7% year to date, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has climbed 20% so far this year and the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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Williams-Sonoma Inc. [s:wsm] said Tuesday that it has launched four e-commerce sites in Canada for the namesake Williams Sonoma brand, West Elm, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids. The sites will feature products sold in Canadian stores and items that haven’t yet launched in the Canadian market. The company said it generates more than half of its revenue online. Williams-Sonoma has 24 bricks-and-mortar locations in Canada. The company’s stock is unchanged in premarket trading, but up more than 12% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 17.9% for 2017 to date.

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