Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Deere & Co. shot up 3.4% toward a record high in morning trade Wednesday, and was the leading gainer among S&P 500 components, on the back of better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results. Kudos to analyst Mircea Dobre at Baird, who raised his rating and stock price target on the farm and construction equipment maker on Tuesday, in anticipation of upbeat results. Deere’s stock was on track for a fifth-straight gain–it has rallied 8.8% during that stretch–and a fourth-straight record close. The gain has helped nudge up fellow agriculture and construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc.’s stock up 0.2%, but it was still below its Nov. 7 record close of $138.81. Deere’s stock has run up 39.5% year to date, while Caterpillar shares have climbed 48.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 19.4%.

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Stocks opened little changed Wednesday, a day after all three major indexes closed at records, as investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve’s November meeting and digested the latest round of economic data. Trade was expected to be thin ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday and an abbreviated market session on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 10.5 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%. Shares of heavy equipment maker Deere & Co. rose 4% after profit and sales topped expectations.

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Netflix Inc. took to Twitter on Tuesday to publicly oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed rule change that would reverse Obama-era “open internet” protections referred to as net neutrality, in favor of what the FCC says are “light-touch” regulation. In a response to its tweet, Netflix said “We’ve been supporting for years through [the Internet Association] and ‘Day to Save Net Neutrality’ with a banner on Netflix homepage for all users… This current draft order hasn’t been officially voted on, so we’re lodging our opposition publicly and loudly now.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has argued that putting an end to net neutrality rules will help foster innovation among internet service providers. The FCC will release its draft order on Wednesday, before voting on it on Dec. 14. Shares of Netflix are up close to 59% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 16% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 19%.

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A U.S. Navy airplane flying to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier with 11 passengers and crew crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, according to multiple published reports. Japan’s defense minister said eight of the people have been found, according to an AP report. The eight were transferred to the USS Ronald Reagan for medical evaluation and are in good condition, and search and rescue efforts for the other three personnel continue, the Navy said. The C-2A Greyhound plane, which was taking part in a joint U.S.-Japan naval exercise, went down in waters southeast of Japan’s Okinawa island and may have had engine trouble, a Reuters report said.

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The U.S.-listed shares of Hong Kong-based Tencent Holdings Ltd. slumped 1.4% in premarket trade Wednesday, knocking the gaming and messaging giant’s market capitalization back below Facebook Inc.’s market cap after climbing above it for the first time the previous session. At Tencent’s current price of $55.10, the market cap would be $523.39 billion, while Facebook shares inched up 0.1% to $181.97 ahead of the open, implying a market cap of $528.77 billion. Tencent is still valued above China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., as Alibaba shares rose 0.5% in premarket trade to $191.83, for a market cap of $490.30 billion. Tencent’s stock had rocketed 128.5% year to date through Tuesday, while Facebook shares had rallied 58.1%, Alibaba’s stock had climbed 117.4% and the S&P 500 had gained 16.1%.

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Apple Inc. has acquired Vrvana, maker of an augmented reality headset called Totem, for about $30 million, TechCrunch reported, citing two unnamed sources. The headset got strong reviews, but never shipped, the website reported. Apple declined to comment, but did not deny the story, said TechCrunch. Apple is reported to be preparing to ship an AR headset by 2020. Apple shares were slightly higher in premarket trade, and have gained 49% in 2017, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 19% and the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

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Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. said Wednesday that Brent Bloss, who has been chief financial officer since March 2014, will be chief operating officer, effective immediately. Bloss will also serve as CFO until the 2017 annual report is filed. The mutual fund company said it plans to name Benjamin Clouse, who has been chief accounting officer since February 2017, to the CFO role in 2018. Separately, the company said Thomas Butch has stepped down as chief marketing officer. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 1.6% year to date, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has rallied 13% and the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

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Rockwell Automation Inc. said Wednesday its board has unanimously rejected the unsolicited bid for the company from Emerson Electric Co. , determining that it is not in the best interests of shareholders. “Emerson’s proposal undervalues Rockwell Automation and its prospects for continued growth and value creation, presents significant long-term risk for Rockwell Automation’s shareowners, and would create a company that is not well-positioned to compete successfully in the evolving market,” Rockwell said in a statement. Chief Executive Blake Moret said the management team is confident about the company’s strategic direction and ability to create value. The bid is now worth just $218.48 a share, according to Rockwell’s calcuations, based on Emerson’s closing price on November 17, equal to a 16.8% premium to Rockwell’s stock price on October 30, the last trading day before the original bid was made. Last week, Emerson upped that bid to $225 a share in cash and stock. Rockwell shares were down 0.5% in premarket trade, while Emerson was up 0.7%.

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Shares of Deere & Co. shot up 2.4% in premarket trade Wednesday toward a record high, after the farm and construction equipment maker reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectations. Net income for the quarter to Oct. 29 increased to $510.3 million, or $1.57 a share, from $285.3 million, or 90 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.47. Total revenue rose 23% to $8.02 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $7.92 billion. Agriculture and turf sales increased 22% to $5.44 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $5.35 billion, and construction and forestry sales growth of 37% to $1.66 billion topped expectations of $1.58 billion. The company expects first-quarter equipment sales to grow 38% from a year ago and for 2018 to increased 22%. “We saw higher overall demand for our products with farm machinery sales in South America making especially strong gains and construction equipment sales rising sharply,” said Chief Executive Samuel Allen. The stock has run up 18.5% over the past three months and 35.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 16.1% so far this year.

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Former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic was found guilty Wednesday of genocide in the 1990s Bosnian war, the BBC and other news outlets reported. Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” he faced 11 charges, including crimes against humanity, at the UN tribunal. Mladic, now 74, was convicted of the massacre of more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995 and the siege of Sarajevo, in which more than 10,000 people died, the BBC reported. Mladic was sentenced to life in prison. Judges had rejected a request by his lawyer to halt the proceedings on health grounds.

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From:: Stock Market News