Category: Stock Market News

E.W. Scripps Co. said Thursday it named Lisa Knutson as its chief financial officer, after a nationwide search. Knutson has been serving as interim CFO, since former CFO Tim Wesolowski left the company in early October. Previously, Knutson was chief strategy officer. The TV station operator’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 22% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has gained 4.9%.

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Shares of Ubiquiti Networks Inc. slumped 3.7% in premarket trade Thursday, after the network technology company reported fiscal first-quarter results that beat expectations, but provided a downbeat revenue outlook. Net income for the quarter to Sept. 30 rose to $74.93 million, or 92 cents a share, from $71.8 million, or 86 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 92 cents was above the FactSet consensus of 86 cents. Revenue rose 20% to $245.9 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $235.5 million, as 50% growth in enterprise technology revenue helped offset a 0.6% decline in service provider technology revenue. The company said it expects second-quarter revenue of $240 million to $250 million, which is below the FactSet consensus of $252 million. The closed Monday at $66.36, just shy of its Aug. 8 record close of $66.44. The stock had tumbled to a 3-month low in mid-September after short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research called the company a “fraud,” then started recovering later that month after Ubiquiti Chief Executive Robert Pera vigorously defended the company. The stock has rallied 13% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

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Sequential Brands Group Inc. shares fell 5.1% in Thursday premarket trading after the company reported a third-quarter earnings and revenue miss. Sequential Brands portfolio includes brands like Avia, Ellen Tracy, Emeril Lagasse and The Franklin Mint. Net loss totaled $24.2 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with net income of $1.3 million, or 2 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was 10 cents, below the 13-cents FactSet consensus. Revenue was $39.3 million, down from $42.0 million last year and below the $43.8 million FactSet estimate. The company now expects full-year revenue of $165.0 million to $169.0 million, and a net loss of $8.4 million to $10.4 million. The FactSet consensus was $173.6 million and EPS of 52 cents. Sequential Brands shares are down 50% for the last 12 months while the S&P 500 index is up 20% for the period.

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Piper Jaffray Companies said Thursday it plans to raise its regularly quarterly dividend by 20% to 37.5 cents a share, starting in the first quarter of 2018. The increase comes after the broker and asset management company said it approved a new dividend policy, in which it will return from 30% to 50% of its adjusted net income to shareholders each year. As a result, the company plans to declare an annual special dividend payable in the first quarter of each year to reach that target. Based on Thursday’s stock closing price of $69.90, new regular dividend’s annual rate implies a dividend yield of 2.15%, compared with the implied yield for the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF of 1.49% and for the S&P 500 of 1.93%. The stock has run up 20.5% over the past three months, while the financial ETF has gained 3.8% and the S&P 500 has climbed 4.9%.

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Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. priced its intial public offering at $14 a share, the midpoint of its $13 to $15 price range. The clinical-stage biotech said it sold 10.7 million shares to raise about $150 million. Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and Evercore ISI were lead underwriters on the deal. Apellis shares will start trading on Nasdaq later Thursday under the ticker symbol “APLS”. Separately, Chinese search engine Sogou Inc. priced its IPO at $13 a share, the top end of its $11 to $13 range. The company sold 45 million shares to raise $585 million. Shares will start trading later Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “SOGO”.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average looked set to open Thursday trade with a triple-digit loss, as investors weighed the prospects of Congressional plan to reform tax policy. Futures for the Dow was down 107 points, or 0.5%, at 23,384, which would put it position to see its worst one-day decline since it fell 234 points, or 1.1%, on Sept. 5, according to FactSet data. Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.6% at 2,576, while Nasdaq-100 futures were off 0.8% at 6,294. The firm moves lower come after the Nasdaq Composite Index , the Dow and the S&P 500 index finished at all-time highs at the same time for the 27th time in 2017. However, moves higher have been incremental as investors worry about the likelihood of a tax bill passing soon against equity valuations, which have been viewed by many as too rich.

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Shares of Coty Inc. soared 10% in premarket trade Thursday, after the beauty company reported a fiscal first-quarter profit that beat expectations. The company, with brands including Covergirl, Max Factor and Gucci, said the net loss for the quarter to Sept. 30 was $19.7 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with breakeven results in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 10 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 7 cents. Revenue rose to $2.24 billion from $1.08 billion, in line with the FactSet consensus of $2.24 billion. Luxury sales rose 70% to $764.4 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $756.5 million, consumer beauty sales growth of 82% to $1.04 billion was just shy of the FactSet consensus of $1.06 billion and the seven-fold increase in professional sales to $430.5 million missed expectations of $462.7 million. “While results are likely to be a bit uneven from quarter to quarter going forward, the improving revenue trend gives me confidence that the growth strategy I outlined earlier this year is moving Coty gradually onto a path of full recovery,” said Chief Executive Camillo Pane. The stock, which closed last Friday at the lowest level since February 2014, has tumbled 26% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.9%.

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Travelers Companies Inc. said it estimates fourth-quarter catastrophe losses related to the recent California wildfires of $525 million to $675 million before tax. The estimate includes recoveries from reinsurance. That compares with pre-tax catastrophe losses of $700 million in the third quarter, resulting primarily from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. The insurer said it plans to resume share repurchases, something it had previously suspended while it assessed catastrophe losses. The company is hosting a investor day on Nov. 13. The stock ticked up 0.2% in premarket trade. It has gained 2.6% over the past three months, while the PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF has slipped 0.6% and the S&P 500 has advanced 4.9%.

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise said Thursday it is raising its quarterly dividend by 15% to 7.50 cents a share. The new payment will be made on or about Jan. 3 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 13. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have gained 0.7% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

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Lululemon Athletica Inc. said Thursday Creative Director Lee Holman has resigned for personal reasons, after three years with the yoga gear seller. Holman will remain until the end of the year. “We’ve developed deep bench strength across the product organization and are excited to realize the powerful opportunities ahead of us as we connect with a growing collective of guests living an active, mindful lifestyle,” said Chief Executive Laurent Potdevin. “The strength of our performance reinforces our leadership in the market we created. I’m energized by the momentum in our business as we enter the holiday season and look forward to sharing the details of our third quarter performance and fourth quarter outlook on December 6th, 2017.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has slipped 0.4% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 3.9% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.9%.

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