Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. fell 2.5% Wednesday, as analysts took a cautious view of the stock ahead of third-quarter earnings due next week. Wedbush analysts said they are expecting same-restaurant sales growth to fall below consensus of 2.2%, based on early October checks. “While we noted a benefit from the recent introduction of queso, we estimate the trend line was only up in the low-single digit range, and believe prior to the introduction was likely running in negative territory,” they wrote in a note. “Should transaction trends remain pressured, we believe management may elect to forego the price increase we currently incorporate in our model in Q4.” Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral, according to Barron’s. Chipotle shares are down 15% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 17%.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average Wednesday afternoon was climbing past the psychologically significant level of 23,000, propelled by a rally in shares of International Business Machines Corp. The rally was putting the blue-chip gauge in position to book its first close above 23,000 in history and its best one-day climb since Sept. 11, when it rose 259 points, or 1.2%, according to FactSet data. The Dow was up 157 points, or 0.7%, at 23,155, most recently. Wednesday’s gain, which also saw the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index to intraday all-time highs, was supported by a healthy round of early earnings from U.S. corporations, and hope of market-boosting tax cuts. Meanwhile, IBM’s stock was enjoying its best daily gain since 2009 after the tech giant posted better-than-expected quarterly results late Tuesday.

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Shares of several large generic drugmakers fell in Wednesday midday trade. Mylan NV shares dropped 2.7%, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. shares dropped 2.1% , Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. shares fell 2.2% and Perrigo Co. Plc shares fell 0.6%. Generic drugs prices have been under pressure this year, and although it appears to be stabilizing of late, “we recognize that a new wave of pricing pressure could emerge again later this year,” said Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut. This past summer, Teva’s earnings report sparked a wider and extended sell off in industry shares. Teva is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Nov 2. The VanEck Vectors Generic Drugs ETF was not active in Wednesday trade. Shares have risen 3.2% over the last three months, compared with a 4% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Shares of HP Inc. rose to their highest level since Feb. of 2011 early Wednesday, after RBC raised earnings estimates and its stock price target to incorporate new company guidance. “We think HPQ’s FY18 guide is inherently conservative and could enable sustained beats/raises over the next few quarters,” analysts led by Amit Daryanani wrote in a note. RBC raised its stock price target to $26 from $22, and lifted its fiscal 2018 EPS estimate to $1.81 from $1.74 and its revenue estimate to $52.0 billion from $50.8 billion. The company said it expects a flat year for printing and a down year for PCs, where it will mainly focus on adjacent markets and share gains. “Commodity markets should remain challenging but likely peak in FQ4 (October); that headwind should be offset by cost-reduction initiatives,” said the note. Shares were last trading up 0.9% and have gained about 45% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday was looking at its second-best daily gain in October, with shares of International Business Machines Corp. powering more than half its late-morning rally. Shares of IBM were rally 9% or $13.59. That translates to a more than 90-point lift to the price-weighted Dow after the tech giant posted better-than-expected quarterly results. A $1 move in any one of the Dow’s 30 components equates to a 6.89-point swing. The daily surge for the Armonk, N.Y.-based tech giant, if it holds, would be the best since Jan. 21, 2009, according to FactSet. However, the stock is still down about 3.6% so far this year. IBM’s gain was powering the Dow above 23,000, with the blue-chip gauge up 135 points, or 0.6%, at 23,132, on track for its best daily gain since Oct. 2. The other main benchmarks’ moves were more muted. The S&P 500 index was little changed at 2,561, while the Nasdaq Composite Index also was trading flat at 6,625.

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Shares of Beijing-based micro lender Qudian Inc. soared in their public debut Wednesday, enough to make them the biggest percentage gainer on the NYSE. Qudian said earlier that its IPO of 37.5 million American depositary shares priced at $24 per ADS, above the expected range of $19 to $20. The first trade of $34.35, at 10:52 a.m. ET, was 43% above the IPO price. Since then, it has traded as high as $35.45 and as low as $31.75. It was recently up 37% at $32.85. Qudian has gone public at a time that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was surging 135 points toward a record high.

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Target Corp. said Wednesday that it will expand its line of “adaptive apparel” included in the Cat & Jack children’s line, created for kids and toddlers with disabilities. The 40-piece collection will be available online starting October 22, and will be priced between $4.50 and $39.99, with most items priced below $20, according to the retailer. In August, Target introduced “sensory-friendly” apparel that was made without tags and with flat seams. The expanded line will include these features, along with others that make getting dressed easier. Target shares are up 0.3% in Wednesday trading, but down 16.5% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 14.5% for 2017 to date.

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Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Wednesday showed that domestic crude supplies fell by 5.7 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 13. That was higher than the forecast for a drop of 3.9 million barrels by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts, but below the 7.1 million-barrel decline reported by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday. Gasoline stockpiles were up 900,000 barrels for the week, while distillate stockpiles rose by 500,000 barrels, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey forecast drops of 340,000 barrels for gasoline and 2 million barrels for distillates. November crude rose 29 cents, or 0.6%, from Tuesday to $52.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, little changed from $52.23 before the supply data.

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International Business Machines Corp.’s stock rocketed 8.7% in morning trade Wednesday, putting it on track to post the biggest post-earnings rally in nearly nine years. IBM reported late Tuesday profit and revenue that beat expectations. The last time the information technology company pleased investors this much with its quarterly report was Jan. 21, 2009, when the stock soared 11.5% after IBM reported fourth-quarter 2008 results. The day after the 34 quarterly reports in between, the stock had gained just nine times, by an average of 3.1%, ranging from gains of less than 0.1% and up to 5.7%. Separately, the stock’s price gain of $12.79 is the biggest for any day since it ran up $13.50 on July 20, 2000. The price gain was adding about 88 points to the price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , which was up 110 points.

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Abbott Laboratories shares surged 1.6% in morning trade Wednesday after the company reported third-quarter profit and revenue beats. Earnings for the latest quarter were $603 million, or 32 cents per share, after a loss of $329 million, or a loss of 24 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted earnings-per-share were 66 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 65 cents. Revenue rose to $6.83 billion from $5.30 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $6.73 billion. The company also revised its 2017 EPS guidance to between 97 cents and 99 cents, compared with previous guidance of $1.03 to $1.13, and said it expects 2017 adjusted EPS of $2.48 to $2.50, compared with previous guidance of $2.43 to $2.53. The FactSet 2017 EPS consensus is 88 cents and the FactSet 2017 adjusted EPS consensus is $2.49. Abbott expects fourth-quarter EPS of 28 cents to 30 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 31 cents, and adjusted EPS of 72 cents to 74 cents, compared with the FactSet consensus of 73 cents. Abbott shares have surged 14.7% over the last three months, compared with a 4.1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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