Category: Stock Market News

U.S. stock-market indexes opened higher and hit intraday records shortly after the opening bell on Monday. The gains on Wall Street follow solid returns last week. The S&P 500 was up 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,551. trading a point below its record set last week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 6 points, or 0.1%, to 6,596. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 13 points, or 0.1%, to 22,786 at the open. Among the best performer on Wall Street, Kohl’s jumped after analysts at Telsey Advisory Group the stock was raised to outperform from market perform.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will launch Mobile Express Returns, an addition to the Wal-Mart app that lets customers start the process for returning an item from their mobile device then complete the transaction in a store. The new service sets a goal of bringing the time it takes to return an item to 30 seconds, said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of Walmart services and digital acceleration, on a media call Friday. Mobile Express Returns will be available starting early November for items sold and shipped from the Walmart website. It will apply to in-store purchases in early 2018. This is the third Mobile Express offering from Wal-Mart after Mobile Express Money Services and Mobile Express Pharmacy. Wal-Mart shares are up 0.5% in Monday premarket trading, and up 14.3% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 14% for 2017 to date, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 15.2% for the period.

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Shares of AES Corp. fell 1% in premarket trade Monday, after the power company said it expects adjusted 2017 earnings per share to be in the “lower half” of its previously provided $1.00-to-$1.10 guidance range, citing the negative impact of recent hurricanes. The company said the hurricanes potentially reduced adjusted EPS by 3 cent to 5 cents. AES said one of the two power generating units in Puerto Rico that sustained damage is now available to generate electricity, while the inspection of the other is ongoing. A solar plant in the U.S. Virgin Islands was “materially damaged.” The stock has rallied 4.0% over the past three months, while the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF has gained 3.8% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 5.1%.

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Shares of The Walt Disney Co. were upgraded to RBC Capital Markets’ top pick in the media sector on Monday by analyst Steven Cahall. Disney has reached a turning point as EPSN gets close to representing less than 20% of the media and entertainment company’s earnings and Disney focuses on direct-to-consumer streaming efforts and affiliate renewals, Cahall wrote in a note to investors. “With a shift to direct-to-consumer, declining contribution from ESPN and strong growth in non-media segments we see Disney as increasingly an execution story at parks and studio,” Cahall wrote. “We now consider Disney the best positioned stock in the media sector. Its strategy for the next five years is clear… While investors will need to wait a few years to truly measure the direct-to-consumer strategy’s success, we think the total addressable market for the Disney service is potentially massive.” Cahall lowered his 12-month price target on the stock slightly to $125 from $130. Disney shares were up less than 1% during premarket trade. Shares are down 4% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 14% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 15% during the same time frame.

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Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. shares surged nearly 3% in premarket trade Monday after RBC Capital Markets analyst Matthew Eckler said he sees a “compelling argument” for faster-than-normal approval of Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug golodirsen. Sarepta recently released positive early/mid-stage clinical trial results for the DMD drug, and presented more data at a conference over the weekend. “Full golodirsen biopsy results look consistent and high-quality; suggest efficacy likely better than Exondys 51,” Eckler said, referring to Sarepta’s DMD drug that was approved last year after an unusual amount of controversy. Sarepta thus has a “compelling argument for engaging FDA on accelerated approval (meeting likely 1Q18), in our view,” Eckler said. Sarepta shares have surged nearly 50% over the last three months, compared with a 5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Bpost, a Belgian company that provides mail and parcel services, has acquired U.S.-based Radial, a privately-owned company that provides e-commerce fulfillment and other logistical services, in deal valued at $820 million. Radial fulfilled more than 306 million units across 24 fulfillment centers in 2016, and recently announced that it will hire 27,000 seasonal workers for the holidays. Radial’s expected 2017 normalized annual revenues will be between $970 million and $1.02 billion. Bpost plans to use Radial to build upon its U.S. Landmark Global business. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 5.5% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up 15.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 14% for the period.

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Reports that Apple Inc.’s iPhone X could be delayed beyond the Nov. 3 launch date are “inaccurate,” said analysts at Citigroup in a note to clients Monday. They wrote in a note to clients that given supply chain checks, they are “confident” the iPhone X will launch on time, but they believe continued “sub-optimal production yields” will lead to demand outstripping supply and sales estimates that are below current consensus analyst expectations. Citigroup analysts said they expect “volatility” in the stock near term, but maintained the buy rating as customers waiting for the iPhone X sets Apple up for stronger-than-expected 2018 results. The stock rose 0.3% in premarket trade. It has run up 7.7% over the past three months, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 has climbed 7.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 6.4%.

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General Electric Co. said Monday it elected Ed Garden, who is chief investment officer of activist investor Trian Fund Management, to its board of directors, effective Oct. 9. He replaces Robert Lane, who is retiring from the industrial conglomerate’s board for health reasons, after 12 years on the board. GE named Lane a director emeritus. “Like other GE shareholders, I am disappointed by the recent performance of GE’s stock,” Garden said. “But I continue to believe that GE represents an attractive long-term investment opportunity with significant upside.” Trian owned 70.85 million shares of GE as of June 30, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. with 0.82% of the shares outstanding, Trian is GE’s 10th largest shareholder, according to FactSet. “As GE continues to evolve as a company and address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, we also see a chance to evolve as a Board and believe that, based on his track record as a director at other companies, Ed will be able to make significant contributions to GE,” said Lead Independent Director Jack Brennan. The stock, which slipped 0.2% in premarket trade, has tumbled 23% year to date through Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 15%.

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Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. cut on Monday its 2017 outlook for sales growth and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, citing factors including recent natural disasters, distributor working capital adjustments in the performance coating business and an anticipated widening in the gap between rising costs and price increases to customers. The coatings company said it now expects sales growth of 6% to 7% to $1.08 billion to $1.10 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of $870 million to $900 million. In August, the company said it expected sales growth of 7% to 8% and adjusted EBITDA of $940 million to $970 million. The FactSet consensus for 2017 sales is $1.13 billion. The stock, which was inactive in premarket trade, has lost 6.2% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.1%.

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Richard Thaler, professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for 2017. “In total, Richard Thaler’s contributions have built a bridge between the economic and psychological analyses of individual decision-making,” said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in handing out the prize, according to a press release on Monday. See also Richard Thaler: Here’s the best investing strategy. Thaler is considered one of the founding fathers of behavioral economics. See six books recommended by Thaler.

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