Category: Stock Market News

Thor Industries Inc. shares rose in the extended session Wednesday after the recreational-vehicles maker topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Thor shares advanced 3.3% to $123.89 after hours. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $119.5 million, or $2.26 a share, compared to $82.8 million, or $1.57 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $1.93 billion from $1.29 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $1.96 a share on revenue of $1.82 billion.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Pier 1 Imports Inc. fell more than 7% late Wednesday after the retailer reported a wider-than-expected loss in the fiscal second quarter and forecast a smaller per-share profit for fiscal year 2018 than what analysts had expected. Pier 1 said it lost $7.8 million, or 10 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter, compared with a loss of $4 million, or 5 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, the company reported a loss of 5 cents a share in the quarter. Revenue rose 0.4% to $407.6 million, compared with $405.8 million in the same period last year. Comparable-store sales rose 1.8% in the quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a loss of 6 cents a share on sales of $407 million, and a rise of 0.7% for comparable-store sales. The company updated its full-year outlook to “reflect the anticipated impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma” on the third quarter. The new guidance calls for comparable-store sales to either slide 1% or rise 1% for the year, and flat to 25% higher sales growth. The company guided for a GAAP EPS between 31 cents and 41 cents for the year. The analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a fiscal 2018 EPS of 46 cents a share. The stock had ended the regular trading session up 3.2%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Applied Materials Inc. surged Wednesday on positive momentum in the chip sector and the chip materials company’s long-term forecast and share buyback program. Applied Materials shares rallied 6.9% to $49.09, helped in part by Micron Technology Inc.’s strong forecast for memory chips, and are up 52% year to date. Applied Materials forecast adjusted earnings of $5.08 a share in fiscal 2020 as Internet-of-things applications, Big Data and artificial intelligence drive computing demand. For the current year, analysts surveyed by FactSet expect fiscal earnings of $3.21 a share. The company also announced a new $3 billion share repurchase program in addition to the $995 million that remains on an earlier program.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Amazon.com Inc. has introduced a number of new Echo devices, including a less expensive version of the Echo, priced at about $100 versus the present price tag of nearly $180. The latest version of the Alexa-enabled device is smaller, provides improved sound, and can better pick up the users voice even in noisy situations. The Echo Plus, priced at $150, has a built-in smart-home hub that can find compatible lights, switches and more. It also has improved audio quality. Alexa also has a number of new features, including Alexa Routines that can perform a few functions with one command, such as turning off the lights and locking the door when the user says, “Goodnight.” Amazon has also launched a brand new Echo, the Echo Spot, that is equipped with a circular screen, many of the qualities of the other Echo devices, such as improved audio and smart home capabilities, and priced at about $130. The e-commerce giant has also unveiled a new Fire TV device with 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range. Priced at about $70, the device will start shipping on Oct. 25. Finally, Amazon and BMW will make an updated version of the Alexa skill in the BMW and Mini vehicles starting mid-2018. Users will now be able to get direction, play music, control their smart home and have access to third-party developers like Starbucks Corp. and NPR. Amazon shares are up 1.6% in Wednesday trading and up 27.1% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 12.2% for 2017 so far.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Delta Air Lines Inc. Chief Executive Edward Bastian said Wednesday in an interview with CNBC that the 220% tariff slapped on a new Bombardier Inc. jetliner to U.S. airlines was “absurd.” The U.S. International Trade Commission’s ruling late Tuesday that it would add a tariff comes after Boeing Co. filed a complaint after Bombardier sold CSeries jets to Delta last year; a final decision on the ruling is expected next year. Delta said the Boeing didn’t produce a product that was comparable to Bombardier’s C-series, and that Boeing had offered Delta used jets as an alternative, the CNBC report said. “We think it’s absurd,” Bastian told CNBC. Delta’s stock dropped 1.8% in afternoon trade, while Boeing shares gained 0.7% and the S&P 500 tacked on 0.5%. The Canada-listed shares of Bombardier tumbled 8.4%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

The Russell 2000 rallied on Tuesday, hitting an intraday record in what was on track to be its biggest one-day percentage gain since June. The index of small companies gained 1.5% to 1,479.32 and was set for its fourth straight daily rise, as well as its best day since June 28. The index was at an all-time high, bringing its year-to-date advance to 9%. While small-caps had been struggling, dropping between mid-July and mid-August, they have since staged a powerful rebound, gaining nearly 10% since that intraday low. The move eclipsed the gains in other major indexes; the S&P 500 rose 0.3% on Tuesday while the Dow was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 1%. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF , an exchange-traded fund that tracks the index, has seen inflows of $1.3 billion thus far this year, making it one of the most popular U.S.-listed funds of 2017.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s “not happy” with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, whose use of private jets for official travel has drawn scrutiny. Asked by a reporter if he could fire Price, Trump replied “we’ll see.” Trump said “I’m not happy about it and I let him know it.”

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

The U.S. dollar jumped as high as C$1.2433 against its Canadian rival in Wednesday’s session, compared to only C$1.2347 late Tuesday, following remarks by Bank of of Canada Gov. Stephen Poloz. He said the central bank’s policy decisions are particularly dependent on economic data amid persistently low inflation in the developed world. He said that any change in interest rates wouldn’t affect inflation fully for a year and a half to two years, adding that “when we make our monetary policy decisions, we are less concerned about the latest inflation numbers–which are already a month old–than we are about where inflation will be in the future.” The BOC already raised its key interest rate twice this year, once in July and once in early September. Poloz further reiterated the BOC’s inflation target of 1-3%, and said that exports will be boosted by a lower Canadian dollar.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. shares are up 1.9% Wednesday after the company’s stock was upgraded to buy from hold at Canaccord Genuity, which believes that company’s strategic turnaround is starting to yield results. The price target was raised to $58 from $43. “After a multi-year stretch of excessive promotions, stale innovation in handbags, and a watch category that disproportionately depressed comps and collapsed earnings before interest and taxes margins, we believe the strategic steps management has recently begun implementing are showing early signs of traction,” Canaccord analysts led by Camilo Lyon wrote in a Wednesday note. Michael Kors has recently taken steps to add embellishment and make other style changes to its merchandise, and has pulled back from department stores. The introduction of the Access smart watch line has also offset the declines in the fashion watch category. Michael Kors shares are up 11.5% for the year so far, and up 34% for the last three months. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is up 3.2% for the past three months and the S&P 500 index is up 3.3% for the period.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Bank stocks surged Wednesday, with the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF running up 1% to the highest level seen in nearly a decade, as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and upbeat data fueled a rise in Treasury yields. Among the financial sector tracker’s (XLF) most heavily weighted components, shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rallied $3.55, or 1.5%, and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. rose 95 cents, or 1.0%, to pace the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancers. The shares’ gains were adding a combined 31 points to the Dow’s price, which was up 10 points. Elsewhere, shares of Bank of America Corp. climbed 2.1%, Citigroup Inc. tacked on 1.8% and Wells Fargo & Co. gained 0.6%. The XLF was on track to close at the highest level since Dec. 10, 2007.The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 7.4 basis points to a 2-month high of 2.303%. The higher yield can help boost bank profits, as it can increase the spread between what banks earn on longer-term assets like loans and the cost of shorter-term liabilities to fund those assets.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News