Category: Stock Market News

Shares of AutoZone Inc. ran up 4.7% in light premarket trade Tuesday, after the auto parts retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectations. Net income for the quarter to Aug. 26 rose to $433.9 million, or $15.27 a share, from $426.8 million, or $14.30 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as a gain from the adoption of a new accounting standard, adjusted earnings per share came to $5.18, above the FactSet consensus of $5.11. Revenue increased 3.3% to $3.51 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.49 billion. Domestic same-store sales grew 1.0%, but missed expectations of a 1.6% rise, which the company attributed to continuing headwinds resulting from two consecutive mild winters. Inventory increased 6.9%, as inventory per location rose to $644,000 from $625,000. The stock has shed 5.6% over the past three months through Monday, and 29% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 12% so far this year.

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Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, has decided to give up his Secret Service protection, according to a New York Times report late Monday. Trump Jr., who lives in New York, reportedly is seeking more privacy, away from the large security detail. It was not immediately clear if he was lifting security for his wife and five children as well. The move should help the Secret Service, which has been hard-pressed to provide security to the President Donald Trump’s large family and their extensive travels. Last month, the agency said more than 1,000 agents had already hit their yearly caps for salary and overtime.

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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was secretly wiretapped by the FBI before and after the presidential election, CNN reported late Monday. The report said the surveillance continued until early this year, a time period when Manafort and President Donald Trump were still communicating, though it was not immediately clear if his conversations with Trump had been captured. CNN said special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team has been given details of Manafort’s intercepted communications. While sources told CNN the evidence may not be not conclusive, FBI investigators were reportedly concerned that Manafort was encouraging Russian meddling in the election. The secret surveillance order was first approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court in 2014, and renewed at some point last year. Earlier this summer, Manafort’s home was raided by the FBI and his spokesman subpoenaed by the Mueller investigation. In late August, it was reported that Mueller was working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in his Manafort investigation to share potential evidence of financial crimes. In a separate report Monday, the New York Times said Mueller’s investigators told Manafort during the raid on his house that they planned to indict him.

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Qudian Inc. has filed for its U.S. initial public offering Monday, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. The documents say the micro-lending company will list stock on the New York Stock Exchange via American Depository Shares under the symbol “QD.” The Chinese company offers small loans that average between $134 and $184 and is targeting young, mobile-active customers who desire access to credit for discretionary spending, much of which is tied to electronics purchasing, the filing said. For the first two quarters of 2017 Qudian logged net income of $143 million on revenue of $270 million and last year the company booked net income of $85 million on sales of $212 million. In the first half of 2017 the company said that it facilitated $5.6 billion in transactions to seven million active borrowers. The company operates exclusively online and disburses the funds to the vast majority of customers via Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Alipay technology.

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Qudian Inc. has filed for its U.S. initial public offering Monday, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. The documents say the micro-lending company will list stock on the New York Stock Exchange via American Depository Shares under the symbol “QD.” The Chinese company offers small loans that average between $134 and $184 and is targeting young, mobile-active customers who desire access to credit for discretionary spending, much of which is tied to electronics purchasing, the filing said. For the first two quarters of 2017 Qudian logged net income of $143 million on revenue of $270 million and last year the company booked net income of $85 million on sales of $212 million. In the first half of 2017 the company said that it facilitated $5.6 billion in transactions to seven million active borrowers. The company operates exclusively online and disburses the funds to the vast majority of customers via Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Alipay technology.

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Equifax Inc. suffered another, previously undisclosed hack in March, according to a Bloomberg News report late Monday, raising new questions about the massive data breach it suffered earlier this summer. In a statement to Bloomberg, Equifax said the March hack was not related to the one that exposed personal and financial data of up to 143 million Americans between May and July, but sources told Bloomberg that the same intruders were responsible for both breaches. The earlier hack raises even more questions about Equifax’s security measures, as well as the unusual stock sales by three executives immediately after the company learned about the bigger breach in August. The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into those trades, Bloomberg reported earlier Monday, focusing on whether those executives violated insider trading laws.

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Drug maker Optinose Inc. seeks to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Monday. The Yardley, Penn.-based company specializes in allergy and ear, nose and throat treatments and plans to list on the Nasdaq with a yet-to-be-determined ticker symbol. Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets are listed as the underwriters. The company reported $47.5 million in licensing revenue and earnings of 94 cents a share in 2016.

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Valero Energy Corp. and Plains All American Pipeline LP said late Monday they will drop a deal for Valero to acquire two California distribution terminals after interference from the state’s attorney general. Valero shares were flat at $72.20 after hours, while Plains All American was down 1.3% on low volume. The companies had agreed that Valero would buy two petroleum storage and distribution terminals in Martinez, Calif. and Richmond, Calif. from Plains but the California Attorney General sought to halt the deal. “Plains and Valero have each decided that it is in their best interest to terminate the transaction rather than endure the continued uncertainty that a lengthy trial would create for the California-based employees and customers of the terminals, as well as the considerable expense associated with defending a taxpayer-funded lawsuit,” the companies said in a statement.

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FedEx Corp. announced Monday that it is raising shipping rates beginning Jan. 1, 2018. The shipping company said that FedEx Freight, Express, Ground and Home Delivery shipping rates in the U.S. will increase by an average of 4.9%, among other rates, according to a press release. In addition, FedEx plans to charge customers additional fees for shipments with large packages and that require additional handling by the company. As of publication time the page that details the rate and surcharge increases was not functioning on FedEx’s website. The company’s stock has climbed 14.2% this year, with the S&P 500 index gaining 10.4%. FedEx announces earnings after Tuesday’s market close.

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Macy’s Inc. said Monday that it expects to hire 80,000 seasonal workers this holiday season for its namesake Macy’s stores, Bloomingdale’s, call centers, and distribution and fulfillment facilities. That’s down from 83,000 last year. Hiring events will take place over two days, on Sept. 28 and Sept. 29. About 18,000 of the hires will be for direct-to-consumer fulfillment facilities, up 3,000 positions from last year. These centers are located in places like Portland, Tenn., and Cheshire, Conn. About 1,000 will be hired to work in customer service centers, operating both online, emailing and chatting with shoppers, for instance, and on the phone. More than 1,000 will be hired to work on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy’s shares are down 38.3% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 12% for the period.

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