Category: Stock Market News

Shares of chocolate maker Hershey Co. jumped 3% Thursday, after Bernstein upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform and said a 37% decline in cocoa costs since last summer should boost margins. Cocoa costs account for 10% to 15% of Hershey’s cost of goods sold, according to Bernstein’s estimates, and the commodity is expected to continue to decline in price in the next few years. “Easing cocoa prices could be a major tailwind as we move out into 2018, more than offsetting the relatively mild inflation in dairy prices,” wrote analysts led by Alexia Howard. “The last time cocoa prices declined in 2011, the company saw its gross margin improve from 42.4% in 2011 to 46% by 2013.” Bernstein expects the U.S. chocolate market to keep growing modestly, buoyed by a millennial preference for snacking, innovation and higher marketing spend in response to Mondelez’s entry to the market. Finally, food labels that were to be introduced in 2018 that would specify what percent of a daily allowance of sugar is in chocolate has been postponed, said the note. Hershey shares have gained 5.4% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained about 10%.

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Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said Thursday morning that they are launching an investigation into multiple sclerosis drug prices, and have sent letters to seven pharmaceutical companies about their pricing strategies. Letters were sent to Bayer AG , Biogen Inc. , Merck & Co.’s EMD Serono, Novartis AG , Sanofi SA , Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Roche Holding AG . Biogen shares declined 2.9% in heavy midday trade and Teva shares declined 1.1% in moderate trade. The lawmakers asked for information to evaluate multiple sclerosis drugs’ “substantial price increases, including information about corporate profits and expenses and documents concerning pricing strategies, patient assistance programs, and drug distribution systems,” and requested a response by the end of the month. The average price of a multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapy rose from $16,000 in 2004 to about $84,000 in 2017, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (the numbers refer to average wholesale price, which does not reflect often-substantial discounts and rebates). Prices for drugs sold by the seven drugmakers have increased by as much as 1,002% since 2012, according to information from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society cited by the two representatives. The lawmakers said that their letter referred to an American Academy of Neurology study that found “some drug companies appear to be increasing their prices and setting new, higher prices in lockstep in competitors,” which may reflect a phenomenon called “shadow pricing” in which companies respond to eachothers’ price increases.

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A vehicle ran into a crowd in central Barcelona, according to multiple news reports citing Spanish police, with police reportedly having concluded the attack was a terrorist action. The attack reportedly involving a white van occurred near Plaza Catalunya in the Spanish city’s busy and heavily touristed Ramblas area. Police have confirmed at least one fatality in the incident, the Associated Press and others reported. The AP cited local media as putting the death count at 13, with at least 20 additional people injured. NBC News said officials had put the number of people injured as high as 32. Local media in Barcelona were reporting that hostages were being held at a restaurant in the vicinity.

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A vehicle ran into a crowd in central Barcelona, injuring several pedestrians, according to multiple news reports citing Spanish police. The crash reportedly involving a white van occurred in or near Plaza Catalunya in the Spanish city’s busy and heavily touristed Ramblas area.

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Shares of Target Corp edged up 0.6% in morning trade Thursday, bucking the declines seen in the broader retail sector and rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares, after the discount retailer was upgraded at MKM Partners, citing “encouraging” quarterly results as traffic “perks up.” Analyst Patrick McKeever raised his rating to buy, after being neutral for at least the last three years. He boosted his stock price target to $69. which was 22% above current levels, from $58. McKeever highlighted that traffic growth of 2.1% was the best since the fourth-quarter of 2014. “New brands appear to be playing a big role as consumers respond enthusiastically to Cat & Jack, Pillowfort and the more recently introduced Cloud Island,” Mckeever wrote in a note to clients. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart’s stock shed 2.1% in morning trade, after reporting earlier traffic at Walmart U.S. stores rose just 1.3%. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF was down 0.4%. So far this year, Target’s stock has tumbled 22%, while Wal-Mart shares have run up 15%, the retail ETF has lost 12% and the S&P 500 has gained 9.5%.

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Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday showed that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 53 billion cubic feet for the week ended Aug. 11. The data, however, included revisions to figures for previous weeks tied to a reclassification of natural gas in storage from working gas to base gas. On average, analysts were looking for a build of 47 billion cubic feet, according to commodity brokerage firm iiTRADER. Total stocks now stand at 3.082 trillion cubic feet, down 254 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 55 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. September natural gas was up 2 cents, or 0.8%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $2.910 per million British thermal units. It traded at $2.882 before the data.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday was being yanked firmly lower in early trade as four of its components were under severe pressure. Shares of Apple Inc. , Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. were exacting a more-than 50-point toll on the Dow , which was down more than 100 points at its intraday nadir, with those components representing the lion’s share of the fall. Wal-Mart’s share decline came even as the the giant retailer reported quarterly results that were better than expected, but showed disappointing sales in its Sam’s Club unit. Cisco Systems Inc. lost 3.8% after the networking-equipment company late Wednesday reported earnings that missed forecasts. More broadly, the S&P 500 index was off 0.5% at 2,455, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was giving up 0.8% in early trade at 6,295.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday was being yanked firmly lower in early trade as four of its components were under severe pressure. Shares of Apple Inc. , Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. were exacting a more-than 50-point toll on the Dow , which was down more than 100 points at last check, with those components representing the lion’s share of the fall. Wal-Mart’s share decline came even as the the giant retailer reported quarterly results that were better than expected but showed disappointing sales in its Sam’s Club unit. More broadly, the S&P 500 index was off 0.6% at 2,452, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was giving up 1% in early trade at 6,284.

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Shares of Automatic Data Processing Inc. could more than double in less than four years, if the payroll services company fulfill’s its potential, according to hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, which is run by billionaire activist investor Bill Ackman. In a presentation to investors, Pershing said the value of ADP’s stock, which was down 1.4% at $109.54 in morning trade, can rise to $221 to $255 a share by June 21, with “not changes in the credit rating, capital structure, dividend policy, or clients funds investment strategy.” Pershing said ADP’s “buy” instead of “build” strategy has led to weak product offerings, most notably in enterprise, and inefficient legacy back-end infrastructure. “ADP’s focus on ‘hitting the numbers’ has led to value-destructive decisions with negative long-term consequences,” Pershing wrote in the presentation. ADP diclosed earlier this month that Pershing, which owns 36.8 million ADP shares, or an 8.3% stake, was seeking to take five board seats and change the CEO. In an interview on CNBC last week, ADP CEO Carlos Rodriguez called Ackman “a spoiled brat.” stock has gained 22% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has rallied 13%.

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U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday as investors weighed concerns about President Donald Trump’s ability to pursue pro-business policies amid a continued controversy over his response to weekend violence in Charlottesville, Va., and sorted through a mixed bag of economic data. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 47 points, weighed down in part as shares of components Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , down 2.8%, and Cisco Systems Inc. [CSCO], off 1.8%, declined following earnings.

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