Category: Stock Market News

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC said on Friday it returned to profit in the first half of the year, even as it’s been hit with a U.S. settlement fine. The bank posted a profit of £939 million ($1.23 billion) in the first six months of the year, compared with a loss of £2.05 billion in the year ago period. Profit for the second quarter came in at £680 million, swinging back from a loss of £1.1 billion in the same quarter last year. RBS also said it’s planning to move some operations to Amsterdam after Brexit, likely to affect around 150 people, according to the BBC.

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Fluor Corp. shares fell in the extended session Thursday after the engineering and construction company reported an unexpected quarterly loss and cut its outlook for the year. Fluor shares fell 9.4% to $39.75 after hours. The company reported a second-quarter loss of $24 million, or 17 cents a share, compared to net income of $101.8 million, or 73 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue declined to $4.72 billion from $4.86 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 60 cents a share on revenue of $4.89 billion. For the year, Fluor lowered estimated earnings to a range of $1.40 to $1.70 a share, down from a range of $2.25 to $2.75 a share. Analysts had estimated $2.42 a share.

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Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. said late Thursday it has sped up a plan to “realign” its store management structure, which will result in the reduction of about 880 department and assistant store manager positions. “These actions accelerate a transition in store management roles that began more than a year ago through store hiring practices and attrition,” simplifying the stores’ management structure and focusing additional staffing needs in non-management roles, the company said in a statement. “There are no further reductions planned in connection with this realignment,” and after the plan is in place in-store staffing levels are expected to remain the same as before or, in some cases, increase, it said. The financial impact of the organizational changes has not been included in the company’s full-year modeling assumptions provided on April 5, Bed Bath & Beyond said. The company is scheduled to report its fiscal 2017 second-quarter results after the close on Sept. 19, and will provide then an update on its full-year guidance. Shares were flat in late trading after ending the regular session up 2.4%.

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Wingstop Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the chicken wing chain topped Wall Street estimates and said it would start paying a dividend. Wingstop shares rose 7% to $32.35 after hours. The company reported second-quarter net income of $5.3 million, or 18 cents a share, compared to $4.1 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $24.7 million from $22.7 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $24.7 million. For the year, Wingstop estimates earnings growth of 23% to 25%, up from a previous forecast of 19% to 21% growth, for an outlook of about 71 cents to 73 cents a share. Analysts had forecast 70 cents a share. Separately, Wingstop said Michael Skipworth will become chief financial officer after having served in an interim role, and initiated a quarterly dividend of 7 cents a share to be paid Sept. 18 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 3.

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Callaway Golf Co. shares rose nearly 4% late Thursday after the company beat second-quarter expectations and increased its full-year guidance. Callaway said it earned $31 million, or 33 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $34 million, or 36 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue was up 24% to $305 million in the quarter, from $246 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 28 cents a share on sales of $296 million. Callaway said it expects full-year 2017 net sales between $980 million and $995 million, compared to a prior guidance of between $960 million and $980 million. The company increased its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to between 40 cents and 45 cents a share, compared to prior guidance of a range of 31 cents to 37 cents. Shares ended the Thursday session down 1%.

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Arista Networks Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the cloud-networking software company’s quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. Arista shares surged 14% to $165 after hours. The company reported second-quarter net income of $102.7 million, or $1.30 a share, compared to $38.9 million, or 53 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $1.34 a share. Revenue rose to $405.2 million from $268.7 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 95 cents a share on revenue of $360.9 million. For the third quarter, Arista estimates revenue of $405 million to $420 million. Analysts expect revenue of $377.7 million.

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Grand jury subpoenas have been issued in connection with the meeting Donald Trump Jr. had with a Russian lawyer, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. That’s the meeting that emails subsequently show the son of President Donald Trump was told the Russian government had information that would incriminate Clinton. “If it’s what you say, I love it,” Trump Jr. wrote at the time. The Reuters report also confirms the Wall Street Journal report that a grand jury has been convened in Washington to investigate Russian interference.

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Shares of Weight Watchers International Inc. rocketed 23% in after-hours trade Thursday, after the weight management program company reported second-quarter profit and sales that beat expectation, and raised its outlook. Net earnings for the quarter to July 1 rose to $45.2 million, or 67 cents a share, from $30.5 million, or 46 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was 51 cents. Revenue increased 10.3% to $341.7 million from $309.8 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $334 million, as service revenue grew 12.5% and product sales and other revenue was up 0.8%. End of period subscribers were up 20.1% and total paid weeks was up 16.8%. For 2017, the company boosted its EPS guidance range to $1.57 to $1.67 from $1.40 to $1.50. The stock was trading at $40.65 in the after-hours session, the highest price seen during regular session hours since October 2013. Through Thursday’s close, the stock had nearly tripled year to date, while the S&P 500 had gained 10.4%.

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Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. slumped 1.3% toward a 9 1/2-month low in afternoon trade Thursday, after FBR Capital downgraded the theme park operator, citing signs of weakness at the flagship San Diego park. Analyst Barton Crockett cut his rating to market perform, after being at outperform since August 2014. He slashed his stock price target to $15 from $20. “The latest lease data from the San Diego park in June suggests that the new attraction lineup and orca show in that park over Memorial Day weekend did not revive revenue headwinds, as we had hoped,” Crockett wrote in a note to clients. “That provides a cautious read for the [second-quarter] earnings report. It is also a bit cautious for the broader plan to change the orca show at all the SeaWorld parks.” SeaWorld is scheduled to report second-quarter results before the market opens on Aug. 8. The company announced in September 2016 that it would spend $175 million to open new attractions and orca presentations, amid public scrutiny over its killer whale program. The stock has plunged 27% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 10.5%.

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