Category: Stock Market News

Shares of EBay Inc. tumbled 5.1% in premarket trade Friday, after the e-commerce company’s second-quarter results disappointed investors who were looking for a lot more than just matching analyst estimates. The stock had shot up 9.3% in two weeks to a record close ahead of the results, which were released after Thursday’s close. Analyst Shyam Patil at Susquehanna recommended investors “buy the pullback” as the results show the turnaround is on track and given expectations of an expected growth acceleration in the second half of the year. Patil raised the stock price target to $41 from $40. J.P. Morgan nalyst Doug Anmuth said the results reflect “improving fundamentals,” and therefore raised his stock price target to $38 from $34, but acknowledged that “expectations were elevated” given the recent rally. “Overall, we do not think the bull or bear thesis changes much with this print,” Anmuth wrote in a note to clients. The stock has run up 25.2% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF has climbed 19.0% and the S&P 500 has gained 10.5%.

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Shares of Plug Power Inc. soared 13% in premarket trade Friday, after the company announced that it is issuing to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. warrants to buy 55.3 million of its shares. The deal is part of an existing commercial agreement between the two companies under which Wal-Mart buys Plug Power’s fuel-cell powered machines for its distribution centers. Plug Power made the disclosure in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, that outlines the vesting schedule for the warrants, which depends on how much Wal-Mart invests in the company’s products and services. Plug Power shares have gained 77% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 10.5%.

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Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Co. tumbled 3.6% in premarket trade Friday, after the personal care products company matched second-quarter profit expectations but missed on sales. Net profit fell to $524 million, or 59 cents a share, from $600 million, or 67 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings per share came to 72 cents, in line with the FactSet consensus of 72 cents. Revenue fell to $3.83 billion from $3.85 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $3.90 billion. Oral, personal and home care revenue slipped to $3.25 billion from $3.27 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $3.32 billion, while pet nutrition revenue was flat at $572 million and missed expectations of $577 million. “As we look ahead, uncertainty in global markets and slowing category growth worldwide remain challenging,” said Chief Executive Ian Cook. “Based on current spot rates, we continue to expect a low-single-digit net sales increase for 2017, and given our slower than expected first half, we are now planning for low-single-digit organic sales growth for 2017.” The stock has gained 10.2% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has tacked on 6.3% and the S&P 500 has advanced 10.5%.

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Schlumberger Ltd. shares rose 0.7% premarket Friday, after the energy giant posted second-quarter numbers that beat estimates. The Paris-based company said it had a net loss of $74 million, or 5 cents a share, in the quarter, narrower than the loss of $2.16 billion, or $1.56 a share, posted in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 35 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 30 cents. Revenue rose to $7.46 billion from $7.16 billion, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $7.24 billion. “Beyond seasonal effects, revenue grew in all of our Groups and Areas,” Chief Executive Paul Kibsgaard said in a statement. The CEO said the outlook for the second half in North America “remains robust,” but that the company is also seeing positive signs in international market with activity and projects picking up in several markets. Shares are down 21.2% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 10.5%.

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Aerospace and defence giant Honeywell International Inc. said Friday it had net income of $1.39 billion, or $1.80 a share, in the second quarter, up from $1.319 billion, or $1.70 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose to $10.08 billion from $9.99 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.78 and sales of $9.88 billion. “Earnings came in at the high end of our guidance range, up 10% year-over-year,” Chief Executive Darius Adamczyk said in a statement. “We continued our investments to enhance future profitable growth through new product introductions, additions to the sales organization, and more than $115 million of restructuring funding in the quarter, made possible by a lower-than-planned tax rate.” The company raised its full-year sales guidance to a range of $39.3 billion to $40.0 billion, compared with a current FactSet consensus of $39.4 billion. It raised its full-year EPS outlook to a arnge of $7.00 to $7.10, compared with a current FactSet consensus of $7.08. Shares were slightly lower premarket, but have gained 16.5% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 10.5%.

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German industrial group Siemens AG said Friday that it will quit a joint-venture with a Russian power plant after four gas turbines destined for Russia were instead diverted to Crimea, Reuters reported Friday. Siemens said the action violates EU sanctions put in place after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The German company said it now will divest of its stake in a power-plant joint venture with Interautomatika, after claiming it has evidence that four of the turbines are now in Crimea. The Russian government maintains that the turbines were manufactured in Russia, using parts made from the country, and said installation in Crimea would go ahead, the BBC reported. Interautomatika had a role in installing and commissioning those turbines that are now in Crimea, sources told Reuters. Siemens said it will now review the involvement of its global companies and subsidiaries with regards to Russian deliveries. A spokesperson for Siemens couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

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President Donald Trump reshuffled his legal team Thursday amid a swarm of potentially damaging news. CNN reported Thursday night that Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s longtime personal attorney, would be taking a reduced role related to the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with Trump’s staff. CBS News went further, reporting that Kasowitz was “out as @POTUS attorney.” CNN reported that attorney Ty Cobb would take over the lead White House role on the Russia probe, and attorneys John Dowd and Jay Sekolow would be Trump’s primary personal outside lawyers. In a related development, Mark Corallo, the spokesman for Trump’s legal team, resigned Thursday, according to multiple reports. The shakeup comes as the Washington Post reported Thursday that Trump’s legal team was talking to the president about his pardon powers, and was said to be working to undermine Mueller’s investigation. In a separate report, the Wall Street Journal reported former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was being investigated for possible money laundering related to the Russia probe. Thursday’s developments came a day after a revealing interview with the New York Times, in which Trump admitted he had regrets about hiring Attorney General Jeff Sessions and that Sessions’ recusal from the Russia probe was “unfair” to him, accused former FBI Director James Comey of lying, and threatened Mueller not to look into his personal finances.

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Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci is expected to be named White House communications director, according to a report by Axios on Thursday night. Politico also reported Scarmucci was in the running for the job, but warned that it was not yet a done deal. President Donald Trump’s inclination to hire Scaramucci, who founded and recently sold his stake in the hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, came as a surprise to chief of staff Reince Priebus, Axios reported. Scaramucci is a major Republican donor and was rumored to be in line for a top White House communications job at the beginning of the year, though he did not get it. The communications director job has been vacant since Mike Dubke quit at the end of May.

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President Donald Trump and his legal team are discussing his authority to grant pardons and potential ways to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling, according to a Washington Post report late Thursday. The Post said Trump has asked about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself. A president has never tried to pardon himself, and the legal implications of that could be explosive. The Post also reported Trump’s legal team is trying to keep Mueller’s probe from expanding to include the president’s finances, and are collecting potential alleged conflicts of interest they see coming from his office — which could potentially be used to remove Mueller from his position. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was under investigation from multiple fronts, including Mueller, for possible money laundering.

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Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller for possible money laundering as part of his investigation into Russian election-meddling, the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday. The Journal reported both the Senate and House intelligence committees are also investigating Manafort for money laundering. Manafort worked for years as a political consultant for a pro-Russia party in Ukraine, and led Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for about three months last year. In a separate report Wednesday, the New York Times reported Manafort was as much as $17 million in debt to pro-Russia interests before joining Trump’s campaign. The Journal said the New York attorney general and Manhattan district attorney are also looking into Manafort’s real estate transactions for potential money laundering and fraud. Manafort was asked Wednesday to publicly testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week to discuss a June 2016 meeting he attended between top Trump advisers and a Russian lawyer who had promised them damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

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