Category: Stock Market News

Ulta Beauty Inc. shares are up 3% in Friday premarket trading after the company was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. The price target was cut to $310 from $321. Analysts say they’re “positive” after a recent sell-off and same-store sales growth that they call “sector-leading.” Moreover, Goldman thinks the company won’t be impacted by Amazon.com Inc. “We do not believe price competition will derail Ulta’s core value proposition, or that Amazon yet offers a compelling alternative to the consumer,” the note said. With a focus on convenient locations, an assortment that mixes mass and prestige items, and service rather than price, Goldman analysts “expect continued share gains, reflecting incremental sales captured from department stores, upside from the rollout of new brands and boutiques, and growth in Ulta’s membership program, also a powerful source of valuable data.” Ulta shares are up 1% for the year so far, while the S&P 500 index is up 9.3% for the period.

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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s outspoken CEO Jamie Dimon said the U.S. economy is being held in check by a lack of policy momentum in Washington D.C. that has failed to deliver a spate of pro-growth legislation that could help to boost an otherwise sluggish economy. “We have to focus on policy that is good for all Americans,” Dimon said speaking Friday morning on a call with reportrs to discuss second-quarter earnings. Dimon said the inability to make headway on legislation is “holding us back and it is hurting the average American,” he said. “It isn’t a Republican issue, it is not a Democratic issue,” he said. Dimon said U.S. gross domestic product has been accelerating at an annual rate of about 1.5% to 2% and said “bad policies” are to blame for this pace that is considered muted for an economy that is in the ninth year of recovering from a financial crisis. Dimon said continued gridlock may not further weigh on growth but said better policies could deliver a jolt higher to the economy. “We need infrastructure reform, we need regulatory reform.” He declined to say whether President Donald Trump’s administration was moving fast enough on those issues and called out the media for failing to call cover those issues. Shares of J.P. Morgan were trading 1.6% lower despite reporting second-quarter results that beat expectations, as investors focused on a trading slowdown. So far this year, J.P. Morgan’s stock has gained 7.9%, while the S&P 500 index has risen 9.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 9.1% over the same period.

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Harmonic Inc. slashed its outlook for second-quarter results, as an acceleration in its over-the-top software-as-a-service (OTT SaaS) business weighed on results. The video delivery infrastructure company said it now expects an adjusted per-share loss in the range of 21 cents to 19 cents, compared with a previous outlook provided in May of a per-share loss of 4 cents to breakeven. Revenue is now expected to be $80.0 million to $82.0 million, down from previous guidance of $94.5 million to $102.5 million. The FactSet consensus was for a per-share loss of 2 cents and revenue of $98.3 million. “Market demand for video infrastructure delivered through software subscription and cloud services is accelerating,” said Chief Executive Patrick Harshman. “While this improvement in OTT SaaS activity reduced revenue and profitability for the quarter, we believe it will establish a trajectory for more predictable future financial performance in our Video segment.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has shed 6.4% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.1%.

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A teenager has been arrested after a string of acid attacks in east London late Thursday that left one person with “life-changing” injuries, the BBC reported. Among the attacks, a 32-year old man on a moped was approached by two men in Hackney, and his moped stolen after they threw a corrosive substance in his face. Other attacks were reported in Stoke Newington, Islington and Clapham.

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A federal judge in Hawaii ordered a loosening of President Donald Trump’s travel ban late Thursday, ruling that the Trump administration’s interpretation of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling is too narrow. Judge Derrick K. Watson said grandparents and other close relatives — such as in-laws, aunts and uncles — traveling from the six affected countries, all of them predominantly Muslim, are exempt from the ban, for now. Last month, the Supreme Court reinstated most of the travel ban, allowing only those with “bona fide” family ties to enter the U.S. By the administration’s interpretation of that, only travelers with a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son- or daughter-in-law or sibling in the U.S would be admitted.

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Akcea Therapeutics Inc. priced its initial public offering well below the expected range late Thursday, with shares expected to trade Friday. Akcea priced its 15.6 million share offering at $8 a share, according to IPO Boutique. In late June, the biotech drug developer had forecast an IPO pricing range of $12 to $14 a share for an offering of 9.6 million shares. Akcea shares begin trade on Friday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “AKCA”.

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Mylan NV shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the drug maker said a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended approval of its generic version of Roche’s breast-cancer drug Herceptin. Mylan shares rose 1.3% to $39.55 after hours. The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 16 to 0 recommending that the agency approve trastuzumab, a biologically similar version of Roche’s breast-cancer drug Herceptin, Mylan said. Mylan and partner Biocon Ltd., based in Bengaluru, India, developed the drug. The FDA is not obligated to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees but generally does.

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Shares of A10 Networks Inc. tanked in Thursday’s extended session after the data network company posted weak quarterly results. A10 Networks reported a preliminary second-quarter loss per share of 12 cents to 13 cents. On an adjusted basis, it lost 5 cents a share to 6 cents a share, compared with the 2 cents a share profit projected by analysts in a FactSet survey. Revenue came in between $52.5 million to $53.5 million, falling short of its own guidance and analysts’ average estimate of $62.8 million. A10 Networks shares slumped 18% after hours.

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Vanguard Group said late Thursday that Chief Executive Bill McNabb will step down at the beginning of 2018, and be succeeded by Chief Investment Officer Tim Buckley. McNabb, who has been CEO since 2008, will continue to serve as chairman of the board, Vanguard said. Privately held Vanguard manages about $4.4 trillion in assets worldwide.

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The largest exchange-traded fund to track the retail sector rallied on Thursday, posting its biggest one-day advance since November after one of its largest components raised its outlook. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF closed 2.3% higher, its biggest one-day move since Nov. 22. More than 9.2 million shares exchanged hands, twice its 4.1 million 30-day average. The move came after Target Corp. forecast a surprise “modest increase” in same-store sales for the fiscal second quarter, citing improved traffic and sales trends. The stock rose 4.8% and boosted a number of brick-and-mortar retail stocks, which have been under pressure this year. Among other notable retailers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. gained 1.5% and Macy’s Inc. was up 4.1%. Despite the move on the day, the ETF remains down 9.4% on the year.

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