Category: Stock Market News

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said premarket Tuesday that their mid-stage nerve pain drug missed its primary endpoint and secondary endpoints. Xenon shares were halted before the news, while Teva shares slumped 0.2% in premarket trade. The companies are evaluating next steps for the drug, TV-45070, which is intended for post-herpetic neuralgia, a painful complication of shingles. Xenon shares have plummeted 16.5% over the last three months to $3.80, while Teva shares have declined 0.2%, compared with a 4.2% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Kohl’s Corp. said Tuesday that it has appointed Bruce Besanko chief financial officer. He joins the company on July 10. SuperValu announced Besanko’s resignation as CFO and chief operating officer on Monday. Besanko also served as CFO for OfficeMax for five years. Kohl’s shares are unchanged in premarket trading, and down 24% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 9% for 2017 to date.

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Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants Inc. said Tuesday it has raised its quarterly dividend by 12.5% to 63 cents a share from 56 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable Aug. 1 to shareholders of record on July 10. Based on Monday’s stock closing price of $90.08, the new annual dividend rate of $2.52 a share implies a dividend yield of 2.80%, compared with the implied yield for the S&P 500 of 1.99%. Earlier, Darden reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit, revenue and same-store sales that beat expectations. The stock rallied 2.6% in premarket trade. It has run up 23.9% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF has rallied 10.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 8.9%.

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Starbucks Corp. said Tuesday that it will open its first restaurant in Uruguay in 2018. The company has reached a licensing agreement with longtime partner Alsea, a restaurant operator for Latin America and Spain, to develop and operate the new stores. The two companies have worked together since 2002 with 841 Starbucks restaurants in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. The first Uruguay cafe will be in Montevideo. Other Alsea restaurants include Domino’s Pizza Inc. , Cheesecake Factory Inc. and Restaurant Brands International Inc.’s Burger King. Starbucks shares are up 0.5% in premarket trading, and up 11.1% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 22% for the last 12 months.

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Pandora Media Inc. shares were halted in premarket trade Tuesday. The company recently secured a $480 million investment from Liberty Media Corp.-owned satellite radio company Sirius XM Holdings Inc. and has been the subject of speculation it is a takeover target. On Monday, the stock rallied on a report that Co-founder and Chief Executive Tim Westergren planned to step down. The stock has fallen 35% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 9%.

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Darden Restaurants Inc. shares rose 2.7% in Tuesday premarket trading after the restaurant company, whose portfolio of chains include Olive Garden and The Capital Grille, reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat estimates. Net income totaled $123.8 million, or 98 cents per share, down from $139.6 million, or $1.09 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $1.18, beating the $1.15 per share FactSet consensus. Revenue totaled $1.93 billion, up from $1.79 billion last year and ahead of the $1.87 billion FactSet consensus. Same-restaurant sales increased 3.3% for the quarter, excluding recent acquisition Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. Same-restaurant sales increased most for Olive Garden (up 4.4%), Longhorn Steakhouse (up 3.5%), and Eddie V’s (up 3.3%). Same-restaurant sales were up 0.1% for Yard House and fell 1.3% Seasons 52. For fiscal 2018, Darden expects same-restaurant sales to increase 1% to 2%, sales to increase 11.5% to 13%, and adjusted EPS of $4.38 to $4.50. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of $4.41. Darden shares are up 38.7% for the last 12 months, outpacing the S&P 500 index , which has increased 22%.

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Under Armour Inc. said Tuesday it has appointed Patrick Frisk as its new chief operating officer, effective July 10. Frisk comes to the job from footwear company The Aldo Group, where he was chief executive. The executive has also done stints at Outdoor Americas, Timberland and Outdoor & Action Sports. Under Armour also named Paul Fipps as chief technology officer and Colin Browne as chief supply chain officer. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have fallen 20% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 9%.

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Google Inc. has been fined 2.42 billion euros ($2.72 billion) by the European Union’s antitrust regulators for giving illegal advantage to its comparison shopping service. The search engine giant has 90 days to “end its conduct” or face penalty payments of up to 5% of the average daily worldwide turnover of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, the European Commission said in a statement Tuesday. “Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors,” Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in the statement. Google could not be reached immediately for comment. Alphabet shares were down 1% in premarket trading.

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European stocks fell Tuesday, led by declines among telecom, industrial and consumer goods shares. The Stoxx Europe 600 eased 0.4% to 387.69. But showing slight gains were basic materials shares after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said government initiatives are driving job growth. In London, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,447.98. Germany’s DAX 30 shed 0.2% to 12,744.05 and France’s CAC 40 was off 0.3% at 5,281.54. Investors will watch for remarks by Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney, at 6 a.m. Eastern Time, and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, at 1 p.m. Eastern time, with both in London. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi early Tuesday defended the bank’s monetary stimulus efforts. On the 600, Bankia SA rose 3.8% following a deal to purchase lender BMN. Meanwhile, a profit warning dragged down shares of auto parts supplier Schaeffler AG .

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Arconic Inc. late Monday tried to distance itself from the devasting Grenfell Tower fire that killed at least 79 people by stressing that it supplies cladding panels to clients with the assumption that its products are used in compliance with various building codes. “Arconic supplied one of our products, Reynobond PE, to our customer, a fabricator, which used the product as one component of the overall cladding system on Grenfell Tower,” said the company in a statement. However, it said it did not participate in refurbishing the building or in the original design. ” Our product is one component in the overall cladding system; we don’t control the overall system or its compliance,” said the company. It also expressed its condolences and reiterated its decision that it will no longer supply cladding panel in other high-rise buildng projects, regardless of codes and regulations.

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