Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shot up as much as 8% to a 7-week high in morning trade Wednesday before paring some gains to be up 4.2%, after the company unveiled its Epyc server chip, which analysts were mostly upbeat about. The stock has now rocketed 15% over the past three sessions. Volume topped 45 million shares within 25 minutes after the open, already more than half the full-day average of about 77.4 million shares. Canaccord Genuity analyst Matthew Ramsay wrote in a research note that he believes “AMD has built the foundation to re-emerge as a solid competitor in the enterprise, cloud and storage tiers of the server market” to add unique value to customers for deep learning and artificial intelligence. The stock has climbed 17% year to date, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index has rallied 19%, shares of rival Intel Corp. have lost 5.3% and the S&P 500 has gained 8.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks opened tepidly higher on Wednesday as oil prices attempted to hold ground in positive territory following comments from an oil minister about the possibility of deepening production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other crude producers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 0.1% at 21,476, the S&P 500 index climbed 3 points, or 0.1%, at 2,440, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3% at 6,206. On Tuesday, the market was pressured lower as crude-oil prices slipped into bear-market territory, described as a fall of at least 20% from a recent peak. August crude trade flat in early trade Wednesday. In corporate news, shares of Red Hat Inc. , were set to rise after the open-source software company posted earnings ahead of forecasts. Looking ahead, investors will be awaiting a report on existing-home sales due at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Etsy Inc. shares were up 1% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company announced it is cutting 15% of its workforce, or about 140 positions. This adds to previous headcount reductions to bring the total of layoffs to 230 positions, or a 22% reduction in its workforce this year. Along with the May reduction in staff, the company replaced its Chief Executive Chad Dickerson with Josh Silverman, an Etsy board member. The layoffs will largely be in marketing, product management, general and administrative positions, Etsy said, and will largely take place in the company’s Brooklyn headquarters. Silverman said the layoffs were put in place to focus on initiatives including search and discovery, improving seller tools and increasing marketing speed. Wednesday’s reduction of workforce is expected to cost $6 million to $8.8 million, in addition to the $6.5 million to $8 million in costs associated with the layoffs announced in May. Shares of Etsy have gained 40% in the past three months, compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 4%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Ebay Inc. said Wednesday that it has launched a price match guarantee on more than 50,000 items in the U.S. Merchandise found on Ebay Deals, which launched in 2011, is eligible. Shoppers don’t have to be Ebay members to take advantage of the program. Ebay will match pricing from competitors including Amazon.com Inc. , Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , and Best Buy Co. Inc. . Eighty percent of merchandise sold on Ebay is new, the company said. Ebay shares are up 0.4% in Wednesday premarket trading, and up 41.4% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 16.7% for the last 12 months.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. said Wednesday that it will move its customer service operations back to the U.S., which would create 500 new jobs. The move is an effort to improve the customer experience. “Our customers shared with us that speaking to U.S. based representatives would make their service experience better, so we prioritized that feedback and have invested in moving all of our call center operations back to the United States,” said Chief Executive Jay Bray. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 1.6% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. tumbled 9.8% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the developer for genomic therapies priced a public offering of common stock well below the previous session’s closing price. The company said it sold 10 million shares of stock at $7.25 a share to raise $72.5 million. The number of shares represents about 14% of the shares outstanding, while the price was 11.6% below Tuesday’s close of $8.20, which was just below the 16-month closing high of $8.40 reached on May 15. The company said it plans to use the proceeds from the share offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including research and development. The stock has shot up 169% year to date through Tuesday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has climbed 14% and the S&P 500 has gained 8.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Actuant Corp. slashed Wednesday its fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings-per-share outlook to a range of 82 cents to 87 cents from a previous range of $1.10 to $1.20, as lower energy maintenance volumes and an unfavorable sales mix are expected to weight on margins. The FactSet EPS consensus was 99 cents. The diversified industrial company now expects fiscal 2017 revenue of $1.08 billion to $1.09 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.09 billion. For the fiscal third quarter to May 31, the company reported a net profit of $22.5 million, or 37 cents a share, up from $21.2 million, or 36 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EPS was 32 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue fell to $295.4 million from $305.3 million, but was above the FactSet consensus of $294 million. “We had many positive market and strategy execution advancements in the third quarter, but they were not able to offset the difficult conditions that persist within the global energy market,” said Chief Executive Randy Baker. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 11% year to date through Tuesday, while the SPDR Industrial Select Sector ETF has climbed 9.9% and the S&P 500 has gained 8.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

The pound pushed above $1.27 on Wednesday, erasing losses following hawkish comments made by the Bank of England’s chief economist. “Provided the [economic] data are still on track, I do think that beginning the process of withdrawing some of the incremental stimulus provided last August would be prudent moving into the second half of the year,” said Haldane in a speech at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, England. “Far from being a cause for concern, starting the process of withdrawing some monetary policy insurance should serve as a signal of the [Monetary Policy Committee’s] confidence in the UK economy’s resilience,” he said. The pound hit an intraday high of $1.2704 after the speech was released. Earlier, sterling fell to a two-month low below $1.26 as media reports cast doubt on the Conservative Party’s effort to reach a policy-support deal with lawmakers from Northern Ireland. Sterling bought $1.2629 late Tuesday in New York.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Winnebago Industries Inc. reported Wednesday a fiscal third-quarter net profit that rose to $19.4 million, or 61 cents a share, from $14.4 million, or 53 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The recreational vehicle company said the latest results include $10.2 million of amortization expense related to the Grand Design acquisition. The FactSet consensus for GAAP earnings per share was 57 cents. Revenue rose to $476.4 million from $272.1 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $439.9 million. “The performance of our new Grand Design division and the associated integration activities continue to meet and even exceed our expectations, and are certainly accelerating our diversification within the still-growing North American RV industry,” said Chief Executive Michael Happe. “We delivered strong improvement in gross margin, driven primarily by the overall shift of revenues to our more profitable Towables Segment.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has dropped 7.4% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.9%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

European stocks on Wednesday were drawn lower as oil and gas, financial and tech shares struggled. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.5% to 386.90, extending losses from Tuesday’s session when oil prices sold off into bear-market territory. European oil stocks on Wednesday fell a collective 0.7% in early moves, and oil prices were slightly lower. In London, the commodities-heavy FTSE 100 was off 0.1% at 7,463.15. France’s CAC 40 was losing the most among major benchmarks, down 1% at 5,275.62 as nearly all of its components fell. Germany’s DAX 30 gave up 0.6% at 12,732.96. A closely watched weekly oil-supply update from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. On the Stoxx 600, Whitbread PLC climbed 5.5% after a quarterly sales update from the Costa Coffee and Premier Inn hotel chain owner. Meanwhile, Provident Financial PLC plunged 16% after a warning about adjusted profit from the credit company.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News