Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. soared 12% toward a record high in active premarket trade Thursday, after the China-based e-commerce giant provided a sales growth outlook that was well above analyst projections. The changed hands at $140.18 in recent trade ahead of the open, after closing at a record of $125.64 on Wednesday. The stock was the most active in premarket trade with 1.2 million shares traded. Alibaba Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu drew cheers from the crowd at the company’s investor day at its headquarters in Hangzhou, China, after she said 2018 revenue is expected to grow 45% to 49%, while the FactSet consensus implies growth of 37%. The stock had run up 43% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 had climbed 8.7%.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said Thursday it has agreed to sell iNova Pharmaceuticals to a company owned by funds managed by private-equity firms Pacific Equity Partners and The Carlyle Group for $930 million in cash. iNova makes drugs for weight management, pain management, cardio and coughs and colds, among other things. Valeant will use the proceeds of the deal to pay down loan debt. The company is working to reduce a debt burden that totals $28.5 billion, according to FactSet data. The deal is expected to close in the second half. Valeant shares jumped 5% premarket on the news, but are still down 16% in 2017 through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 9%.

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Battery maker Energizer Holdings Inc. said Thursday it has appointed Timothy Gorman as interim chief financial officer, replacing Brian Hamm who is leaving to pursue other opportunities. Gorman is currently vice president and controller and chief accounting officer. The company reaffirmed its guidance for fiscal 2017 EPS of $2.75 to $2.85. The FactSet consensus is for full-year EPS of $2.86. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have gained 16% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained about 9%.

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Eurozone economic growth in the first quarter of 2017 reached its highest rate in more than a year, according to a final reading released by Eurostat on Thursday. Gross domestic product expanded by 1.9% on a year-over-year basis, the fastest growth since the fourth quarter of 2015. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected 1.7%. Household consumption expenditure and gross fixed capital formation contributed to the expansion, said Eurostat. Quarter-over-quarter, GDP increased 0.6%, higher than a previous estimate of 0.5% from Eurostat.

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North Korea test-fired multiple anti-ship missiles off its east coast Thursday, South Korea’s military said. The four surface-based missiles were apparently launched from near the coastal city of Wonsan, and traveled about 125 miles into the Sea of Japan. The launches came a day after South Korea suspended the deployment of the controversial U.S. THAAD missile-defense system, and a week after the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea for its ballistic missile tests. North Korea has recently stepped up its missile testing, including nine ballistic missile tests so far this year, as tensions with the U.S. have risen. Three U.S. aircraft carrier groups are reportedly in the western Pacific as a show of strength against North Korea, which has repeatedly defied the U.S. and United Nations in developing its ballistic missiles and nuclear-weapons program.

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North Korea test-fired a number of anti-ship missiles off its east coast Thursday, South Korea’s military said. The surface-based missiles were apparently launched from near the coastal city of Wonsan. North Korea has recently stepped up its missile testing, including nine ballistic missile tests so far this year, as tensions with the U.S. have risen. Three U.S. aircraft carrier groups are reportedly in the western Pacific as a show of strength against North Korea, which has repeatedly defied the U.S. and United Nations in developing its ballistic missiles and nuclear-weapons program.

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The final YouGov projection before Thursday’s U.K. snap election predicts the Conservatives will prevail and gain seats in Parliament, though far fewer than predicted six weeks ago. According to the YouGov model, Conservatives will end up with 42% of the votes to Labour’s 35%, with Liberal Democrats getting 10% and UKIP 5%. The exact number of seats Tories will gain was unclear, YouGov said, but it is unlikely to be the landslide majority predicted in April. On who would make a better prime minister, YouGov reported 43% said Theresa May, while 32% said Jeremy Corbyn. Polls will close at 10 p.m. Thursday (5 p.m. Eastern time), which is when the first exit polls will be released, giving an indication of who may have won.

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Tailored Brands Inc. shares turned lower late Wednesday after the company, the parent of men’s apparel retailer Jos. A. Banks, Men’s Wearhouse, and others, reported fiscal first-quarter per-share earnings well above Wall Street expectations but missed revenue forecasts. Tailored Brands said it earned $1.8 million, or 4 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $1.6 million, or 3 cents a share, for the same quarter last year. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $13.1 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with $13.9 million, or 29 cents a share, a year ago. Sales reached $782.9 million, down 5% from a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of 19 cents a share on sales of $793 million. The agreement with Macy’s Inc. to wind down a tuxedo rental partnership “eliminates the risk of extended future operating losses and enables us to focus on our rental business at Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank and Moores,” the company said in a statement. The company reaffirmed the EPS outlook for fiscal 2017 it had provided last month, forecasting earnings between $1.37 and $1.67 a share for the year. As previously announced, all 170 tuxedo shops at Macy’s will be closed in the second quarter, the company said. The shares ended the regular session up 5.8%.

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The U.S. government ran a budget deficit of $87 billion in May, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday. That is $35 billion more than the May 2016 shortfall. The nonpartisan CBO said total receipts were up $15 billion from a year ago, with higher intake of individual taxes reflecting increases in wages and salaries. Spending was up $50 billion from May 2016. For the fiscal year to date, the deficit is $26 billion more than in the first eight months of fiscal 2016.

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Oil prices dropped Wednesday to finish at their lowest level in about a month after the Energy Information Administration reported a surprise increase in last week’s U.S. crude supplies, along with sizable gains in stockpiles of gasoline and distillates. The settlement for futures prices had been delayed. “We experienced a technical issue that delayed dissemination of Nymex WTI and heating oil settlement prices,” a CME Group spokesman told MarketWatch. July WTI crude lost $2.47, or 5.1%, to settle at $45.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest settlement since May 4, according to FactSet data.

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