Category: Stock Market News

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey says in his prepared Senate testimony that he did not tell President Donald Trump he would drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. “I did not say I would ‘let this go,'” Comey said in remarks released by the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he is due to testify Thursday. Comey, who was fired by Trump on May 9, also said he didn’t move, speak or change his expression when Trump asked for loyalty.

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Shares of Pandora Media Inc. continued their second straight day of declines, falling more than 5% intraday on Wednesday after closing down nearly 8% on Tuesday. Pandora shares were on track to close at their lowest levels in 14 months. The selloff could make the internet radio streaming company more of an acquisition target. For about a year Liberty Media Corp.-owned satellite radio company Sirius XM had been toying with the idea of making a bid for Pandora. Liberty Media Chief Executive Greg Maffei was on record telling investors he thought Pandora was overvalued and that he’d be more likely to make a move for the company if it were trading at $10 a share. Pandora shares are currently trading at a little more than $8 per share. In early May, Pandora said it had sealed a $150 million investment from private-equity firm KKR, but that it would first explore strategic alternatives before closing the investment. Thursday is the first potential day Pandora could close that investment, according to Macquarie Research analyst Amy Yong. Earlier this week, Verizon said it was considering investing $100 million in Pandora if the music streamer failed to reach a deal with SiriusXM this week. Pandora shares have dropped more than 36% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index has gained more than 8%.

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S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday downgraded its long-term rating on Qatar to AA-minus from AA and said it is keeping it on CreditWatch negative, meaning it could downgrade the sovereign again in the near term. The move comes after governments including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen cut diplomatic, trade and transport links with Qatar. “We believe this will exacerbate Qatar’s external vulnerabilities and could put pressure on economic growth and fiscal metrics,” the ratings agency said in a statement. The negative CreditWatch reflects the risks associated with the diplomatic spat and S&P would downgrade again if those increase or the government takes on more debt more quickly than expected. “We could also lower the ratings if our assessment of contingent liabilities from the banking system or the government’s related entities were to increase, or if Qatar’s external financing lines were withdrawn,” said the statement.

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Shares of retailer At Home Group Inc. soared 9% Wednesday, after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal first quarter and offered an upbeat outlook for the rest of the year. Plano, Texas-based At Home operates home decor superstores and went public in August of 2016. The company said it had net income of $10 million, or 16 cents a share, in the quarter, up from $7.3 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 19 cents, a penny ahead of the FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $211.8 million from $172.1 million a year ago, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $208.7 million. Same-store sales rose 5.8% to beat the FactSet consensus of 3.8%. “It is still early in the year, but we feel very good about our first quarter performance and are raising our top line expectations and the midpoint of our fiscal 2018 EPS outlook,” Chief Executive Lee Bird said in a statement. The company is now expecting fiscal 2018 sales of $906 million to $913 million, and adjusted EPS of 73 cents to 75 cents. Shares have gained 38% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 8%.

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Oil prices retreated sharply lower Wednesday, pushing energy-related shares into negative territory and cutting the market’s modest early climb. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July delivery traded more than 4% lower at $46.02 a barrel, after a report showed an expected climb in U.S. production to record levels. The Energy Information Administration reported that crude-oil inventories rose by 3.3 million barrels last week, larger than analysts’ expectations. The report, which comes as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and other non-OPEC crude producers, are trying to rebalance global supply and stabilize volatile oil prices. The energy sector, as measured through the exchange traded Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF , was down 1.3% in late-morning trade, representing the worst decline among the S&P 500’s 11 sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 initially turned negative following the report, but reduced more modest gains to trade near break-even levels. The S&P 500 was flat at 2,430, the Dow was also tepidly higher at 21,147, up less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index showed a gain of 0.3% at 6,290.

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Duluth Holdings Inc. shares are down 17.3% in Wednesday trading after the company reported a first-quarter earnings miss. Net income totaled $0.4 million, or 1 cent per share, down from $3.24 million, or 10 cents per share, for the same period last year. The FactSet consensus was 5 cents. Revenue for the quarter was $83.7 million, up from $68.6 million last year and ahead of the $82.9 million FactSet consensus. The company, which is known for its humorous advertising and items like Buck Naked underwear, opened four retail stores in the quarter in Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan and Rhode Island, and has plans for 12 retail stores and one outlet store for the year. Duluth expects 2017 EPS in the range of 66 cents to 71 cents and sales in the range of $455.0 million to $465.0 million. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of 70 cents and sales of $463.7 million. Duluth shares are down 33.1% for the year so far, while the S&P 500 index is up 8.5% for the period.

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Oil prices dropped Wednesday after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that domestic crude supplies rose by 3.3 million barrels for the week ended June 2. The unexpected rise marked the first weekly increase in nine weeks. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a drop of 4.6 million barrels, while analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a fall of 3.5 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles also climbed by 3.3 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles were up 4.4 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. July crude traded at $46.55 a barrel, $1.64, or 3.4%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $47.62 before the supply data.

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The New York Times Co. said on Wednesday it’s named Meredith Kopit Levien as the company’s chief operating officer, effective immediately. Kopit Levien, who was previously responsible for generating all advertising and subscription revenue for the Times as the chief revenue officer, will now be tasked with streamlining and accelerating the operations of the rapidly growing digital businesses. Kopit Levien will oversee the teams responsible for product, design, audience and brand, consumer revenue, advertising and NYT Beta, which develops and manages new digital products. Kopit Levien’s promotion is part of a broader reshaping of the Times’s digital departments. “We’ve seen striking success in digital in recent quarters with remarkable growth in audiences, subscriber numbers and digital advertising revenue. But I believe we have the opportunity to more even faster by simplifying and streamlining decision-making and digital execution at the company,” said New York Times Chief Executive Mark Thompson in a statement. In the Times’s reorganization the executive vice president of product and technology position, held by Kinsey Wilson, is being eliminated. Wilson opted not to stay on in another role at the Times, but will serve as a strategic adviser to Thompson, Executive Editor Dean Baquet and other senior leaders at the paper. The New York Times recently said it was offering buyouts aimed at cutting down the number of editors in the newsroom. The Times didn’t say how many jobs it wanted to get rid off, but said its goal is to increase the number of on-the-ground journalists by about 100. In the company’s reorganization it also eliminated the public editor role. In its first-quarter earnings report the Times said it had its best quarter ever for subscriber growth. And while print advertising continued to decline, digital saw substantial growth and accounted for 38% of the company’s total advertising revenue. Shares of the New York Times have gained more than 30% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index have increased nearly 9%.

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ShotSpotter, Inc. shares were soaring 14.5% Wednesday morning as the stock was trading above its issue price in its market debut on the Nasdaq. Shares of ShotSpotter were trading at $12.66, above the company’s $11 issue price. The gunshot detection company sold 2.8 million shares to raise $30.8 million.

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Shares of Coca-Cola Co. slumped 0.9% and PepsiCo Inc.’s stock dropped 0.4% in morning trade Wednesday, after the non-alcoholic beverage giants were downgraded at BMO Capital, due primarily because of valuation. Coke’s stock was the leading decliner in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Analyst Amit Sharma cut his ratings on the companies to market perform from outperform, saying “it’s difficult to argue for meaningful multiple expansion from current levels, particularly given that earnings growth is unlikely to significantly accelerate in the next 12-18 months.” Coke’s stock closed Tuesday 1.9% below its April 4, 2016 record close of $46.89, while Pepsi’s stock closed 0.3% below its May 30, 2017 record of $118.01. Sharma doesn’t expect the stocks to sell off, however, as he believes an investor focus on “safety” and the reversal of the “Trump trade” that had boosted economically sensitive sectors after the election, could continue to support current elevated valuations for the consumer staples sector heavyweights. Separately, Sharma upgraded rivals Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. and Cott Corp. to outperform from market perform, citing “depressed” valuation and “more attractive” earnings growth potential. The SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has run up 10.5% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.7%.

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