Category: Stock Market News

Shares of BlackBerry Ltd. jumped 1.2% in premarket trade Friday, after the company said the final award in its arbitration with Qualcomm Inc. is $940 million, up from the $815 million announced in an interim ruling made in April. The sum is viewed as a material win for the mobile device maker, which is working to transform itself into a software company, after its once successful smartphone franchise was hammered when consumers moved to Android and Apple Inc. phones. The arbitration award settles a dispute between the two companies over Qualcomm’s agreement to cap certain royalties applied to payments made by BlackBerry under a license agreement between the two. A hearing was held in San Diego, Calif., from Feb. 27 to March 3.
BlackBerry agreed in 2010 to make fixed royalty payments per device sold to Qualcomm, at a time when its smartphone sales were very strong and were expected to continue for the long term. When those sales failed to materialize in the face of competition from the iPhone and Android devices, the company argued that the royalty payments were excessive. “Qualcomm will pay the full amount of the final award on or before May 31, 2017,” BlackBerry said in a statement. BlackBerry shares have gained 63% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 8%.

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Shares of Big Lots Inc. soared 7.5% toward a 2 1/2-month high in premarket trade Friday, after the discount retailer beat fiscal first-quarter profit expectations and provided an upbeat outlook. Net income rose to $51.5 million, or $1.15 a share, from $38.7 million, or 79 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, compared with the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of 99 cents. Revenue slipped to $1.30 billion from $1.31 billion, just missing the FactSet consensus of $1.31 billion, as the same-store sales decline of 0.9% missed expectations of a 0.9% increase. The company expects second-quarter EPS of 58 cents to 63 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 57 cents, with same-store sales growth in the low single-digit percentage range, compared with expectations of 1.8% growth. The company increased its 2017 EPS outlook to $4.05 to $4.20 from $3.95 to $4.10. The stock, which changed hands premarket at the highest level seen during regular session hours since March 8, has slipped 3.7% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has declined 7.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 7.9%.

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PPG Industries Inc. announced Friday a deal to sell its remaining fiberglass operations to Nippon Electric Glass Ltd. , and expects proceeds of $545 million. The paints, coatings and materials company said the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2017. The operations being sold include manufacturing facilities in Chester, South Carolina, and Lexington and Shelby, North Carolina, and administrative operations in Shelby, which employ more than 1,000 people with sales of $350 billion last year. PPG had sold its European fiberglass operations in 2016, and divested from two Asian fiberglass joint ventures. PPG is locked in a battle to buy rival Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel NV , which has rejected PPG’s $27 billion takeover bid. PPG’s stock, which is still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 13% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.9%.

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Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, is a focus of investigators looking into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to reports late Thursday. Multiple unnamed sources told NBC News and The Washington Post that Kushner has fallen under scrutiny in a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe, believing he may hold relevant information. Last week, reports surfaced that an unnamed senior official at the White House was a person of interest in the investigation.

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said late Thursday he will take a federal appeals court block of President Donald Trump’s travel ban to the Supreme Court. Earlier in the day, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond rejected a request to reinstate Trump’s travel ban stating that it “drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination.” In a statement Thursday, Sessions said “This Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the power and duty of the Executive Branch to protect the people of this country from danger, and will seek review of this case in the United States Supreme Court.”

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Zoe’s Kitchen Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Thursday after the casual dining chain cut its revenue outlook for the year. Zoe’s shares fell 10% to $14.50 after hours. For the year, Zoe’s estimated revenue of $314 million to $322 million, down from a previous forecast of $325 million to $327 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $324 million. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of a penny a share on revenue of $90.6 million. Analysts had estimated a penny a share on revenue of $92.6 million.

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A report from the German publication Der Spiegel said President Donald Trump complained about Germany’s exports at a meeting with European officials in Brussels. Trump reportedly said the Germans sell “millions” of cars in the U.S., and “we’ll stop that.” The Trump administration has complained about the German trade surplus on many occasions.

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Shares of GameStop Inc. skidded in Thursday’s extended session after the videogame retailer released its quarterly results. GameStop reported first-quarter earnings of $59 million, or 58 cents a share, compared with $65.8 million, or 63 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the Grapevine, Texas-based company would have earned 63 cents a share. Revenue rose to $2.05 billion from $1.97 billion while same-store sales grew 2.3% on the back of the Nintendo Switch launch. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 53 cents a share on revenue of $1.97 billion. The company also reiterated its earnings per share outlook of $3.10 to $3.40 and same-store sales target of minus 5% to flat. Wall Street is projecting EPS of $3.32 on the average and comparable sales to fall 2.1%. GameStop shares sank 5.8% after hours.

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Deckers Outdoor Corp. shares surged in the extended session Thursday after the maker of Ugg boots posted an unexpected profit for the quarter. Deckers shares jumped 12% to $63.50 after hours. The company reported adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 11 cents a share on revenue of $369.5 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated a loss of 6 cents a share on revenue of $357.6 million. Decker expects an adjusted first-quarter loss of $1.65 to $1.70 a share, and an adjusted profit of $3.95 to $4.15 a share for the year. Analysts estimate a first quarter loss of $1.75 and full-year earnings of $3.79 a share. The results and outlook come after some analysts have criticized Deckers’s shopping of strategic alternatives citing weakness in the Ugg brand.

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Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. rose 2% late Thursday after the company reported fiscal third quarter earnings above expectations and sales slightly below forecast. Costco said it earned $700 million, or $1.59 a share, in the quarter, compared with $545 million, or $1.24 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to 8% to $28.22 billion, from $26.15 billion last year. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Costco to report adjusted earnings of $1.30 a share on sales of $28.6 billion. The company said its comparable-store sales rose 5% in the quarter. The analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a rise of 4%. Shares ended the regular session Thursday up 1%.

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