Category: Stock Market News

Signet Jewelers Ltd. said Thursday it had net income of $78.5 million, or $1.03 a share, in its fiscal first quarter to April 29, down from $146.8 million, or $1.87 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales fell to $1.403 billion from $1.578 billion. Same-store sales fell 11.5%. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.67, sales of $1.469 billion and a same-store sales decline of 8.3%. “As anticipated, we had a very slow start to the year as continued headwinds in the overall retail environment were exacerbated by a slowdown in jewelry spending and company specific challenges,” Chief Executive Mark Light said in a statement. “However, Signet’s Q1 same store sales improved sequentially, when normalized for Mother’s Day, and we were pleased with the holiday’s results. ” The company reaffirmed fiscal 2018 guidance of a same-store sales decline in the low-to-mid single digits, and EPS of $7.00 to $7.40. The company also unveiled plans to outsource its credit portfolio through a phased process, that begins with the sale of $1.0 billion of prime credit quality receivables to Alliance Data Systems Corp. . Shares were flat premarket, but are down 47% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 7$.

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Medtronic PLC reported Thursday a fiscal fourth-quarter net profit of $1.16 billion, or 84 cents a share, compared with $1.10 billion, or 78 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, the medical technology company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.33, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.31. Revenue rose 5% to $7.92 billion from $7.57 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $7.86 billion, as cardiac and vascular group sales increased 4% and minimally invasive therapies sales rose 6%. For fiscal 2018, the company expects revenue growth of 4% to 5% and adjusted EPS growth of 9% to 10%, while the FactSet consensus implied revenue growth of 3.5% and EPS growth of 5%. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has run up 19% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.4%.

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Oil prices erased earlier firm gains and turned sharply lower Thursday morning after Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Khalid al-Falih ruled out deeper cuts to oil production in any extension to the OPEC output deal. Crude oil prices traded down 0.6% at $51.08, after trading almost 1% higher earlier in the session. Speaking ahead of the closely watched Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in Vienna, al-Falih said deeper cuts had been suggested, but that they are not necessary at this point. The Saudi official also said a nine-month extension to the current deal is “highly likely”. More than 20 OPEC members and non-members in November last year agreed to cut production by a collective 1.8 million barrels a day for six months starting on Jan. 1. A nine-month extension of the deal until the first quarter of 2018 is widely expected, but traders speculated that maybe the cartel would also make deeper cuts to production.

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Shares of Pure Storage Inc. soared in Wednesday’s extended session after the flash-storage firm posted a smaller-than-projected quarterly loss. Pure Storage reported its first-quarter loss narrowed to $62.4 million, or 30 cents a share, from a loss of $63.8 million, or 34 cents a share, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company would have lost 14 cents a share. Revenue grew 31% to $182.6 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast a loss of 22 cents a share on revenue of $176 million. Pure Storage surged 16% in after hours.

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TiVo Corp. announced after the market closed on Wednesday that Chief Executive Thomas Carson plans to retire from his position after more than 11 years with the company (formerly Rovi Corp.). The company’s board said the process to find a new CEO has already begun and will consider external candidates as well as internal. Carson will stay in his current role until his successor is appointed, at which point he will serve as an adviser. “Under Tom’s leadership the company has undergone a significant transformation; shedding underperforming assets, cutting costs, renewing major intellectual property licensing deals and acquiring TiVo,” said Chairman Jim Meyer in a statement. Last year, Rovi acquired Tivo in a $1.1 billion deal. Shares of TiVo were inactive in after-hours trade, but have declined more than 20% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 7%.

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Shares of Williams-Sonoma Inc. jumped in Wednesday’s extended session after the kitchenware retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results. Williams-Sonoma reported its first-quarter earnings came in at $39.6 million, or 45 cents a share, mostly flat compared with $39.6 million, or 44 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company would have earned 51 cents a share. Revenue edged up to $1.11 billion from $1.10 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 49 cents a share on revenue of $1.11 billion. The San Francisco-based company projected second-quarter earnings per share of 55 cents to 61 cents and revenue in a range of $1.2 billion to $1.23 billion. For the full year, Williams-Sonoma expects adjusted EPS of $3.45 to $3.65 and revenue of $5.17 billion to $5.27 billion. Shares gained more than 7% after hours.

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Guess Inc. shares jumped 14.7% in after-hours trading after the apparel and accessories company reported first-quarter sales that beat expectations. Net loss was $21.3 million, or a loss of 26 cents per share, versus a loss of $25.2 million, or 30 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted losses were 24 cents per share versus the FactSet consensus for a loss of 32 cents per share. Revenue was $458.6 million, up from $448.8 million last year and ahead of the FactSet consensus of $449.0 million. Same-store sales for the Americas, including e-commerce, was down 15%, though it increased 5% in Europe and 4% in Asia. Guess sees a second-quarter revenue increase between 2% and 4%, and both EPS and adjusted EPS of 8 cents to 11 cents. The FactSet consensus is for EPS of 13 cents. Full-year revenue is expected to increase between 3.5% and 5%, EPS is expected to be 32 cents to 42 cents, and adjusted EPS is expected to be 34 cents to 44 cents. The FactSet consensus is 51 cents. Guess shares are down 38.6% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 15.8% for the period.

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The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that the Obamacare replacement bill passed by the House on May 4 would leave 23 million fewer people insured over a decade than under current law. The figure is a slight decrease from the CBO’s prior estimate of 24 million fewer people. The nonpartisan budget office also said the bill, named the American Health Care Act, would reduce the deficit by $119 billion over 10 years.

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Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares surged as much as 32% in after hours trade Wednesday after the company said its eye drops intended for glaucoma had positive results in a late-stage clinical trial. If Aerie Pharma sees positive safety results for the Roclatan eye drops in an ongoing 12-month clinical trial, it plans to submit for Food and Drug Administration review in the first half of 2018, it said. The company said it believes that Roclatan, if approved, would be the first glaucoma product to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) — a condition that commonly can lead to and accompany the eye disease — through all known mechanisms, having “the potential to provide a greater IOP-lowering effect than any currently approved glaucoma product.” The Wednesday results, which were primary efficacy results from a 90-day phase 3 registration trial, included Roclatan having statistical superiority over the two products it combines, or the current leading glaucoma therapy latanoprost and Aerie Pharma’s Rhopressa. The most common adverse event was sporadic eye redness, which was reported in about 55% of patients and which most patients said was mild, according to Aerie. Data from the 12-month safety trial is expected in the third quarter of this year. Aerie Pharma shares have dropped 9.1% over the last three months, compared with a 1.6% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Shares of NetApp Inc. fell 5% after hours Wednesday after the company issued a weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings outlook. NetApp reported fourth-quarter income of $190 million, or 68 cents per share, after a net loss of $8 million, or a loss of 3 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. It reported adjusted earnings per share of 86 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 82 cents. Revenue was $1.48 billion, up from $1.38 billion in the year-earlier period and above the FactSet consensus of $1.44 billion. It expects first-quarter revenue to be between $1.24 billion and $1.39 billion. The FactSet consensus was for revenue of $1.33 billion. It expects adjusted earnings per share between 49 cents and 57 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 66 cents. Shares of NetApp have fallen 3.4% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.6%.

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