Category: Stock Market News

Nasdaq sued IEX Group claiming patent infringement Thursday, in the latest beef between the traditional exchange and the upstart profiled in the Michael Lewis book “Flash Boys.” Nasdaq claims that IEX is infringing on seven patents that relate to “closing auction processes, multi-parallel order processing, matching engine performance, and data feed optimizations,” according to Nasdaq’s announcement of the suit Thursday afternoon. Nasdaq notes that IEX employs “several” former Nasdaq employees, and that IEX says in public filings that “its closing auction process was ‘designed based on extensive review of’ Nasdaq’s patented process.” The suit, which Nasdaq said was filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, seeks to halt IEX’s use of the technology as well as financial remuneration, Nasdaq said. IEX was certified as an official exchange in 2016 despite massive resistance from Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange. IEX seeks to slow down trades minutely to ward off high-speed traders, whom they believe seek to game the system by front-running other traders, which was also the theme of “Flash Boys.” “Similar to our exchange application process, this is yet another attempt by Nasdaq to obstruct an innovative new competitor,” an IEX spokesman said in response to the lawsuit.

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Nutanix Inc. shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the enterprise cloud computing company’s quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. Nutanix shares rose 2.6% after hours. The company reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $62.6 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with $76.4 million, or 54 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The adjusted per-share loss was 14 cents a share. Revenue rose to $286.7 million from $199.2 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated a loss of 20 cents a share on revenue of $283.2 million. For the third quarter, Nutanix estimates an adjusted loss of 21 cents to 19 cents a share on revenue of $275 million to $280 million. Analysts expect an adjusted loss of 23 cents a share on revenue of $268.4 million.

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Shares of Nordstrom, Inc. slid after hours even as the retailer posted fourth-quarter results that were slightly stronger than analysts expected. The company had net income of $151 million in the quarter, down 33% compared to a year ago. Revenues of $4.6 billion were 8.4% higher compared to a year ago and beat the FactSet consensus forecast of $4.5 billion. Same-store sales increased 2.6%, also topping the forecast of 1.0%. Earnings per share were 89 cents, with a tax charge of 25 cents per share and a “one-time pretax investment” in employees of 6 cents per share. All together, that total – $1.20 – missed analyst expectations for EPS of $1.24. The company pointed to “record sales” of $15.1 billion in the fiscal year, and 4% customer growth. It said it sees net sales of $15.2-$15.4 billion for fiscal 2018 and EPS of $3.30 to $3.55. Over the past 12 months, Nordstrom shares have risen nearly 10.7%, lagging the 11.7% gain for the S&P 500 . Management did not address ongoing efforts to take the company private in its earnings release.

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Equifax Inc. reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue beats on Thursday afternoon. Earnings for the latest quarter rose to $172.3 million, or $1.42 per share, from $123 million, or $1.01 per share in the year-earlier period. The FactSet adjusted earnings-per-share consensus was $1.35. Equifax excluded costs related to its massive 2017 cybersecurity breach from its adjusted EPS, as it has done before, including the cost of providing its own free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to consumers. Other costs were related to investigating and fixing the breach along with legal and other professional services and came to $26.5 million in the fourth quarter and $114 million in 2017, both of which are net of insurance recoveries, according to Equifax. Fourth-quarter revenue rose to $838.5 million from $801.1 million, compared with the FactSet consensus of $825.7 million. The company also recorded a one-time net benefit of $48 million in the fourth quarter due to the U.S.’s corporate tax overhaul. Equifax shares lifted 0.5% after the bell. Company shares have declined 1.3% over the last three months, compared with a 1.3% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Shares of Splunk Inc. rose more than 6% late Thursday after the company beat expectations for fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and sales. Splunk said it lost $25 million, or 18 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $74 million, or 54 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 37 cents a share, versus an adjusted loss of 1 cent a year ago. Revenue rose 37% to $419.7 million, compared with $306 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 33 cents a share on sales of $391 million. Splunk said it expects fiscal first-quarter 2019 revenue between $295 million and $297 million, in line with expectations.

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VMware Inc shares sought direction in the extended session Thursday after the computer virtualization software company topped Wall Street estimates. VMware shares, which traded between slight gains and losses, were last down 2%. The company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $440 million, or $1.09 a share, compared with $441 million, or $1.04 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding a $970 million charge from the U.S. tax overhaul, adjusted earnings were $1.68 a share. Revenue rose to $2.31 billion from $2.03 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of $1.63 a share on revenue of $2.26 billion.

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Richard Clarida, an economist at Pimco, is now the front-runner to become the Federal Reserve vice chairman, Reuters and CNBC reported Thursday. Clarida is seen as a pragmatist, not automatically in the hawk or dove camps. Clarida, 60, worked at the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush. Prior to that, he was chair of the Economics Department at Columbia University. There are four vacancies on the seven-member Fed board of governors. Stanley Fischer, the previous No. 2 at the Fed, left last October. Clarida would be President Donald Trump’s third pick for the Fed. The prior two- Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Randall Quarles, the head of banking supervision – both worked at Treasury for President George H.W. Bush.

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U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 on track for their third straight session with a 1% drop. That’s the longest such streak for the two since January 2016, according to the WSJ Market Data Group. Furthermore, if the Dow closes at its current level, that will mark the fourth time this year that it has fallen at least 2% in a single session. That’s the greatest concentration of such drops through March 1 since 2009, when equities were nearing the bottom of the financial crisis. The Dow fell 2% on Thursday while the S&P was down 1.7% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.6%, falling below its 50-day moving average. The day’s selling came after President Donald Trump said he would be instituting trade tariffs on steel and aluminum, raising the specter of protectionist trade policies, something that has been cited as a key risk for investors.

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Shares of Newell Brands Inc. showed a rare splash of green in a sea of red Thursday, after billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he has a stake in the company but has not yet decided which side to take in a pending proxy fight. Newell, which owns brands including Rubbermaid, Papermate and Elmer’s, is shaping up for a proxy fight with activist investor Starboard Value LP, which is seeking to replace the entire board and its chief executive. Icahn said on CNBC that he views the stock as undervalued, and has even mulled nominating his own board candidates, but decided not to. Newell management has said its board is currently comprised of “nine highly qualified and experienced directors, eight of whom are independent and all of whom areseasoned leaders.” The board is working to cut costs and reduce debt, while streamlining the company into nine operating units. Shares were up 3.5%, while the major indexes were sharply lower after President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, raising concerns of protectionists trade policies that could hit U.S. corporations and consumers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 500 points, or 2%, and the S&P 500 was down 1.7%.

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The Nasdaq Composite Index fell sharply on Thursday, and was on track to close below a closely watched technical level for the first time in more than two weeks. The index fell 1.5% to 7,164, breaking under its 50-day moving average of 7,173.77. The tech-heavy index hasn’t closed under its 50-day, often viewed as a gauge of short-term momentum in an asset, since Feb. 13. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 fell and closed below their own 50-day moving averages in Wednesday’s session. The Dow fell 2% on Thursday while the S&P was down 1.6%. Weakness in the technology sector, which was down 2.1%, drove the selling in the Nasdaq on Thursday. Among its most notable components, Google parents Alphabet Inc. fell 3.1% and Apple Inc. was down 2%. The day’s selling came after President Donald Trump said he would be instituting trade tariffs on steel and aluminum raised the specter of protectionist trade policies, something that has been cited as a key risk for investors.

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