Category: Stock Market News

Uber Technologies Inc. will appeal a judge’s ruling that its driverless-car-technology dispute with Waymo should be held in federal court rather than in private arbitration, according to a court filing Thursday. Last week, U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco ordered that the case proceed to trial, and issued an injunction banning Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski from any work involving LiDAR technology. Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Alphabet Inc. , claims that Levandowski — a former Google executive — conspired with Uber to steal trade secrets when he switched companies. “Waymo has presented strong evidence that Uber has stolen our trade secrets and used our confidential information,” Waymo said in a statement Thursday. “Uber’s appeal is a blatant attempt to hide their misconduct from the public.” Uber did not immediately respond for comment. If it proceeds to trial, the case could be one of the juiciest to hit Silicon Valley in years.

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Facebook Inc. took another step to bolster its video offerings Thursday, announcing a deal with Major League Baseball to stream 20 games this year. The games will air free on Facebook every Friday night, starting this week with the Colorado Rockies at the Cincinnati Reds. The deal is not exclusive, so Facebook will piggyback local broadcasts of the games. Dan Reed, Facebook’s head of global sports partnerships, said the chatty nature of watching baseball is a perfect fit for the platform. “The chatter and rituals in the stands are often as meaningful to fans as the action on the diamond. . . . By distributing a live game per week on Facebook, Major League Baseball can re-imagine this social experience on a national scale,” Reed said in a statement. Tech companies have been targeting live sports recently in an effort to increase video ad revenue. Facebook is also expected to announce a deal to show professional video game contests. In March, Facebook signed a deal to stream at least 22 Major League Soccer games this year. In April, Amazon.com Inc. signed a blockbuster $50 million deal to stream Thursday-night National Football League games this coming season. Twitter Inc. also live-streams some baseball and National Hockey League games.

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Applied Materials Inc. shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the microchip-materials maker’s quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. Applied Materials shares rose 2.9% to $45.20 after hours. The company reported adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings of 79 cents a share on revenue of $3.55 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 76 cents a share on revenue of $3.53 billion. For the fiscal third quarter, Applied Materials expects adjusted earnings of 79 cents to 87 cents a share on revenue of $3.6 billion to $3.75 billion. Analysts had estimated 68 cents a share on revenue of $3.41 billion.

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The House of Representatives could have to vote again in their controversial measure to repeal Obamacare, according to a report Thursday from Bloomberg News. The report, quoting Rep. Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon and the chair of the House Energy and Commerce committee, said parts of the bill might have to be redone depending on how the Congressional Budget Office estimates its effects. House Republicans have yet to send the bill to the Senate because the CBO has to conclude it saves at least $2 billion to conform to rules that protect the measure from filibuster. The CBO report on the Republican health-care bill is expected next week. House Republicans narrowly passed the measure on May 4.

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Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. shares fell in the extended session Thursday after the cancer-drug biotech company said it was launching a secondary offering of its stock. Halozyme shares fell 8.9% to $12.90 after hours. The company said it plans to offer $100 million in shares, or about 7.1 million shares based on Thursday’s closing price. Underwriters Wells Fargo Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities will get the option for another $15 million in shares to cover overallotments. Halozyme said it will use proceeds to fund cancer-drug development and general corporate purposes. Halozyme has 129.8 million shares outstanding and in 2016 reported a loss of 81 cents a share on revenue of $146.7 million.

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Synchrony Financial on Thursday announced a new share buyback plan worth $1.64 billion through June 2018. The financial services company also hiked its third-quarter dividend to 15 cents a share from 13 cents currently. Synchrony shares are down 27% year to date and closed Thursday’s session at $26.50.

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Salesforce.com Inc. reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its full-year revenue guidance Thursday. The cloud-software company reported a net loss of $9.2 million on revenue of $2.39 billion for its fiscal first quarter. After adjustments for stock-based compensation and other effects, the company claimed a profit of 28 cents a share. Analysts on average expected adjusted earnings of 26 cents a share on sales of $2.35 billion. Salesforce also increased its revenue guidance for the full 2018 fiscal year to a range of $10.25 billion to $10.3 billion; previous guidance called for sales of $10.15 billion to $10.2 billion. The company’s guidance for profit also increased, with standard earnings now expected to be 6 cents to 8 cents a share for the year, and adjusted earnings of $1.28 to $1.30 a share. Salesforce stock gained more than 2% in immediate after-hours action following the release of the report, but soon fell to a slight loss, after closing with a 0.1% decline at $87.75.

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Shares of Gap Inc. rallied in Thursday’s extended session after the retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results. The company, whose brands include the namesake chain of stores, Banana Republic and Old Navy, reported its first-quarter earnings rose to $143 million, or 36 cents a share, from $127 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier. Foreign currency fluctuations adversely affected its earnings per share by 3 cents, according to Gap. Revenue was flat at $3.44 billion while same-store sales rose 2% in the first quarter, led by an 8% jump in same-store sales at Old Navy. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 29 cents a share on revenue of $3.39 billion. The company also reaffirmed its 2017 EPS outlook of $1.95 to $2.05. Wall Street is projecting full year EPS of $1.99. Gap shares climbed 6.1% after hours.

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McKesson Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the health-care supply chain management company’s fourth-quarter earnings and full-year outlook topped Wall Street estimates. McKesson shares surged 6% to $150 after hours. The company reported adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $3.42 a share on revenue of $48.71 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of $3 a share on revenue of $49.48 billion. For the year, McKesson expects adjusted earnings of $11.75 to $12.45 a share, while analysts had estimated $11.45 a share.

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President Donald Trump said the appointment of a special counsel to probe ties between his campaign and Russian officials “hurts our country terribly” and is a “pure excuse” by Democrats after having lost the election. In remarks to network anchors a day after the appointment by Trump’s own deputy attorney general of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel, Trump said “this shows a very divided country.” In a tweet earlier Thursday, Trump said “this is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician” in U.S. history.

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