Category: Stock Market News

Home Depot Inc. shares rose 2% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the company beat quarterly earnings estimates and raised its profit outlook for the year. The home-improvement retail chain said it had net income of $2.0 billion, or $1.67 a share, in the first quarter, up from $2.8 billion, or 41.44 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose to $23.9 billion from $22.8 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.61 and sales of $23.8 billion. Same-store sales rose 6%, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of 5.65. The company said it still expects fiscal 2017 sales to grow about 4.6% and same-store sales to rise 4.6%. It raised its EPS outlook to reflect anticipated share buybacks to $7.15. The current FactSet consensus is for EPS of $7.20. Shares have gained 17% in 2017, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 6%.

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Shares of Staples Inc. jumped 3.5% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the office supply retailer beat same-store sales expectations, while matching on profit and coming up short on revenue. The net loss for the quarter to April 29 was $815 million, or $1.24 a share, after a profit of $41 million, or 6 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 17 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue fell 4.9% to $4.15 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $4.52 billion, as North American retail and delivery sales declined more than expected. Same-store sales declined 2.6%, beating the FactSet consensus for a decline of 4.1%. The company expects second-quarter adjusted EPS of 10 cents to 13 cents, compared with the FactSet consensus of 13 cents. “Based on our success growing categories beyond office supplies, we’re intensifying our focus on several key growth categories including facilities supplies, breakroom supplies, furniture, technology solutions, and promotional products, or what we now refer to as ‘Pro Categories,'” said Chief Executive Shira Goodman. The stock has gained 3.0% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 4.5% and the S&P 500 has advanced 7.3%.

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The eurozone economy grew 0.5% in the first quarter of 2017, matching a preliminary estimate released earlier this month by Eurostat. The economy expanded by 1.7% on a year-over-year basis, also matching the flash reading and expectations in a FactSet survey of analysts. The euro was little changed after the data, buying $1.1039 compared with $1.0975 late Monday in New York.

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Lyndon Rive, the chief executive and co-founder of SolarCity, will leave Tesla Inc in June, less than a year after his solar-power firm was acquired by his cousin, Elon Musk, according to a Monday report. Rive, who took over sales and service responsibilities for Tesla’s energy division, which swallowed SolarCity after the merger, told Reuters in an interview that he wanted to start a new company and spend time with his family. Lyndon Rive and his brother, Peter Rive, founded SolarCity with help from Musk in 2006, and ran the company independently until Tesla agreed to acquire it last year for $2.6 billion. Tesla is now integrating the company and planning to launch a new solar roof offering that will eventually be built at a factory SolarCity was building in upstate New York. Tesla, which fell 2.8% to $315.88 Monday after a downgrade from one of its biggest bulls, did not immediately respond to an email seeking to confirm the Reuters report. Tesla told Reuters that Peter Rive remains with the company, focused on the solar roof, and Lyndon Rive’s duties would be spread among other company executives.

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Shares of Etsy Inc. rallied in the extended session Monday after two private-equity firms disclosed stakes in the online crafts site. Etsy shares jumped 8.7% to $12.30 after hours. In separate Securities and Exchange Commission filings, TPG Group Holdings and Dragoneer Investment Group said they bought stakes in Etsy. TPG reported a 4.3% stake and Dragoneer reported a 3.7% stake, and both said they have asked Etsy “to engage in discussions regarding strategic alternatives.” In response, Etsy Chief Executive Josh Silverman said the company is “reviewing our strategic and operational plans” while Etsy Chairman Fred Wilson said the board will “carefully consider all options to enhance shareholder value.”

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George Soros’s hedge fund Soros Fund Management placed a big bet on Snap Inc. over the past quarter while dumping its position in Amazon.com Inc. , according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Monday. Soros reported a nearly 1.7-million share stake in Snap. Meanwhile, Soros dumped his positions in Amazon, Abbott Labs , Delta Air Lines Inc. and eBay Inc. . Soros also took a new stake in ConocoPhillips and FireEye Inc. , while adding to positions in Facebook Inc. , Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Mondelez International Inc. .

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President Donald Trump revealed information in his meeting with Russian diplomats that was so sensitive that it may jeopardize a critical source of intelligence on Islamic State, the Washington Post reported, citing current and former U.S. officials. The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, the report said. The identification of the location where the threat was detected was seen as particularly problematic, officials said, because Russia could use that detail to help identify the U.S. ally or intelligence capability involved, according to the report.

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Tronc Inc. , the former Tribune Publishing, said late Monday it has entered a non-binding letter of intent to buy Wrapports Holdings LLC, the owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and other media assets, which include an alternative weekly in Chicago and The Straight Dope syndicated column. The announcement came as Wrapports, at the request of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, will publish a notice tomorrow of its plan to sell the Sun-Times to a buyer that will continue to publish the paper, Tronc said. If no other bidder comes forward, Tronc will be that buyer and the acquisition will close as early as June 1. No values for the transaction were disclosed. Tronc’s Chicago Tribune Media Group has been distributing the Sun-Times since 2007, and both parties agreed to have the Tribune print the Sun-Times in 2011. In 2014, the Tribune bought the Sun-Times’ suburban newspapers. If the deal goes through, the Sun-Times newsroom will continue to be an independent newsroom, said Tronc, which also owns the Los Angeles Times, the Orlando Sentinel, the Baltimore Sun, and other newspapers. Tronc shares were flat in late trading after ending the regular session up 1%.

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David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital reduced its stake in Apple Inc. while increasing its stake in General Motors Co. , according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Monday. Greenlight reported holding 4.2 million shares of Apple, down from about 6.1 million shares in the previous quarter. The firm increased its stake in GM to 55 million shares from about 13 million in the previous quarter. Greenlight also reduced positions in IAC/Interactive Corp. , Rite Aid Corp. , and Time Warner Inc. , while taking new positions in Micron Technology Inc. and Perrigo Co. . Greenlight also increased its stake in Yahoo Inc. and dumped its position of Yelp Inc.

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The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both closed at records Monday as oil prices settled higher, with the Dow industrials snapping a four-session losing streak to finish higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85.33 points, or 0.4%, to close at 20,981.94, as shares of Johnson & Johnson Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. both turned in gains of more than 2%. The S&P 500 index rose 11.42 points, or 0.5%, to finish at a record 2,402.32, with the materials, financials and energy sectors leading gains. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 28.44 points, or 0.5%, to finish at a record 6,149.67. Oil prices settled up 2.1% at $48.85 a barrel Monday, the highest settling price since April 28.

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