Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Nvidia Corp. were trading up 6% in afternoon trade Thursday, putting them on track for a fresh record, adding to gains made this week after the company’s reported better-than-expected earnings. The chip maker posted strong growth rates in every business except gaming, and more profit in the holiday quarter than for all of 2015. The videogame-gear specialist’s stock has soared for more than a year on Wall Street thanks to a breakthrough in deep learning that has applications in self-driving cars and data centers. The earnings were greeted by more than half a dozen increased stock price targets. Shares are now up 20% in 2017 and up 255% in the last 12 months. The S&P 500 has gained 7% in 2017 and 16% in the last 12 months.

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President Donald Trump said Thursday he was planning to fire now-former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey regardless of a recommendation he got from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. In excerpts of an interview to be broadcast in full on NBC Thursday night, Trump said, “Oh, I was gonna fire regardless of recommendation.” White House officials have said Trump asked Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions for their opinions about Comey. In the same interview, Trump called Comey a “showboat” and a “grandstander.”

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Analysts at Morgan Stanley on Thursday cut their price target on Hertz Global Holdings Inc. to $12, from $15, saying that after Hertz’s “disappointing” first-quarter results it was time to reduce their expectations about the company. Hertz shares have traded around their lowest in seven years following first-quarter results late Monday. Hertz stock has lost nearly 24% so far this week, which contrasts with losses of 0.3% for the S&P 500 Index in the same period.

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Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. said Thursday that it’s bringing back Perks Week from May 15 to May 19, offering daily deals to members of the DD Perks Rewards program. The first 20,000 new members who enroll during the week will have $5 added to their account. Deals include triple points for purchases made on the mobile ordering system on Monday, and a free beverage with the purchase of Dunkin’ Frozen Coffee on Friday. Perks members who make a purchase during the week will also be entered into a daily drawing for a year’s supply of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Dunkin’ Brands shares are down 1.4% in Thursday trading, but up 20.7% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 15.6% for the last 12 months.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Thursday that it has named Scott Boatwright chief restaurant officer overseeing operations for the company’s 2,300 North American restaurants, effective May 30. Boatwright will collaborate with other members of Chipotle’s leadership on areas like guest experience and operational efficiency. Boatwright joins from Arby’s Restaurant Group, where he was senior vice president of operations. Chipotle shares are down 0.5% in Thursday trading, but up 28.3% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 6.6% for 2017 to date.

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Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday showed that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 45 billion cubic feet for the week ended May 5. Citi Futures had pegged consensus expectations at a build of 61 billion to 62 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 2.301 trillion cubic feet, down 372 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 275 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. June natural gas rose 8 cents, or 2.4%, from Wednesday’s settlement to $3.372 per million British thermal units. It traded at $3.335 before the data.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday was flirting with its steepest daily decline in four weeks, with losses for the price-weighted blue-chip gauge led by drops in shares of DuPont Inc. , Home Depot , and UnitedHealth Group . More than 20 of the Dow’s 30 components were in negative territory pushing it down 143 points, or 0.7% at its low, putting it on pace for its worst daily drop since March 21, according to FactSet data. Market participants were attributing the slide to weakness in a recent batch of corporate quarterly reports, including those of disappearing-message company Snap Inc. , which reported a $2.2 billion net loss late Wednesday. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was off 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.7%, retreating from its record close on Wednesday.

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Shares of department store chains sank Thursday, highlighting a broad selloff in the retail sector, after Macy’s Inc.’s disappointing first-quarter results cast a pall on its peers. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF slumped 2.5%, while the S&P 500 eased 0.6%. Macy’s stock plunged 12% in morning trade to the lowest level seen since October 2011, after first-quarter profit, revenue and same-store sales all missed expectations. Kohl’s Corp.’s stock , which was up as much as 4.4% earlier in the session after the retailer missed on sales but beat on profit, reversed course to drop 4.1%. Shares of Dillard’s Inc. tumbled 10% despite a profit beat, although revenue came up a bit shy. Elsewhere, shares of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. shed 7.3%, Sears Holdings Corp. slumped 6.6% and Nordstrom Inc. dropped 8.2%. Shares of RH , which was formerly known as Restoration Hardware, slid 9.6% even thought the furniture retailer raised its profit and sales outlook.

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Shares of Microsoft Corp. slumped 1.3% in morning trade Thursday, enough to pace the decliners within the Dow Jones Industrial Average , after the technology giant provided some downbeat margin guidance at its analyst briefing. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said at the Microsoft Build 2017 gathering late Wednesday that gross margin is expected to decline “a little bit” in fiscal 2018, even if structural improvement in every segment increases, as a results of hardware launches. RBC Capital analyst Ross MacMillan said Microsoft’s comments on gross margins and other expenditures suggest earnings per share and free cash flow will come down, but he reminded investors that the company’s guidance has “traditionally been conservative.” Analyst Brad Reback at Stifel Nicolaus said the fact that Microsoft didn’t quantify how much it expects operating expenditures to grow in fiscal 2018 “may leave some investors disappointed.” The stock, which closed at a record $69.41 on May 1, has rallied 10% year to date, while the SPDR Technology Select Select ETF has climbed 14% and the Dow has gained 5.9%.

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U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Thursday, continuing a trend of tight trading ranges as the main equity benchmarks hover around record levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42 points, 0.2%, to 20,904. The S&P 500 lost 6 points, or 0.3%, to 2,393. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 19 points to 6,110, a decline of 0.3%. In the latest economic data, jobless claims fell by 2,000 in the latest week, while continuing claims dropped to their lowest level since November 1988. Among the most active stocks of the day was Snap Inc. which tumbled 23% a day after reporting a multibillion-dollar loss in its first quarter as a public company. Tech was among the weakest sectors of the day, down 0.4%. The only industry to rise was energy, which was up 0.3%.

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