Category: Stock Market News

The U.S. stock market opened higher on Thursday as investors appeared mildly optimistic a day after the Federal Reserve’s sanguine statement on the economy. Though disappointing earnings from Facebook Inc. dampened the mood. The S&P 500 opened s point, or 0.1%, higher at 2,390. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 5 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,078 at the open, trading just below its all-time closing high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the session up 22 points, or 0.1%, at 20,979.

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McDonald’s Corp. said Thursday that it has introduced its Signature Crafted Recipes sandwiches – Maple Bacon Dijon, Pico Guacamole and Sweet BBQ Bacon – at nearly 900 Florida restaurants. The sandwiches were introduced this week, along with a new utensil, the “Frork,” that diners can eat them with. The Signature Crafted sandwiches can be customized with beef or chicken, and a choice of either an artisan roll or sesame seed bun. Florida restaurants are also getting the “Experience of the Future” upgrade, including self-order kiosks, table service, and buildings with side-by-side drive-thru lanes. To support the upgrades, McDonald’s Florida franchisees are hiring 5,000 workers. McDonald’s are nearly flat in premarket trading, and up 17.2% for the year so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 6.7% for 2017 to date.

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Martha Stewart, part of the Sequential Brands Group Inc. portfolio, and QVC Inc. are partnering to launch in several categories, including skincare, food and beverage, and apparel. The collaboration is expected to appear in the second half of this year, and Martha Stewart will make appearances on the QVC channel. Sequential Brands shares are unchanged in Thursday premarket trading, and shares have fall more than 46% in the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 16.4% for the last 12 months.

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Shares of Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. dropped 1.5% in premarket trade Thursday, after the Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins parent’s sales miss offset a profit beat. Net income rose to $47.5 million, or 51 cents a share, from $37.2 million, or 40 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 54 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 48 cents. Revenue rose to $190.7 million from $189.8 million, but missed the FactSet consensus of $192.3 million. Same-store sales of U.S. Dunkin’ Donuts were flat, missing the FactSet consensus of 1.7% growth, while a 2.4% decline for U.S. Baskin-Robbins missed expectations of a 1.5% increase. The company said it continues to expected same-store sales growth in the “low single digit” percentage range for its U.S. Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins stores. “While our Dunkin’ Donuts U.S. comparable stores sales were flat in the quarter, these results, delivered against an increasingly-challenging environment for retail and restaurants, demonstrate the benefits of our asset-light, 100-percent franchised business model,” said Chief Executive Nigel Travis. The stock has gained 7.5% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has advanced 6.7%.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Initial U.S. jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 238,000 in the last week of April, the government said Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch has expected new claims to total a seasonally adjusted 245,000 in the seven days stretching from April 23 to April 29. The more stable monthly average of jobless claims rose by 750 to 243,000. The number of so-called continuing claims that count people already receiving jobless benefits declined by 23,000 to a 17-year low of 1.96 million. And the four-week average of continuing claims was the smallest since 1988.

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Kellogg Co. reported first-quarter net income of $262.0 million, or 74 cents per share, up from $175.0 million, 49 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $1.06, beating the 99-cent FactSet consensus. Revenue totaled $3.26 billion, down from $3.40 billion last year, and below the $3.28 billion FactSet consensus. The company said U.S. Morning Foods, which includes breakfast cereals, U.S. Snacks, and Europe got off to a slow start. Kellogg reaffirmed 2017 guidance. It expects EPS growth of 8% to 10%, year-over-year on a currency-neutral basis. Kellogg’s shares are up 0.7% in Thursday premarket trading, and down 10.5% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 16.4% for the last 12 months.

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iHeartMedia Inc. said Thursday there is “substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of 12 months” as it struggles to refinance or extend maturities on some of its borrowings and waits to see if creditors will participate in proposed exchange offers. The move was expected. The company, the biggest operator of radio stations in the U.S., had said in a recent regulatory filing that it intended to include ‘going concern’ language in its quarterly report. The company has almost $350 million of debt coming due this year, part of a massive $20 billion debt load it took on as part of a $24 billion leveraged buyout of then Clear Channel Communications Inc. by private-equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners in 2008. It has another $8.3 billion of debt coming due in 2019. The owner of iHeartRadio and Clear Channel Outdoor said revenue fell 2.4% in the quarter, while operating income fell 72.9% to $306.7 million. Operating income was boosted in the year-earlier quarter by a $278.3 million gain on the sale of outdoor markets. The company had $365 million of cash at end March. “Our current operating plan indicates we will continue to incur net losses and generate negative cash flows from operating activities given iHeartCommunications’ indebtedness and related interest expense,” the company said. The company’s most-active bonds, the 9.00% notes that mature in March of 2021, were quoted at 76.75 cents on the dollar, according to MarketAxess.

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Shares of Capital Bank Financial Corp. slumped 4.9% in premarket trade Thursday, as terms of the $2.2 billion buyout deal with First Horizon National Corp. valued Capital Bank at a discount. First Horizon will exchange 1.750 of its shares and $7.90 in cash for each Capital Bank share outstanding. Based on Wednesday’s closing prices, that values Capital Bank shares at $40.835 each, which is 2.9% below Wednesday’s closing price of $42.05. The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The banks said the merger will create the fourth-largest regional bank in the Southeast. Capital Bank’s stock had gained 7.1% year to date through Wednesday, while First Horizon shares fell 6%, the iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF slipped 0.5% and the S&P 500 gained 6.7%.

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Shares of Viacom Inc. rose more than 4% in premarket trade on Thursday after the media and entertainment company reported second quarter earnings that were better than Wall Street expected. Viacom reported net income for the quarter was $121 million, or 30 cents per share, down compared with last year’s $303 million, or 76 per share during the same period. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 79 cents, well above FactSet’s per-share consensus of 59 cents. Revenue for the quarter hit $3.26 billion, which is an improvement compared with Viacom’s $3.00 billion in the year-earlier period and above FactSet’s $3.03 billion consensus. Viacom said revenue at its media networks increased 1% in the quarter. Domestic advertising revenue fell 4%, but was offset by international advertising, which increased 11%. Comedy Central’s flagship show “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” had its most-watched quarter to date, with digital viewing up 37%. Revenue at the company’s Paramount Pictures film division, which brought in former 20th Century Fox executive Jim Gianopulos to head the studio, rose 10% in the quarter thanks to strong international performance from “XXX: Return of Xander Cage.” “We executed quickly on our strategic plan, making significant organizational changes to better focus and align Viacom’s brand portfolio and ensure strong leadership,” said Viacom Chief Executive Bob Bakish in a statement. “We are working diligently to cement Viacom as a partner of choice in the industry, presenting new and reinvigorated brand strategies for our advertisers, producing creative and flexible new opportunities with our distributors and recommitting ourselves to be the home for the world’s best talent.” Viacom’s commonly-owned class B shares have gained nearly 12% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up close to 7%.

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The retail sector had the highest number of announced job cuts among all industries in the month of April – 11,669 – according to the latest data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a job search and outplacement firm. Year-to-date, retail has had 50,133 cuts, up 36% from the number of cuts announced in the first four months of 2016. Retail has announced the highest number of reductions of any industry, year to to date. Health care/products (11,269), telecommunications (10,269), automotive (8,725) and energy (8,339) round out the top five. Overall, the pace of downsizing decreased in April, with total workforce reductions of 36,602. The total number of cuts announced for the first four months of 2017 was 162,803, down from 249,061 last year. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 2.4% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index is up 6.7% for the period.

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