Category: Stock Market News

Gold prices settled slightly higher Tuesday, a day after settling at lowest level in three weeks. Investors awaited the outcome Wednesday of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which will be closely watched for clues on the pace of future interest-rate hikes. June gold rose $1.50, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,257 an ounce. It lost 1% Monday to settle at $1,255.50 an ounce, the lowest for a most-active contract since April 10, according to FactSet data.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Lift truck maker Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc. surged 15% Tuesday, after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the first quarter. Baird upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral on the news and raised its price target to $84 from $62, equal to 22% upside from its current trading level. “The quarter displayed the strongest quarterly lift truck sales growth in at least six years as new product introductions combine with solid demand in most regions of the globe,” Baird analysts wrote in a note. Margins rose to 4.6% from 3.3% in 2016 and average selling prices in the backlog were up 6% from a year ago, they wrote. “We see opportunity into mid-$80s over the next 6-12
months,” said the note. Shares are up 8% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.6%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Monsanto Co. said late Monday it’s no longer pursuing a deal to sell its crop-planting equipment business to Deere & Co. following delays resulting from Justice Department concerns. Back in November 2015, Monsanto’s Climate Corp. subsidiary announced plans to sell its Precision Planting LLC equipment business to Deere, but in August, the Justice Dept. filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging the deal. Shares of Monsanto and Deere were both unchanged after hours. Monsanto shares closed Monday up 0.2% at $116.87, and Deere shares finished up 0.3% at $111.97.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Twitter Inc.’s stock ran up 4.9% in active midday trade Tuesday to a near 3-month high, after billionaire investor Mark Cuban said said on CNBC that he started buying the social media company’s stock after it got its act together on artificial intelligence. Volume jumped to 40.2 million shares, already more than double the full-day average. The stock has now soared 26% since the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, and 29% since closing at a 10-month low of $14.29 on April 7. The stock entered a new bull market on Monday. The stock has rallied 13% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.8%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded ratings on paint and coatings company Sherwin-Williams Co. by three notches to Baa3 from A3 to reflect the company’s debt-financed acquisition of Valspar Corp. for more than $11 billion. At the same time, it assigned a Baa3 rating to about $6 billion in new unsecured notes the company will issue as part of the deal. “While the acquisition of Valspar will clearly improve its cost position and prospects for international growth, it comes at a fairly high cost in terms of increased leverage,” said John Rogers, senior vice president at Moody’s. Sherwin-Williams will add more than $10 billion to its debt burden and see its credit metrics weaken substantially, said Rogers. Moody’s estimates that debt/EBITDA will increase to 4.5 times pro forma for the deal before synergies from less than 1.5 times today. Earlier, S&P Global Ratings lowered its rating on Sherwin-Williams to BBB from A. On Monday, Fitch Ratings lowered its rating to A from BBB. The company’s most active bonds, the 1.350% notes that mature in December of 2017, were last quoted at 99.88 cents on the dollar, according to MarketAxess.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Microsoft Corp. unveiled two new laptops on Tuesday running on its Windows 10 S operating system, which will compete with the lower-end PC models of Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. . The company introduced a $999 Surface Laptop, which will compete with Apple’s $999 MacBook Air, and a less-frilly $189 laptop targeted for use in schools, which will compete with Google’s $149 Chromebook. To go along with the educational device, Microsoft released a new educational software suite that includes 3D rendering on its laptop and Hololens augmented-reality glasses, as well as a special “education edition” of Minecraft. The product announcements come the same day that Apple is set to report its quarterly earnings. Shares of Microsoft edged up 0.1% to $69.46 in late-morning trade shortly after the event. They’ve gained 10% in the past three months and more than 37% in the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 , which is up 4.7% and 14.7%, respectively.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of FuelCell Energy Inc. tumbled 10% in morning trade Tuesday, toward the lowest close since the fuel cell maker went public 25 years ago, after disclosing a common stock offering. The stock began trading on June 25, 1992. The company disclosed in a filing late Monday that it was selling 12 million shares of common stock, warrants to buy 12 million common shares within an initial exercise price of $1.60 a share and warrants to buy 12 million shares and an initial exercise price of $1.28 a share. The company had 42.5 million shares outstanding as of March 6, filings show. The stock has plummeted 37% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of fertilizer, seeds and nutrients producer Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. tumbled 5% Tuesday, after the company missed earnings estimates for its fiscal second quarter. Analysts at Raymond James said there was a tough comparison in the base period for the U.S. business after an early start to spring in 2016. The 3% decline in sales was mostly due to a 7% decline in the U.S. consumer business, which rose 16% in the year-earlier period in warmer weather, they wrote in a note. Analysts said the news that the company has received a binding offer for its European and Australian operations in a deal expected to close in the fourth quarter that will dilute EPS by 20 cents. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on the stock. Shares are down 3.4% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.6%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of engine maker Cummins Inc. surged 6% after the company beat earnings forecasts for the first quarter and raised its full-year outlook. CFRA upgraded the stock to strong buy from buy on the news and raised its price target to $200 from $166. That is equal to 24% upside from its current trading level. Cummins said it had net income of $396 million, or $2.36 a share, in the first quarter, up from $321 million, or $1.87 a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 7% to $4.6 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.80 and revenue of $4.1 billion. “Stronger demand from construction and mining customers and higher sales from a distributor acquisition in the fourth quarter of last year, more than offset the impact of weaker truck production in North America,” the company said in a statement. CFRA said it expects that trend to continue. Cummins is now expecting full-year revenue to climb 4% to 7%, up from prior guidance of flat to down 5%. Shares have gained 18% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plunged 19% on in active morning trade Tuesday, putting them on track to suffer the biggest one-day loss since Jan. 11, 2005, as investors expressed disappointment over the chipmaker’s margin outlook. Volume spiked above 80 million shares within the first half hour after the open, already above the full-day average of 52.6 million shares and enough to make the stock the most actively traded on major U.S. exchanges. The company reported late Monday first-quarter results that were mostly in line with expectations, but investors were hoping for a bit more. “AMD’s new products are beginning to accelerate growth, but perhaps without all the gross margin benefits we had hoped for,” wrote analyst Christopher Rolland in a note to clients. UBS analyst Stephen Chin wrote: “We keep a sell rating on the stock as we see limited EPS growth near term to support its high multiple as it needs to invest heavily to keep pace with Intel and Nvidia.” The stock has lost 3.1% year to date, while Intel Corp. shares have gained 3.7%, Nvidia Corp.’s stock has eased 3.2% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.6%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

…read more

From:: Stock Market News