Category: Stock Market News

Rent-A-Center Inc. disclosed Wednesday that Chief Operating Officer Joel Mussat resigned, which the household goods leasing company said was a “termination without “cause,” effective Feb. 22, after only nine months in the role. Under terms of the termination, Mussat will comply with certain covenants for two years, including non-compete and confidentiality obligations, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, Mussat will be entitled to certain payments and benefits, including earned cash compensation through Feb. 22 and 1 1/2-times the sum of his highest annual rate of salary during the previous 24 months. Rent-A-Center said it has eliminated the position of COO, and Mussat’s previous reports will now report directly to Chief Executive Mitchell Fadel. Mussat joined Rent-A-Center as COO in May 2017. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has plunged 32.3% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.5%.

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Shares of paint company PPG Industries Inc. slid 2% Wednesday, after the company said it was disappointed to be informed by Lowe’s Cos. that it will no longer sell PPG’s Olympic brand paints and stains. “While PPG is disappointed with Lowe’s decision, PPG believes this will create an opportunity to expand the distribution of its products, including Olympic brand products, through PPG stores, dealers and other distribution partners,” the company said in a statement. Sales at Lowe’s in the U.S. account for less than $300 million of PPG’s annual sales. In its most recent quarter, PPG reported sales of $3.682 billion. Shares have gained 13% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 165.

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Tesaro Inc. shares dropped 9.2% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue misses. Tesaro reported a loss of $186.1 million, or a loss of $3.35 per share, after a loss of $136.2 million, or a loss of $2.59 per share in the year-earlier period. The FactSet adjusted earnings-per-share consensus was a loss of $2.41. Revenue rose to $48 million from $4.9 million, compared with the FactSet consensus of $53.1 million. The latest results include $43 million in sales of the expensive ovarian cancer drug Zejula, which was approved last year. Zejula fourth-quarter sales fell below the FactSet consensus of $46 million. Tesaro expects 2018 revenue of $310 million to $345 million and Zejula 2018 sales of $255 million to $275 million, compared with the FactSet consensus of $273 million. Tesaro shares have plummeted 23.7% over the last three months, compared with a 4.5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Yum Brands Inc. chain Pizza Hut announced Wednesday that it is the official sponsor of the NFL. Papa John’s International Inc. said late Tuesday that it is ending its NFL sponsorship, shifting to sponsorship of 22 individual teams. In a joint statement, Papa John’s and the NFL said the decision was mutual. Papa John’s founder and former Chief Executive John Schnatter caused controversy in November when he said player protests were to blame for the company’s poor sales. Pizza Hut’s new sponsorship will begin with the 2018 NFL Draft, which will be held near the brand’s headquarters in North Dallas. Pizza Hut has more than 7,500 restaurants in the U.S. Yum Brands shares are down 1.1% for the last three months, but up 22.8% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 16.1% for the past 12 months.

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Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. will no longer sell assault-style rifles, or firearms to anyone under 21 years of age, the sporting goods retailer’s Chief Executive Edward Stack said early Wednesday in an interview on Good Morning America. The company will also no longer sell high-capacity magazines, Stack said in the interview. The move comes in response to the tragedy at a high school in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, in which 17 people were killed. Dick’s, which had 719 stores across the U.S. at the end of the fiscal third-quarter, has become the first major retailer that has announced plans to curtail firearm sales, although many major companies have cut promotional ties with the National Rifle Association. Dick’s Sporting Goods stock, and the shares of gun makers Vista Outdoor Inc. , Sturm Ruger & Co. and Smith & Wesson parent American Outdoor Brands Corp. , were all still inactive in premarket trade. Dick’s stock has rallied 13.5% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has gained 5.4% and the S&P 500 has advanced 4.5%.

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Walmart Inc. said Wednesday that it has launched its first digital home brand, Allswell, a collection of bedding and mattresses. The news comes a day after the retailer announced four new fashion brands for men, women and children. The collection will be sold exclusively on the Allswell Home website and will include two mattresses, the Softer One and the Firmer One, and four limited-edition bedding sets. Mattresses will be priced from $495 for a twin size to $1,035 for the Supreme Queen, the brand’s name for a king-sized mattress. Individual bedding pieces will be priced from $60 to $350. The Queen Bedscapes, the brand’s name for its limited-edition bedding sets, will range from $980 to $1,200. Allswell head Arlyn Davich will oversee the launch and serve as president. Walmart shares are down 5.4% for the last three months, and up 29% for the past year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 22% for the past year.

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Crocs Inc. shares slipped nearly 2% in Wednesday premarket trading after it gave weak full-year outlook. The footwear company said it had a net loss of $28.3 million for the fourth quarter, or 41 cents per share, after a loss of $44.5 million, or 60 cents per share, for the same period last year. Revenue totaled $199.1 million, up from $187.4 million the year prior. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 33 cents per share and revenue of $195.0 million. “We expect moderate wholesale and double-digit e-commerce growth to be offset by the loss of retail revenue associated with store reductions,” said Chief Executive Andrew Rees in a statement. For the first quarter, the company expects revenue of between $265.0 million and $275.0 million. The FactSet consensus is for revenue of $271.3 million. Revenue for the full year is expected to be “relatively flat,” negatively impacted by $60 million from business model changes and store closures. Sales in 2017 were $7.92 billion. The FactSet consensus for 2018 is $8.65 billion. Crocs shares are up 28.6% for the past three months, and up 111.6% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 16.1% for the past 12 months.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares fell 3.5% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company reported a fourth-quarter revenue miss and downbeat 2018 guidance. Earnings for the latest quarter came to $513 million, or $1.45 per share, after a loss of $515 million, or a loss of $1.47 per share in the year-earlier period. The company did not provide an adjusted earnings-per-share figure for the fourth-quarter. The company’s 2017 adjusted EPS came to $6.83, compared with the FactSet consensus of $3.89. The latest results include an income tax benefit of $4.15 billion for 2017, primarily due to an internal tax reorganization effort and benefits related to the U.S.’s corporate tax overhaul. Revenue for the quarter declined to $2.16 billion from $2.40 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $2.18 billion. For 2018, the company expects revenue of $8.1 billion to $8.3 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $8.38 billion. Valeant shares have surged 12.8% over the last three months, compared with a 4.5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Streaming-video company iQiyi, a unit of Baidu Inc. , filed for an initial public offering raising as much as $1.5 billion on Tuesday, according to an SEC filing. That amount is seen as a placeholder and is likely to change significantly. The Beijing-based company plans to list its American Depository Shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “IQ.” iQiyi offers a streaming service similar to Netflix Inc. that has about 50.8 million subscribers in China. In April 2017, the company signed a licensing agreement to stream some original Netflix content in China. Baidu will remain the controlling shareholder, holding all Class B stock while the Class A stock will be publicly traded. Goldman Sachs (Asia), Credit Suisse, BofA Merrill Lynch, China Renaissance, Citi and UBS Investment Bank are the IPO’s joint underwriters. According to the SEC filing, iQiyi lost $574 million on revenue of $2.7 billion in 2017.

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Brad Parscale, who President Donald Trump named his 2020 campaign manager Tuesday, has close financial ties with a company that has a questionable business history and ties to a convicted fraudster, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. In August, Parscale sold his digital marketing company to CloudCommerce Inc. for $10 million, the AP reported, and he currently serves on the company’s management team. But records show the company has little to show from $19 million in investments over the past two decades, with a little over $100,000 cash in hand, the AP said. A top executive at the company, which had a different name then, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in 2006. While CloudCommerce said the former executive is no longer connected to the company, the AP said it found indications that he has remained involved in corporate decision-making. CloudCommerce is a penny-stock company, and its shares reportedly surged 500% after Parscale’s deal closed last August. The company has changed names and its type of business a number of times over the years, and regulators have questioned CloudCommerce for possible stock manipulation in the past, the AP reported.

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