Category: Stock Market News

Caterpillar Inc.’s stock rallied 1.6% in morning trade Monday, enough to pace the gainers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average , after the company reported encouraging February retail machine sales data. The maker of earth-moving equipment reported total February retail sales of machines for the rolling three-month period declined 1% from the same period a year ago, the smallest rate of decline since December 2012, with retail sales of machines for the construction industry turning positive for the first time since June 2014. The last time total retails sales were positive was the three months ending November 2012. The stock was also the biggest price gainer within the Dow, with its $1.45 gain adding about 10 points to the Dow’s price, which was up 38 points in morning trade. Caterpillar shares have now tacked on 1.8% year to date, while the Dow has climbed 6%.

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U.S. stocks on Monday pivoted narrowly higher in late-morning trade, aided by buying in technology and consumer-staples shares, which offset firm declines in the energy sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 30 points, or 0.2%, at 20,945. Share gains in Apple Inc. , Walt Disney Co. and Caterpillar Inc. was contributing more than 20 points to the blue-chip gauge. The S&P 500 index was trading flat, and bouncing in and out of negative territory at around 2,378, with the consumer-staples sector, up 0.1%, and tech shares, climbing 0.3%, muting a 0.7% decline in energy , which was dragged lower by crude oil declines . Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.2% at 5,911, and had set an all-time intraday trading high of 5,915.12 earlier in the session. Wall Street traders were closely watching a House Intelligence Committee hearing, including Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, centered on Russia’s involvement with the election of President Donald Trump.

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Sonic Corp. was downgraded to hold from buy at Canaccord Genuity on increased competition from “non-traditional venues” and soft sales in recent months. Sonic’s price target was cut to $24 from $30. Shares are down 2.4% in early trading. Sonic is facing growing food and drink competition from retail channels like convenience stores. This is a long-term headwind for Sonic, Canaccord wrote in a Monday note. Same-store sales have faced challenges across the restaurant industry over recent months, and Canaccord analysts think promotions will continue, creating a sales hurdle. And Canaccord worries that Sonic hasn’t got new products on the way, instead relying on previously introduced snack items. Sonic shares are down 27.4% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 16% for the period.

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From:: Stock Market News

Sonic Corp. was downgraded to hold from buy at Canaccord Genuity on increased competition from “non-traditional venues” and soft sales in recent months. Sonic’s price target was cut to $24 from $30. Shares are down 2.4% in early trading. Sonic is facing growing food and drink competition from retail channels like convenience stores. This is a long-term headwind for Sonic, Canaccord wrote in a Monday note. Same-store sales have faced challenges across the restaurant industry over recent months, and Canaccord analysts think promotions will continue, creating a sales hurdle. And Canaccord worries that Sonic hasn’t got new products on the way, instead relying on previously introduced snack items. Sonic shares are down 27.4% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 16% for the period.

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U.S. stocks opened marginally lower on Monday as falling oil prices weighed on shares of energy companies. The S&P 500 index shed two points, or 0.1%, to 2,376, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 17 points, or 0.1%, to 20,900. The Nasdaq Composite Index skidded half a point to 5,899. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery shed 1.3% to $48.68 a barrel. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. were down sharply early in the session. U.S.-traded shares of Deutsche Bank AG fell after the German lender issued new shares to raise nearly $9 billion. In other news, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who is a voting member of the central bank’s interest-rate-setting committee, said he would support raising interest rates four times in 2017 if inflation accelerates.

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Snap Inc. was initiated Monday at buy, a rare move so far, by James Cakmak of Monness, Crespi, Hardt. Cakmak noted that many critics of the stock are concerned about Snap’s high valuation and see the possibility of Snap falling into “pitfalls” seen by other social media companies. Snap has not yet proven that it can make a profit or create a business outside of its one product, but Cakmak said they believe Snap is well-positioned to do this. “There is substantial execution risk, but we’re prepared to give the benefit of the doubt at this stage,” Cakmak said. He set a price target of $25. Snap, parent of social media company Snapchat, started trading March 2, but hit some bumps as the stock had fallen 20% as of Friday. Of the 11 analyst ratings in FactSet, there are no buy ratings.

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EBay Inc. said Monday it will roll out “Guaranteed Delivery” in the U.S. this summer, which will guarantee delivery in three days or less on 20 million items. The online auction company will also provider shoppers to search for items available for 1-day and 2-day delivery. The service will be provided at no additional cost, the company said. “While the majority of items on eBay already ship within 3 days or less, as well as for free, Guaranteed Delivery will give shoppers even faster delivery options and the confidence that their items will arrive on time,” said Senior Vice President of North America Hal Lawton. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has climbed 13.5% year to date, while shares of rival e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. has run up 13.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.2%.

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Heico Corp. said Monday that it will enact a 5-for-4 split of its common stock. The split will go into effect in the form of 25% stock dividend, payable April 18 to shareholders of record on April 7. The provider of products and services to a wide range of industries, including aviation, defense and medical, said the split will increase the common stock outstanding to 33.7 million shares from 27 million shares. “This stock split reflects our continuing confidence and enthusiasm in HEICO’s long-term growth and financial outlook,” said Chief Executive Laurans Mendelson. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has climbed 14% year to date, to close Friday at a record high of $87.82, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.2%.

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Shares of Nektar Therapeutics soared 18% toward a six-month high in premarket trade Monday, after reporting positive results of a late-stage trial of its opioid analgesic. The company said a phase 3 trial of NKTR-181, its treatment of pain without the high levels of euphoria that can lead to addiction with standard opioids, met its primary and secondary endpoints. NKTR-181 also demonstrated a favorable safety profile and was well tolerated. Nektar said the Food and Drug Administration granted the investigational medicine “fast track” designation for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain. “The data from this efficacy study are extremely important because they demonstrate that NKTR-181 produces strong analgesia in patients suffering from chronic pain while NKTR-181 has also demonstrated significantly lower abuse potential than oxycodone in a human abuse potential study,” said Martin Hale, the clinical investigator of the study and medical director at Gold Coast Research. The stock had run up 26% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 had gained 6.2%.

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U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger the beginning of the country’s process of leaving the European Union on March 29, according to reports Monday. The move comes after British lawmakers last week passed the Article 50 bill that paved the way for Brexit to get underway. European Union officials said “everything is ready” for the Brexit trigger, according to Agence France Presse news agency. The pound dropped to $1.2372 after Monday’s reports. Sterling early Monday had traded above $1.24 for the first time since Feb. 27, FactSet data showed. “While the timing of the triggering of Article 50 comes as no surprise given that May had previously vowed to do so before the end of March, it does show that sterling remains sensitive to Brexit related headlines, even those that are already widely known,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

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