Category: Stock Market News

Nutanix Inc. , one of the hottest tech IPOs of 2016, plunged more than 17% Thursday after its second earnings report as a public company issued a forecast that didn’t meet Wall Street’s expectations. The company, which sells cloud computing resources focused on combining storage and computing power, reported a net loss of $93.2 million, or 66 cents a share, on sales of $182.2 million. After adjusting for stock-based compensation, the company claimed a loss of 28 cents a share. That performance in the company’s second fiscal quarter easily beat analysts’ estimates of adjusted losses of 35 cents a share on sales of $178.4 million, according to FactSet. Nutanix’s forecast for the current quarter did not meet expectations, however. The company said it expects adjusted losses of 45 cents to 48 cents a share in the fiscal third quarter on revenue of $180 million to $190 million. Analysts on average projected adjusted losses of 35 cents a share on sales of $188.5 million, FactSet reported. Nutanix Chief Financial Officer Duston Williams noted in the announcement that increased costs of some components were affecting the company’s costs; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. said in its earnings call last week that increased prices for some memory chips had affected its results. Nutanix, which also suffered after its first earnings report as a public company, fell lower than $26 in late trading after closing with a 1.3% gain at $31.12.

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

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday he’ll recuse himself from any investigations related to the Trump campaign, following reports he met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the campaign. Democrats have called for him to resign following those reports. Sessions told a news conference he didn’t have meetings with Russian operatives about the Trump campaign. Sessions said his discussion with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak concerned terrorism and the Ukraine, and that the discussion became “testy.”

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

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. shares rose in the extended session Thursday after the chipmaker’s quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. Marvell shares rose 2.2% to $16.20 after hours. The company reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 22 cents a share on revenue of $571.4 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 19 cents a share on revenue of $567.7 million. For the first quarter, Marvell sees adjusted earnings of 19 cents to 23 cents on revenue of $570 million, give or take $11.4 million. Analysts had estimated 17 cents a share on revenue of $546 million.

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 Stage Stores Inc. took a dive in afternoon trade Thursday once a trading halt was lifted, after the department store chain questioned the validity of a filing made earlier in the session that suggested an entity named HMA Acquisition Inc. had acquired a 5% stake in the company. “Stage Stores…today noted that it has not received any offer or other communication from such entity and has not been able to confirm that such an entity exists,” the company said in a statement. The stock had plunged as much as 22% to a record low of $1.80 within minutes of the opening bell, after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter results and provided a downbeat outlook. At 9:44 a.m. ET, the HMA filing ran, saying the California-based corporation had acquired 1,366,415 shares of Stage Stores, or 5.03% of the shares outstanding. The stock spiked to a gain of as much as 3.4% to an intraday high of $2.40 by 9:48 a.m., before pulling back. The stock was down 7.8% at $2.14 at 2:22 p.m. when it was halted for news, then dropped further to $2.06 in recent trade. The stock has now shed 54% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 4.8% and the S&P 500 has climbed 8.9%.

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 Snap Inc. were initiated with a reduce rating, which is a bearish outlook equivalent to a sell rating, at Instinet Thursday, hours after the stock debut. Analyst Anthony DiCliemente set a 12-month price target on the stock of $16, which would mark a decline from Thursday afternoon trading prices. The stock soared more than 51% to $25.70 in recent trade after pricing at $17 a share Wednesday night. DiClemente cited slowing user growth, slowing monetization growth and “fierce competition from larger rivals,” such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, all Facebook Inc. properties, for the bearish rating. Earlier on Thursday, Pivotal initiated coverage on Snap with a sell rating and $10 target, saying it believed Snapchat was “significantly overvalued.”

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

President Donald Trump said Thursday he has “total” confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Associated Press reported, as some Democrats call for Sessions to resign over reports he had contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during Trump’s campaign despite earlier denials. Sessions has said he will recuse himself “whenever it’s appropriate” from investigating ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

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

The average loan amount for a new vehicle reached a record of $30,621 in the fourth quarter, Experian said Thursday. The average loan amount for a used vehicle also reached a record, from $18,850 in the fourth quarter of 2015 to $19,329 in the same period in 2016. The report also showed more buyers went for longer-term loans: the number of consumers opting for auto loans with terms of 73 to 84 months on their new vehicles increased from 29% in the fourth quarter 2015 to 32.1% in the fourth quarter. In the used car market, there was an increase in 73- to 84-month loans from 16.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 18.2% in the same quarter in 2016. The need for affordability drives consumer purchasing behavior, Melinda Zabritski, Experian’s senior director of automotive finance, said in a statement. There’s an $11,000 gap between the average loan amount on a new and on a used vehicle, the widest Experian has recorded, she said. “This upward trend is causing many consumers to find alternative methods like extending loan terms, getting a short-term lease or opting for a used vehicle to get what they want while staying within their monthly budget,” Zabritski said.

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

Gold futures finished Thursday at their lowest level in more than two weeks, pressured by growing expectations for a U.S. interest-rate increase this month and strength in the dollar, which eased investment demand for the metal. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index tapped its highest levels in about two months. April gold lost $17.10, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,232.90 an ounce. That was the lowest finish for a most-active contract since Valentine’s Day, 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

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. were down almost 5% Thursday afternoon amid reports that federal officials were searching three of the company’s offices, including its Peoria, Ill., headquarters. A report from the Wall Street Journal said search warrants were being executed at Caterpillar facilities in East Peoria and Morton. “Law enforcement is present in various Peoria-area Caterpillar facilities executing a search warrant,” a CAT spokeswoman told the WSJ. “Caterpillar is cooperating,” she said. Shares of Caterpillar were down nearly 5%, marking its worst one-day decline in about eight months and cutting about 30 points from the Dow Jones Industrial Average of which it is a component. The Internal Revenue Service, the Commerce Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., are a part of the investigation. According to WSJ, the probe is believed to be tied to an investigation overseen by the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.

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

Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser threw some cold water on Snap Inc.’s hot IPO, initiating coverage of the social media darling with a sell rating. His stock price target of $10 is 41% below the initial-public-offering price of $17, and 60% below current levels. Snap’s stock opened at $24 on the NYSE, and was recently up 46% at $24.75. “Snap is a promising early stage company with significant opportunity ahead of itself,” Wieser wrote in a note to client. “Unfortunately, it is significantly overvalued given the likely scale of its long-term opportunity and the risks associated with executing against that opportunity.” He said Snap is an “upstart” facing aggressive competition from much larger companies, with a core user base that is not growing by much. Wieser also expressed concerns over an inexperienced management team, high expenses and cash costs, potential dilution from “aggressive share issuances to employees” and the lack of voting rights for shareholders. While Snap’s stock soared, the broader market fell, with the S&P 500 down 0.5%.

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