Category: Stock Market News

Etsy Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Tuesday after the online crafts store’s fourth-quarter loss widened as revenue grew. Etsy shares slid 3.1% to $11.75 after hours, adding to a 5.2% decline during the regular session. The company reported an unadjusted fourth-quarter loss of 19 cents a share, compared with a loss of 4 cents a share a year ago, as revenue rose 25% to $110.2 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of 2 cents a share on revenue of $107.8 million. For fiscal 2017, Etsy expects revenue to grow by 20% to 22%, or to within a range of $438 million to $445.3 million. Analysts expect $445.7 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

Palo Alto Networks Inc. stock fell more than 15% in late trading Tuesday after an earnings report that disappointed on revenue, and the chief executive acknowledged execution issues. The security-software company reported a net loss of $60.6 million, or 67 cents a share, on sales of $422.6 million for its fiscal second quarter. After adjustments for stock-based compensation and other factors, Palo Alto Networks claimed a profit of 63 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet on average projected adjusted earnings of 62 cents a share on sales of $430 million in the quarter. “While fiscal second quarter revenue of $423 million was yet another record for the company, we were disappointed that we came in below top-line expectations due to some execution challenges, which we are moving quickly to address,” CEO Mark McLaughlin said in Tuesday’s announcement. The company also missed with its forecast for the current quarter, which calls for adjusted earnings of 54 to 56 cents a share on revenue of $406 million to $416 million. Analysts on average expected adjusted profit of 70 cents a share on sales of $455 million. Palo Alto Networks also announced the $105 million acquisition of data-analytics startup LightCyber as well as an increase in its stock-repurchase authorization, to $1 billion from $500 million. Palo Alto Networks stock dropped lower than $129 in late trading after closing with a 1.3% decline at $151.90.

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 Weight Watchers International Inc. rallied 14% late Tuesday after the company swung to a profit in the fourth quarter and said its subscriber base rose 10% in the quarter. Weight Watchers said it earned $13.3 million, or 20 cents a share, versus a loss of $11.3 million, or 18 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose 3% to $267 million, from $259 million a year ago, the company said. It ended the quarter with 2.6 million subscribers, from 2.4 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 19 cents a share on sales of $272 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

President Donald Trump is “open to having conversations” about the U.S. immigration system but his primary focus is border control, White House principle deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Tuesday. Sanders was asked about a report that Trump is open to a compromise bill that includes legal status for some undocumented immigrants.

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

Oil futures lost a few pennies on Tuesday as traders bet that upcoming U.S. government data will reveal a climb in domestic crude supplies for an eighth week in a row. April West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $54.01 a barrel. Prices based on the most active contracts rose roughly 2.3% for the month, but that was the smallest such gain since February of last year, 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

Issues with a cloud storage service operated by Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services division caused outages and curtailed functionality for websites and apps Tuesday. AWS’s S3 service, described by Amazon as “designed to deliver 99.999999999% durability,” was experiencing “high error rates” due to problems with servers located on the East Coast of the United States, the company said Tuesday. On the AWS status page, engineers posted at 10:33 Pacific time that “AWS services and customer applications depending on S3 will continue to experience high error rates as we are actively working to remediate the errors in Amazon S3.” Reported issues included downed websites, slow functionality and photos not appearing in cloud-based mobile applications and websites.

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 fell Tuesday, but prices tallied a second straight monthly gain. Uncertainty ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress provided some support for the metal. April gold fell $4.90, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,253.90 an ounce. Prices, which settled Monday at a three-and-a-half month high, gained roughly 3.5% for the month.

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 GameStop Corp. were down nearly 8% midday on Tuesday. The drop comes after Microsoft Corp. , which makes the Xbox gaming console introduced Xbox Game Pass, a Netflix-like service giving members unlimited access to more than 100 games for $9.99 a month. Microsoft’s new service, expected to launch this spring, threatens the cornerstone of GameStop’s business: buying and reselling video games. According to the company’s 10-K these pre-owned game sales accounted for 25% of the company’s gross profit in 2015. Shares of GameStop have fallen 20% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 21%.

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

Signet Jewelers Ltd.’s [sig] Sterling Jewelers responded Tuesday to what it called “distorted and inaccurate” media reports regarding an arbitration claim brought against the company, which the company said had nothing to do with sexual harassment or sexual impropriety as reported. “It’s critical to understand that an arbitration claim was brought against Sterling in 2008 that alleged gender discrimination in pay and promotion,” the company said in a statement. “None of the 69,000 class members have brought legal claims in this arbitration for sexual harassment or sexual impropriety.” The Washington Post had reported late Monday that Sterling, which operates Kay Jewelers, Zales and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry stores, was being accused by hundreds of former employees of fostering an atmosphere of rampant sexual harassment and discrimination. Sterling said the allegations publicized by claimants’ counsel create a “distorted and inaccurate picture of our company,” as the involve a “very small number of individuals” in a workforce of more than 84,000 during the class action period. The stock tumbled 9.4% in midday trade to the lowest price seen since September 2013. It has plunged 28% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has gained 7.2%.

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

Apple Inc. stock scored another price-target increase Tuesday as enthusiasm surrounding the iPhone 8 continues to grow. UBS increased its 12-month target on Apple shares to $151 from $138 and reiterated a buy rating. In a note to clients, UBS’s Steve Milunovich said he believed augmented reality, which could be a new feature unleashed in September with the next-generation iPhone, “could be a boost to Apple” long term. This comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook touted augmented reality in a recent interview with a U.K. newspaper, calling it a “huge” market that could potentially shake up the consumer device industry as much as the smartphone did. Also this week, Mizuho Securities increased its Apple stock target to $150 from $135. Shares of Apple gained 0.3% to $137.30 in late-morning trade. They’ve increased 23% in the past three months and nearly 42% in the past year, hitting all-time records this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , a 30-member index that includes Apple, is up 9% in the past three months and 25.2% in the past year.

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