Category: Stock Market News

Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced a 32-count indictment against Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign’s former manager, and Rick Gates, who also was on the Trump campaign. The new charges include a failure to file reports of foreign bank accounts and bank fraud. Manafort and Gates allegedly engaged in a scheme to hide income they received from representing the government of Ukraine and from representing Victor Yanukovych after he fled to Russia.

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Wingstop Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Thursday after the chicken-wing franchise’s outlook fell short of Wall Street estimates. Wingstop shares fell 9% after hours. For the year, Wingstop estimates earnings of 75 cents a share, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of 83 cents a share. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $10.5 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $4.3 million, or 15 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 17 cents a share. Revenue rose to $28.3 million from $24.6 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had estimated 16 cents a share on revenue of $27.5 million.

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Planet Fitness Inc. shares shot up in the extended session Thursday after beating earnings and revenue expectations. Planet Fitness stock rose nearly 8% after hours. The company reported fourth-quarter net losses of $3.5 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with net income of $10 million, or 18 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The company logged a tax charge of $17.2 million due to changes in the U.S. tax code. Adjusted earnings were 24 cents a share. Revenue rose to $134 million from $116.4 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated adjusted earnings of 23 cents a share on revenue of $131.1 million. For the first quarter, analysts model adjusted earnings of 26 cents a share on sales of $109.3 million. The company said it expects full-year sales to increase by about 20% and adjusted earnings to grow by about 40%. Planet Fitness stock has gained 54.89% in the past year, with the S&P 500 index rising 14%.

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Shares of First Solar Inc. fell 2% late Thursday after the solar-panel maker and developer reported a narrower-than-expected adjusted per-share loss in the fourth quarter but missed quarterly sales expectations. First Solar said it lost $432 million, or $4.14 a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $751 million, or $7.22 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, First Solar lost 25 cents a share in the quarter, versus earnings of $1.24 a share a year ago. Revenue rose $339 million, compared with $331 million a year ago, “slightly lower than guidance as a result of certain foreign project sales that are now expected to be recognized in 2018,” the company said in a statement. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected an adjusted loss of 30 cents a share on sales of $436 million.

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Oil futures settled higher Thursday, jumping after an unexpected fall in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.09, or 1.8%, to settle at $62.77 a barrel. Oil turned higher after the Energy Information Administration said crude stocks fell by more than 1.6 million barrels last week, compared with expectations for a rise in inventories.

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Makeup, skincare and fragrance company Glossier has raised $52 million that it says will be used to invest in its customer experience. This brings the company’s total funding to $86 million. This latest round of funding was led by IVP and Index Ventures, existing investors. Glossier launched in 2014 and currently ships in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Based in New York, the company also has offices in London and Montreal, after acquiring a Canadian tech agency, Dynamo. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is up 8.6% for the last three months, outpacing the S&P 500 index , which is up 4.5% for the period.

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Gold futures settled slightly higher on Thursday amid softness in the U.S. dollar and a slight pullback in bond yields. April gold closed up 60 cents, or less than 0.1%, at $1,332.70 an ounce. The move comes a day after Federal Reserve meeting minutes hinted at a quickened pace of raising borrowing costs, putting pressure on dollar-pegged commodities. However, greenback, as gauged by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index was trading lower Thursday afternoon and the yield for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note retreated from a intrasession high on Wednesday at 2.95%, giving gold some room to inch higher. A stronger dollar can weigh on dollar-denominated commodities because it makes them more expensive to buy for holders of other currencies. Rising rates, meanwhile, can undercut appetite for gold, which doesn’t offer a yield. However, the yellow metal’s moves on were tepid amid a rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index , which was drawing some appetite away from assets considered havens like gold.

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Snap Inc. Chief Executive Evan Spiegel is set to earn $637.8 million in compensation for his work at the company in 2017, according to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Snap stock is down 7.4% to $17.27 in early afternoon trading. Though Snap has recognized the cost of the stock grants which make up $636.6 million of the CEO compensation, Siegel hasn’t received all the grants yet. Snap will dole out the rest of the grants on a quarterly basis over the next three years. Snap stock has gained 19% in the past six months and now trades slightly above its $17 initial public offering price. The S&P 500 index gained 10% in the past six months.

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Snap Inc. Chief Executive Evan Spiegel is set to earn $637.8 million in compensation for his work at the company in 2017, according to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Snap stock is down 7.4% to $17.27 in early afternoon trading. Though Snap has recognized the cost of the stock grants which make up $636.6 million of the CEO compensation, Siegel hasn’t received all the grants yet. Snap will dole out the rest of the grants on a quarterly basis over the next three years. Snap stock has gained 19% in the past six months and now trades slightly above its $17 initial public offering price. The S&P 500 index gained 10% in the past six months.

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Shares of mattress company Tempur Sealy International Inc. slid about 10% Thursday, after posting weaker-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter. Lexington, Kentucky-based Tempur Sealy said it had net income of $49.7 million, or 91 cents a share, down from $52.9 million, or 94 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 79 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 82 cents. The company recorded a net income tax benefit of $23.8 million related to the tax revamp that was signed into law in December. Sales fell 16% to $648.2 million, also below the FactSet consensus of $679 million. Sales fell 22% in North America, after the company ended contracts with Mattress Firm Inc., which was acquired by South Africa’s Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in 2016. Shares have fallen 21% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.5%.

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