Category: Stock Market News

Hershey Co. reported fourth-quarter net income of $116.9 million, or 55 cents per share, down from $227.9 million, or $1.04 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were $1.17, beating the $1.08 per share FactSet estimate. Sales totaled $1.97 billion, up from $1.91 billion last year and just below the $1.99 billion FactSet forecast. Hershey sees full-year 2017 EPS of $4.54 to $4.65 and adjusted EPS in the range of $4.72 to $$.81. The FactSet consensus is $4.64. Hershey’s shares are not active in Friday premarket trading, and up nearly 19% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 19.3% for the same period.

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Clorox Co. reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $149 million, or $1.14 a share, compared with $149 million, or $1.13 a share, in the same period a year ago. The consumer and household products giant’s results include an 11-cents-per-share noncash asset impairment charge related to the Aplicare skin antisepsis business. The FactSet earnings-per-share consensus was $1.22. Revenue rose to $1.41 billion from $1.35 billion, topping the FactSet consensus of $1.40 billion, as better-than-expected household and international sales offset misses in cleaning and lifestyle sales. Volume grew 8%. The company cut its fiscal 2017 EPS outlook to $5.23 to $5.38 from $5.23 to $5.43. “As we look to the remainder of fiscal year 2017, incremental investment behind our brands remains a priority, with promising innovation launching across our portfolio,” said Chief Executive Benno Dorer. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 8.3% over the past 12 months, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has gained 5% and the S&P 500 has rallied 19%.

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Shares of Banco Popular Espanol SA fell 5% on Friday after the Spanish lender swung to a net annual loss of €3.48 billion ($3.75 billion) in the fourth quarter from a €104 million profit in the year-ago period. The company attributed the massive loss to bad loans and higher provisions in the period. The bank said that the results reflected provisions it had to take that totaled €5.69 billion, including non-recurring provisions for credit and real estate and goodwill writedowns on its Targobank unit, among other items.

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Global investment demand for gold jumped 70% year on year in 2016 to the highest level in four years, buoyed in part by the uncertain path of future interest-rate increases and the U.S. election, according to a report from the World Gold Council released Friday. Investment demand of the yellow metal rose to 1,561.1 metric tons in 2016, from 918.7 metric tons a year earlier, and inflows of gold into exchange-traded funds for the year were at their strongest since 2009, the WGC said. Overall, global gold demand climbed by 2% in 2016 to 4,308.7 metric tons, which was the highest since 2013. “2016 saw an unprecedented degree of political upheaval, which underpinned huge institutional investor flows into gold,” said Alistair Hewitt, head of market intelligence at the WGC, in a statement. April gold was last down $4.30, or 0.4%, at $1,215.10 an ounce in electronic trading after settling Thursday at $1,219.40.

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Snapchat parent Snap Inc. filed to go public Thursday. The social media company reported revenue of $404.5 million for the year-ended Dec. 31, 2016, up from $58.7 million in the previous year. Snap reported net losses of $514.6 million for 2016, compared to a net loss of $372.9 million in the year-earlier period. It reported global average revenue per user in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2016 of $1.05, up from 31 cents in the year-earlier period. The company said it has an average of 158 million daily users, with 2.5 million “snaps” made a day. The company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “SNAP.” It did not yet disclose the terms of its offering. Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Sachs & Co, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities are the lead underwriters on the offering.

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Snapchat parent Snap Inc. filed to go public Thursday. The social-media company reported revenue of $404.5 million for the year ended Dec. 31, up from $58.7 million in the previous year. Snap reported a net loss of $514.6 million for 2016, compared with a net loss of $372.9 million in the prior year. It reported global average revenue per user in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2016, of $1.05, up from 31 cents in the year-earlier period. The company said it has an average of 158 million daily users, with 2.5 million “snaps” made a day. The company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “SNAP.” It did not yet disclose the terms of its offering. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities are the lead underwriters on the offering.

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Deckers Outdoor Corp. shares plunged in the extended session Thursday after the maker of Ugg boots missed Wall Street targets for the quarter and issued a weak outlook. Deckers shares dropped 23% to $43.01 after hours. The company reported adjusted fiscal third-quarter earnings of $4.11 a share on revenue of $760.3 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $4.22 a share on revenue of $789 million. For the fourth quarter, Deckers expects a per-share loss of 10 cents to break-even with a 5% to 6% decline in revenue for the quarter, which works out to an estimate of $355.9 million to $359.7 million. Analysts had forecast earnings of 42 cents a share on revenue of $383 million.

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Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick is stepping down from President Donald Trump’s business advisory council, according to news reports. Kalanick’s position on the council had been criticized by users, leading to a call to boycott the service, and by his drivers, who called for him to leave the council, following Trump’s immigration ban. Kalanick had said he wanted to bring immigration concerns to the president when the council met Friday. The New York Times and Recode reported the news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick is stepping down from President Donald Trump’s business advisory council, according to news reports. Kalanick’s position on the council had been criticized by users, leading to a call to boycott the service, and by his drivers, who called for him to leave the council, following Trump’s immigration ban. Kalanick had said he wanted to bring immigration concerns to the president when the council met Friday. The New York Times and Recode reported the news.

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Oil futures fell Thursday to mark the first loss in three sessions as traders continued to weigh progress with global crude production cuts against concerns over the potential for a sizable increase in U.S. output. March West Texas Intermediate crude fell 34 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $53.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after gaining 2% on Wednesday.

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