Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Twitter Inc. were up 1% in premarket trade Friday after Pacific Crest analysts resumed coverage of the stock at sector weight and a price target of $14. The analysts say Twitter continues to have core business challenges such as a difficult to use platform and that there does not seem to be a simple solution to this “which suggests further stagnation is likely.” The analysts say Twitter’s focus on video could renew growth and focus on the real-time strengths of the platform, but Twitter would be up against a lot of competition. An acquisition of Twitter is unlikely in the near-term, they say, due to recent executive departures and a suggestion of an internal turnaround. Shares of Twitter have fallen 1% in the past three months, compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 6%.

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Procter & Gamble shares rose 1.9% in pre-market trade Friday after the consumer goods company beat second-quarter expectations. Earnings for the latest quarter rose to $7.9 billion, or $2.88 per share, from $3.2 billion, or $1.12 per share. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.08, compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.06. Revenue declined to $16.86 billion from $16.92 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $16.94 billion. The company said it expects headwinds of foreign exchange and minor brand divestitures to reduce sales growth by two to three percentage points in 2017, and estimated its all-in sales to align with the 2016 fiscal year. It expects reported EPS to increase 48% to 50% compared with an EPS of $3.69 in 2016. Procter & Gamble shares have declined 0.3% over the last three months, compared with a 5.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Schlumberger Ltd. reported a net loss of $204 million, or a loss of 15 cents per share, for the fourth quarter, after a loss of $1.02 billion, or an 81 cent per-share loss during the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings for the quarter came in at 27 cents per share, in line with FactSet’s 27 cents consensus. Revenue hit $7.11 billion, down compared with last year’s $7.74 billion, but above FactSet’s consensus of $7.07 billion. Though down from last year, revenue in the fourth quarter was up from the previous quarter thanks to the production group segment, which grew 5% due to increased hydraulic fracturing activity in the Middle East and North America, according to Schlumberger Chief Executive Paal Kibsgaard. Shares of Schlumberger have gained nearly 43% in the trailing 12-month period, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 22% during the same time period.

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Six people have been found alive Friday in an Italian hotel that was hit by an avalanche Wednesday, according to multiple media reports. Rescue workers have spoken several times with the survivors, who remain buried under the rubble, said Italian wire service ANSA. The Hotel Rigopiano in the central Abruzzo region was buried in the avalanche Wednesday following a series of earthquakes. At least four people have been confirmed dead, and about 20 are still missing, a BBC report said. Two people were rescued from the hotel Thursday, according to ANSA.

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The pound was pushed below $1.23 Friday after a downbeat update on British retail sales in December. Sterling fell to an intraday low of $1.2283, according to FactSet, after data showed retail sales declined 1.9% in December on a month-over-month basis, the slowest pace of growth since 2012. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a rise of 0.2% in sales. The pound had traded hands around $1.2327 just before the data arrived from the Office for National Statistics. It’s the “sudden slowdown from November that is discouraging and this has dented sentiment around the pound,” said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, in a note. A consideration of quarterly figures offers “a more even view of the market. But the worry is that consumer sentiment is fickle and based largely on ballooning unsecured debt.” U.K. retail sales rose 5.6% in the fourth quarter.

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Federal authorities are investigating intercepted communications and financial transactions over possible links between Russia and members of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign team, the New York Times reported Thursday night. The counterintelligence investigation is focused on former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, policy adviser Carter Page and Republican strategist Roger Stone, the Times said. U.S. intelligence has concluded that Russia interfered in the presidential election, and worked in Trump’s favor. The newspaper’s sources did not say if the intercepts implicated anyone in illegal acts. Manfort told the Times the report was a “dirty trick and completely false.” The FBI is said to be leading the probe, which was not based on the secret dossier leaked last week containing a number of unsubstantiated claims.

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Former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert is seeking the repayment of $1.7 million in hush money from one of his molestation victims, according to a claim filed Thursday. Attorneys for Hastert, who is serving a 15-month prison sentence in Illinois for violating banking laws related to the payoffs, said the unnamed victim was paid money with the understanding he would not go public. Hastert claims that the deal was invalidated when the now-adult victim talked to investigators in 2014, and that he deserves his money back. Last year, the victim sued Hastert, seeking $1.8 million — the remainder of the total $3.5 million that Hastert originally agreed to pay for his silence. “Mr. Hastert has decided that rather than live up to his promise to compensate his victim for his molestation and resulting injury, he will ask his victim to pay him,” the victim’s attorney, Kristi Brown, said Thursday in a statement. At his sentencing last year, Hastert admitted molesting a number of teenage boys between 1965 and 1981. Prosecutors said Hastert could not be charged with those crimes because the statute of limitations had expired.

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J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said it raised the pay of its Chief Executive Jamie Dimon by nearly 4%, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday. The bank will pay Dimon $28 million for 2016, the filing said. That’s up from last year’s $27 million. Dimon’s base salary of $1.5 million and cash incentive package of $5 million remain the same. The remaining $21.5 million of Dimon’s pay is in the form of performance share units, J.P. Morgan said. Shares of J.P. Morgan were down less than 0.1% at $83.28 after hours.

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Alcoa Corp. will restart the Portland Aluminium smelter in Australia following a power outage in December. Restoring production at the smelter is expected to take abuot six months. The facility had been operating at nearly 85% of capacity at 385,000 metric tons a year before the stoppage. The aluminum company also reached a four-year deal with AGL to secure a steady supply of electricity to the smelter. Alcoa shares were flat in the extended session after rising 1.8% to close at $35.42.

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Target Corp. said late Thursday it promoted Rick Gomez to executive vice president and chief marketing officer, effective Jan. 29. Gomez will be responsible for “furthering Target’s brand positioning and leading the integration of all marketing programs,” the company said in a statement. Gomez will report to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell. Gomez joined the retailer in 2013 after roles at PepsiCo and other companies. Shares of Target rose 0.2% in late trading after ending the regular session down 2.2%. The S&P 500 index ended the day down 0.4%.

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