Category: Stock Market News

Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to pay $20 million to the Federal Trade Commission to settle claims that Uber had exaggerated driver earnings and terms of its vehicle leasing program, according to a filing Thursday. The order states that Uber is prohibited from misrepresenting the income a driver could earn, the terms and conditions of its leasing program and the terms and conditions of financing and leasing terms offered by Uber or by another partner. With the settlement, Uber neither claims nor denies any of the allegations, the filing says. Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Atlassian Corp. shares fluctuated between gains and losses in the extended session Thursday after the business collaboration software company topped Wall Street estimates for the latest quarter but issued an earnings outlook that fell short of the consensus. Atlassian shares, which at first rallied, then slipped into negative territory, traded up 0.3% to $27.50 after hours. The company reported adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings of 9 cents a share on revenue of $148.9 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 8 cents a share on revenue of $144 million. For the third quarter, Atlassian sees adjusted earnings of about 6 cents a share on revenue of $155 million to $157 million. Analysts expect third-quarter earnings of 8 cents a share on revenue of $154.4 million.

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International Business Machines Corp. topped 52-week highs in late trading Thursday after Big Blue beat earnings expectations. IBM reported net income of $4.5 billion, or $4.72 a share, on sales of $21.77 billion. After adjustments, IBM claimed profit of $5.01 a share. Analysts projected adjusted profit of $4.88 a share on sales of $21.63 billion, according to FactSet. IBM also projected better adjusted profit for 2017, saying it expected full-year profit to hit at least $13.80 a share, while analysts projected $13.74, according to FactSet. IBM, which declared a revenue decline for the 19th consecutive quarter, saw shares jump to more than $170 in late trading, topping the $169.95 intraday high of the past year.

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Shares of American Express Co. rose slightly late Thursday after the credit card company reported fourth-quarter earnings below expectations but quarterly sales slightly above forecasts. American Express said it earned $825 million, or 88 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $899 million, or 89 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $8 billion, down from $8.4 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 98 cents a share on sales of $7.9 billion. The quarter included higher spending on growth initiatives, largely marketing and promotion expenses, the company said in a statement. Shares of American Express ended the regular trading down 1%, which compares with losses of 0.4% for the S&P 500 index .

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U.S. stocks finished lower Thursday with the Dow industrials falling a fifth straight session as investors exercised caution ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 72.32 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 19,732.40, with shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. and Merck & Co. leading decliners. The S&P 500 index closed down 8.20 points, or 0.4%, at 2,263.69, with the real-estate and utilities sectors the weakest performers. The Nasdaq Composite index finished down 15.57 points, or 0.3%, at 5,540.08.

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Shares of Western Union Co. tumbled 3.1% in active afternoon trade Thursday, reversing earlier gains of as much as 1.3%, after the provider of money movement services admitted to money laundering and consumer fraud violations, and agreed to pay $586 million. Volume spiked to 11.3 million shares, nearly triple the full-day average of 3.9 million shares, according to FactSet. “In its agreement with the Justice Department, Western Union admits to criminal violations including willfully failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program and aiding and abetting wire fraud,” the Department of Justice said in a statement. The company said it also agreed to implement an anti-fraud program and enhanced compliance obligations. “Western Union owes a responsibility to American consumers to guard against fraud, but instead the company looked the other way, and its system facilitated scammers and rip-offs,” said Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. The stock has run up 29% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 20%.

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Shares of TCF Financial Corp. slumped 2.9% in active afternoon trade Thursday, after the Minnesota-based regional bank disclosed that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had filed a civil lawsuit against the company related to its overdraft opt-in practices from 2010 through April 2014. Volume jumped to 3.3 million shares, more than double the full-day average. TCF said it plans to “vigorously defend” against the CFPB’s complaint, given its belief that the overdraft protection program “complied with the letter and spirit of all applicable laws and regulations,” and that customers were treated fairly. TCF said the CFPB’s allegations that customers were misled by its employees into enrolling into overdraft protection programs pointed out that 60% of the customers who opened accounts without person-to-person interactions opted in to the programs. In addition, TCF said it received only 341 complaints from 2010 to 2015 related to customers’ decision to opt in, from a total of 2.6 million customers. TCF’s stock has soared 50% over the past 12 months, while the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF has surged 49% and the S&P 500 has climbed 20%.

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Gold futures settled lower on Thursday, with their largest one-day dollar and percentage loss of the year so far, as the U.S. dollar strengthened. The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged as expected and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Wednesday said the Fed expects a few rate hikes a year until 2019, providing support for the greenback-in turn pressuring prices for dollar-denominated gold. February gold lost $10.60, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,201.50 an ounce.

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Kaleo Inc. said midday Thursday that its Auvi-Q allergic reaction treatment, a competitor to Mylan’s EpiPen, will be available starting Feb. 14 for $360. The company said the product would be available to many patients with commercial insurance, including high-deductible health plans, for no out-of-pocket cost, and that it would have a $360 cash price for those without insurance. Forbes reports that the product’s list price will be $4,500, several times higher than the cost of Mylan’s EpiPen, due to a complicated scheme through which Kaleo pays patients’ out-of-pocket costs directly to insurers. Mylan’s authorized generic EpiPen product became available in late December for around $300. The Auvi-Q was voluntarily recalled in 2015 over concerns about incorrect dose delivery, which the company told MarketWatch in October it has fixed. Mylan shares tumbled 26.3% over the last 12 months, compared with a 20.6% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Communications company Avaya Inc. has filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company said it has secured a committed $725 million debtor-in-possession loan, special loan used in bankruptcy cases, underwritten by Citibank. “We have conducted an extensive review of alternatives to address Avaya’s capital structure, and we believe pursuing a restructuring through chapter 11 is the best path forward at this time,” Chief Executive Kevin Kennedy said in a statement. The company has decided not to sell its contact center business after evaluating expressions of interest in various of its assets in favor of addressing its debt. The company was spun off from Lucent, a former AT&T unit, in 2000.

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