Category: Uncategorized

Allergan PLC reported a fourth-quarter loss that narrowed to $700.5 million, or $1.78 a share, from $732.9 million, or $3.34 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as acquisition costs, adjusted earnings per share came to $3.41, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.34. Revenue rose to $4.2 billion from $2.42 billion, matching the FactSet consensus. Botox sales came to $655.7 million, beating expectations of $606.3 million. For 2016, the drug company expects revenue of approximately $17 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $17.69 billion. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 12% year to date, while the S&P 500 has slipped 6.2%.

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

Shares of hardwood floor retailer Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. slumped 22% in premarket trade Monday, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had made an incorrect assessment of the cancer risk associated with the company’s flooring, and said it is much higher than other products. The CDC said recent testing of the company’s wood had used an incorrect value for ceiling height. “As a result, the health risks were calculated using airborne concentration estimates about 3 times lower than they should have been,” it said in a statement. After correcting the model, the CDC said the flooring, which is imported from China, can create respiratory issues for people with asthma or related illnesses, and can cause irritation for the eye, nose and throat for anyone else. “The estimated risk of cancer is 6-30 cases per 100,000 people,” said the statement, and not 2-9 cases per 100,000 people as previously reported. The CDC recommends taking steps to reduce exposure, and will move ahead with a final report on the issue. Problems with Lumber Liquidators wood was highlighted in a “60 Minutes” report broadcast March of 2015, which alleged that Chinese laminates contained much higher-than-acceptable levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. The stock fell to as low as $11.69 in January, from its peak of $68.78 in Feb. of 2015, just before the news broke.

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

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. slashed on Monday its estimate for the upper end of the range of “reasonably possible aggregate loss” for legal proceedings to $2 billion, according to the investment bank’s 10-K annual regulatory filing. In the 10-Q filing following the third quarter, Goldman had estimated the loss to be $5.3 billion. “The firm is involved in a number of judicial, regulatory and arbitration proceedings…concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of the firm’s businesses,” Goldman stated in its filing. “Many of these proceedings are in early stages, and many of these cases seek an indeterminate amount of damages.” The stock. which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 18% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 5.9%.

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

Swiss private bank EFG International AG plans to pay 1.33 billion Swiss francs, or $1.34 billion, to acquire another Swiss private bank, BSI SA, said EFG in a news release Monday. The combined company will be one of the largest private banks in Switzerland with 170 billion Swiss francs in assets under management, the release said. EFG is buying BSI from BTG Pactual SA , a Brazilian bank whose CEO has been arrested in a corruption scandal.

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

A Saturday shooting spree left six dead at various locations in Kalamazoo, Mich., with local authorities, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette, saying 45-year-old Jason B. Dalton was taken into custody after midnight and had acted alone. The police chief in the city of 76,000 people, home to Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College, characterized the alleged gunman as “totally unprovoked” and his alleged actions as “random acts of violence,” according to the Gazette. Shooting locations included a Ford dealership, a Cracker Barrel restaurant and a town-house complex, the Gazette reported. At a Sunday-morning news conference, the county prosecutor reportedly said there was “just no question more people would have died if [police] hadn’t found him when they did.” The suspect was reportedly taken into custody in the parking lot of a downtown bar.

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

Salesforce.com Inc. has acquired Silicon Valley machine-learning startup PredictionIO to bulk up its own technology. PredictionIO cofounder and CEO Simon Chen announced the move in a blog post Friday, without disclosing the price of the deal; Salesforce confirmed the purchase without offering additional information. “At Salesforce, PredictionIO’s innovative machine learning platform will extend SalesforceIQ’s machine learning capabilities and enhance intelligence across the Salesforce clouds,” Chen wrote. Machine learning is a basic form of artificial intelligence, in which computers are trained to act without specific programming. PredictionIO has developed a server with open-source machine-learning technology, TechCrunch reported earlier Friday, and will keep the technology open-source after the acquisition. Salesforce stock gained 0.2% in late trading Friday, after closing with a 0.7% gain at $62.14.

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