MGM Resorts’ stock climbs after profit beats expectations

MGM Resorts International’s stock surged 2.1% in pre-market trade Tuesday, putting it on track to open at a two-month high, after the casino operator beat second-quarter profit expectations. MGM reported earnings of $97.5 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $110 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The per-share results, which include one-time pre-opening and start-up expenses of 2 cents a share, beat the FactSet consensus of 11 cents. Revenue slipped to $2.39 billion from $2.58 billion, just above the FactSet consensus of $2.37 billion. The company also said it was implementing a profit growth plan, aimed at streamlining its business process, reducing costs, increasing market share and improving customer service. The stock has lost 7.2% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.9%.

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Twitter stock on track to open at all-time low

Shares of Twitter Inc. fell 0.4% in premarket trade Tuesday, putting the stock on track to open at an all-time low, around $29.15. The company’s stock has fallen 20% over the last seven days, since the microblogging site reported disappointing quarterly user growth. It closed at a record low of $29.27 on Monday. In a note to clients on Tuesday morning, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Robert Peck, who rates Twitter’s stock at neutral, attributed this week’s declines to concerns regarding the recent departure of two product executives, and concerns regarding its CEO search. “We think investors are questioning the current state of the CEO search and assessing the rumored parameters, wondering if Twitter is looking for a difficult to find CEO candidate,” Peck said. While the “ideal solution” may be Jack Dorsey returning as permanent CEO and stepping down from the helm at Square, Peck said he doesn’t see this as likely. “While a thorough search is paramount, speed is critical,” he said

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FDA approves first 3D printed drug, will be used to treat epilepsy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first 3D printed drug, which can be used to treat epilepsy, Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company said Monday. By using 3D printing, the oral drug, called Spritam, is made of porous material and is able to disintegrate quickly with water. Some epilepsy patients have difficulty swallowing traditional drugs or caretakers have difficulties getting children to take medication, the company said in a statement. The drug also carries a high drug load, so that patients may only have to take one pill. Aprecia Pharmaceuticals plans to create more “central nervous system products,” the company said.

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PayPal names John Rainey, former United Airlines exec as new CFO

PayPal said on Tuesday that John Rainey will join the company as its chief financial officer. Rainey was vice president and CFO at United Airlines . Before United Airlines, Rainey worked at Ernst & Young in Houston, Texas and received his masters in business administration at Baylor University. He is taking over for Patrick Dupuis, who was CFO at PayPal for five years and will serve as senior vice president. United Airlines said in a statement that it will consider internal and external candidates before naming a permanent CFO. Gerry Laderman, currently senior vice president of finance, will serve as acting CFO at United Airlines until then.

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IPC Healthcare’s stock soars after buyout deal with Team Health

IPC Healthcare Inc.’s stock soared 36% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the acute hospitalist announced an agreement to be acquired by Team Health Holding Inc. in a cash deal valued at $1.6 billion. As part of the deal, Team Health will pay $80.25 for each IPC share outstanding, representing a 37% premium to Monday’s closing price. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter. “We believe this combination, which will be accretive to Team Health’s earnings, will result in an enhanced financial profile, allowing for strong cash flows and deleveraging, along with ongoing financial flexibility to fund future growth,” said Team Health Chief Executive Mike Snow. Separately, the Team Health reported second-quarter earnings of $51.2 million, or 70 cents a share, up from $44.1 million, or 61 cents a share, beating the FactSet consensus of 69 cents. Revenue rose 30% to $878 million, above the FactSet consensus of $833 million. Team Health’s stock surged 4.2% in premarket trade.

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Kellogg Co. beats second-quarter sales expectations

Kellogg Co. beat sales expectations for its second-quarter results. Kellogg reported earnings of $223 billion, or 63 cents a share, below $295 billion, or 82 cents a share in the year-earlier period. Excluding certain costs, second-quarter earnings were 92 cents a share, in-line with the FactSet consensus of 92 cents. The company reported sales of $3.50 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $3.47 billion. CEO John Bryant said growth from the company’s Asian, Latin American and European Snack businesses, as well as “improving trends” in North America led to the sales numbers.

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U.S. home prices climb 1.7% in June, CoreLogic says

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home prices climbed 1.7% in June, to take year-over-year gains to 6.5%, CoreLogic said Tuesday. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia were the strongest since the series began in 1976. Only four states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Louisiana and Mississippi — saw year-over-year declines. The largest peak-to-current declines are Nevada at 32.2% and Florida at 28.7%.

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Sprint shares rise as company posts narrower-than-expected loss

Sprint Corp. shares were up 1.5% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the phone company reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its fiscal fourth quarter. The company said it had a loss of $20 million, or 1 cent a share, in the quarter, after a profit of $23 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell to $8.027 billion from $8.789 billion. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 7 cents and revenue of $8.294 billion. The company said it had total net additions of 675,000 in the quarter, a postpaid churn of 1.56% and reduced postpaid phone losses for a fifth consecutive quarter. It raised its outlook for fiscal 2015 adjusted EBITDA to $7.2 billion to $7.6 billion from a prior range of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion. “Going forward, we are confident in our plan to leverage our unique spectrum assets to make our network a competitive advantage, aggressively reduce operating costs, and utilize our business relationships and assets to fund our turnaround,” Chief Executive Marcelo Claure said in a statement. Shares are down 19.5% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 2%.

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Greece expects final bailout deal by Aug. 18: reports

Greece expects to wrap up its bailout deal with international creditors by Aug. 18, with the drafting of the agreement to begin Wednesday, according to media reports. The ongoing talks are reaching the end of the first phase, with the second phase to include the details of the final deal. Greece’s finance and economic ministers were expected to meet with the international creditors later on Tuesday to talk about privatization plans and bank recapitalization, Reuters reported. Greece has to repay 3.2 billion euros to the European Central Bank on Aug. 20, but may need to be granted a bridge loan if the bailout negotiations are still ongoing.

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Coach shares fall in premarket after company offers soft outlook

Coach Inc. shares fell nearly 5% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the luxury accessories maker reported better-than-expected profit and sales for its fiscal fourth quarter but offered a cautious outlook for the coming year. Coach said it had net income of $12 million, or 4 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $75 million, or 27 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding restructuring and acquisition costs, per-share earnings came to 31 cents, topping the FactSet consensus of 29 cents. Sales fell to $1.00 billion from $1.14 billion but were ahead of the FactSet consensus of $973 million. “As we moved through Fiscal 2015, we drove sequential improvement in our North America bricks and mortar business while dramatically reducing the number of promotional impressions in the marketplace against a backdrop of heightened promotional activity,” Chief Executive Victor Luis said in a statement. The company’s international businesses achieved “moderate growth” on a constant currency basis, driven by Europe and China, he said. Coach is now expecting fiscal 2016 standalone brand revenues to rise in the low-single digits on a constant currency basis. Foreign currency is expected to shave about 200 basis points off fiscal 2016 revenue growth. Shares have fallen 19% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 2%.

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