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American Eagle Outfitters Inc. shares rose 4.2% in Wednesday premarket trading after the apparel retailer reported third-quarter same-store sales that beat estimates. Net income totaled $63.7 million, or 36 cents per share, down from $75.8 million, or 41 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was 37 cents, below the 38-cents FactSet consensus. Revenue was $960.4 million, up from $940.6 million last year and below the $961.0 million FactSet consensus. Same-store sales rose 3% for the quarter, exceeding the FactSet consensus for a 1.9% increase. American Eagle sees fourth-quarter EPS of 42-to-44 cents. The FactSet consensus is 39 cents. American Eagle shares are up 6.2% for the year so far, but down 5.5% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 19% for the past 12 months.

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T-Mobile U.S. Inc. said Wednesday its board has approved a stock buyback program of up to $1.5 billion through Dec. 31, 2018. The company said its majority shareholder, Deutsche Telekom AG , is considering plans to buy additional T-Mobile shares, which would likely take place through Dec. 31, 2018. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have gained 6% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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Time Magazine on Wednesday named “The Silence Breakers” as its 2017 person of the year, referring to the many individuals who helped expose the prevalence of sexual harassment in the world of entertainment, technology, the media and other sectors this year. “The galvanizing actions of the women on our cover…along with those of hundreds of others, and of many men as well, have unleashed one of the highest-velocity shifts in our culture since the 1960s,” Time’s editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said in a statement. The magazine’s cover photo includes actress Ashley Judd, one of the first women to go public with allegations of abuse by producer Harvey Weinstein; Taylor Swift, who spoke to the magazine for the first time since winning a groping lawsuit against DJ David Mueller; and former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, who went public with allegations that women are discriminated against at the ride-sharing company, leading to the departure of a number of executives, including former chief executive Travis Kalanick.

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Fred’s Inc. shares slid 12% premarket Wednesday, after the company posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings and said it’s canceling its quarterly dividend to preserve cash for debt repayment. The Memphis, Tenn.-based retailer said it had a loss of $51.8 million, or $1.38 a share, in the quarter, after a loss of $38.4 million, or $1.05 a share, in the year-earlier period. The loss includes a 53 cents charge relating to a deferred tax asset, 30 cents for an inventory writedown, 9 cents for professional and legal fees incurred as part of a turnaround strategy and 5 cents for asset impairment for the sale of a corporate airplane. Sales fell 4.5% to $493.6 million and same-store sales slid 0.8%. The FactSet consensus was for a loss per share of 13 cents, sales of $501 million and a same-store sales rise of 0.5%. “We recognize that our EPS results are below expectations; however, the management team, working closely with the Board of Directors, is taking the actions necessary to ensure Fred’s achieves profitability and growth over the long-term,”Chief Executive Michael Bloom said in a statement. Separately, the company said it’s cancelling its dividend and amending a share buyback program to 3.8 million shares. It is also exploring alternatives for non-core assets, including real estate and its specialty pharmacy business. Shares have fallen 73% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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Home Depot Inc. said Wednesday it set a new $15 billion stock repurchase program and affirmed its 2017 profit and sales outlook, as part of updated strategic priorities announced at its investor and analyst conference. The home improvement retailer said the new repurchase program replaces its previous authorization, and includes its intention to buy an additional $2.1 billion worth of shares in the fourth quarter. The company still expects 2017 earnings per share to rise 14% to $7.36, revenue to increase 6.3% and same-store sales to grow 6.5%. The FactSet consensus estimates are for EPS of $7.38, revenue growth of 6.4% and a same-store sales increase of 6.5%. Home Depot said it targets compounded annual sales growth of 4.5% to 6.0% from 2017 through 2020 and operating margin from 14.4% to 15.0%. The stock, which fell 1.1% in premarket trade, has rallied 16.8% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has climbed 9.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 10.9%.

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Rock star Johnny Hallyday, known as the “French Elvis,” has died at age 74, media reports said Wednesday. The rock’n’roll singer, who sold more than 100 million records over his 50-plus years of stardom, was suffering from lung cancer. Hallyday’s wife Laeticia phoned French President Emmanuel Macron, a devoted fan of the musician, at 2 a.m. in the morning to tell him of the death, the Guardian reported. “The fans and followers he gathered around him are in tears,” Macron said in a post to Twitter. “We won’t forget his name, his face, nor his voice.” Born in Paris as Jean-Philippe Smet, Hallyday also acted in movies by Jean-Luc Godard and others.

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Brexit Secretary David Davis said on Wednesday the government has not carried out any economic assessment on how the U.K.’s exit from the EU will impact different parts of the British economy, according to local media reports. Speaking at a Brexit committee hearing, Davis confirmed the Conservative-led government has not assessed the consequences on a sector-by-sector basis, arguing the usefulness would be “near zero.” The Brexit Secretary explained the government will quantify the Brexit impact later in the negotiation process, as there would be no point in drawing up impact assessments too early. However, the results will not be released, because that could undermine the U.K.’s negotiating position with Brussels, he said. Davis’s comments come as London is rushing to hammer out a deal on three key issues — the divorce bill, EU citizens’ rights and the Irish border — ahead of an EU summit next week. EU leaders need to agree that the U.K. has made “sufficient progress” on those issues before exit talks can move on to the second phase that includes trade and a potential transition period.

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Steinhoff International Holdings NV plunged 57% in early trade on Wednesday after the retail holding company said Chief Executive Markus Jooste had resigned with immediate effect amid an accounting probe. The company said “new information has come to light today which relates to accounting irregularities requiring further investigation.” Steinhoff had been due to release its fiscal 2017 earnings report on Wednesday, but said the results will come out when it is “in a position to do so.” The company added it also needs to determine if any financial statements from previous years need to be restated.

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Alphabet Inc. is pulling YouTube from the Amazon.com Inc. Echo Show and Fire TV streaming devices, the company said Tuesday. Alphabet class A stock and Amazon stock are flat after hours. A Google spokesman said in an emailed statement that the company has been trying to reach a reciprocal agreement with Amazon for products and services but has not done so. As a result, and because Amazon does not carry Google devices such as Google Home, Chromecast, or Nest devices, it has pulled YouTube from the Amazon devices. “Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and Fire TV,” the spokesman said. “We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon.” For its part, Amazon, through a spokeswoman, said that Alphabet’s Google unit is “setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website. We hope to resolve this with Google as soon as possible.” Amazon also said that now both the Echo Show and Fire TV both display a “standard web view” of YouTube.com. Alphabet class A stock is up 29% this year, as Amazon shares have risen 52%. The S&P 500 index has gained 18% this year.

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