AT&T shares gain 3% in premarket after company surprises analyst with Q2 wireless results

Shares of AT&T Inc. were up more than 3% in premarket trade on Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday that beat Wall Street expectations. The internet, phone and TV provider also reported wireless phone results that surprised analysts. AT&T added 127,000 new wireless postpaid subscribers, far above FactSet’s consensus for 20,500 adds, and the company reported record low churn, thanks in part to DirecTV. “Despite the competitive environment, and solid volumes from T-Mobile, bundling with [DirecTV] drove strong wireless results,” wrote Jefferies analyst Mike McCormack. The company lost 351,000 traditional TV subscribers in the quarter, though that was offset thanks to its internet live TV offering DirecTV Now, which the company said has half a million subscribers. But management admitted that cord-cutting in the TV landscape is still having an impact and in fact has increased. “Comments around cord-cutting and OTT adoption bear monitoring as inflection in trends could indicate accelerating linear subscriber declines,” McCormack wrote. AT&T shares have declined nearly 15% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index has gained close to 11%.

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Biogen shares surge 2% after upgrade to buy at Goldman Sachs

Biogen Inc. shares surged as much as 2% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company was upgraded to buy at Goldman Sachs and its price target was raised by nearly 20% to $338. Biogen shares closed at $282.96 on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs analyst Terence Flynn said that Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab “could now be one of the first disease-modifying drugs to reach the market,” selling as much as $12 billion at peak. Late-stage clinical trial results for Biogen’s aducanumab are expected in the fourth quarter of 2019 or the first quarter of 2020, but results for partner Eisai’s Alzeimer’s drug BAN2401 — expected by the end of this year — should reflect on Biogen’s drug, Flynn said. The field for an Alzheimer’s disease drug opened up more after a late-stage trial for Eli Lilly & Co.’s Alzheimer’s drug solanezumab failed to meet its primary endpoint last fall. Though investors have worried about competitive and pricing threats to Biogen’s multiple sclerosis franchise, Flynn said those were “overblown.” Flynn also expressed high hopes for the company’s “under-leveraged” balance sheet, and recommended more aggressive share buybacks. Biogen shares have lifted 1.1% over the last three months, compared with a 3.8% rise in the S&P 500 .

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RBB Bancorp prices IPO at $23 a share

RBB Bancorp said Wednesday it has priced its initial public offering at $23 a share. The Los Angeles-based bank sold 3.75 million shares to raise $86.3 million. The stock is expected to start trading later Wednesday on the Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol “RBB”. Sandler O’Neill, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, and Stephens Inc. were underwriters on the deal with FIG Partners acting as co-manager.

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Boeing’s stock jumps after profit beat and raised outlook offset sales miss

Shares of Boeing Co. rallied 2.4% toward a record high in premarket trade Wednesday, after the aerospace and defense giant’s profit beat and raised outlook offset a sales miss. The company swung to a net profit of $1.76 billion, or $2.89 a share, from a loss of $234 million, or 37 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.55, beating the FactSet consensus of $2.30. Revenue fell to $22.74 billion from $24.76 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $23.03 billion. Commercial airplane revenue dropped 10% to $15.71 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $15.94 billion, while military aircraft revenue fell 3% to $2.90 billion to match expectations. Boeing raised its 2017 adjusted EPS outlook to $9.80 to $10.00 from $9.20 to $9.40, while keeping its revenue outlook at $90.5 billion to $92.5 billion. Boeing’s stock has soared 36.5% year to date, while the SPDR Industrial Select Sector ETF has climbed 10.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 9.4%.

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Amazon to host first job fair on August 2 with 50,000 U.S. jobs to fill

Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that it will host its first Jobs Day on August 2 from 8 a.m. to noon local time at 10 fulfillment centers nationwide, providing an opportunity for job seekers to learn about working with Amazon. The company has more than 50,000 job openings across its U.S. network of fulfillment centers, according to a statement. More than 10,000 of the openings are part-time at the company’s sortation centers, where workers sort and consolidate packages. Employees who work more than 20 hours per week receive benefits. Among the cities where Jobs Day events will take place are Baltimore, Chattanooga, TN, Hebron, KY, and Romeoville, IL. A Facebook Live livestream will be available for those interested in watching. Amazon shares are up 0.3% in premarket trading, and up 38.7% for the year to date. The S&P 500 index is up 10.6% for 2017 so far.

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Ford reports Q2 earnings above Wall Street expectations, gives positive 2017 guidance

Shares of Ford Motor Co. rose 1.6% before heading down in premarket trade on Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter profit and revenue that was above Wall Street expectations. Net income for the quarter came in at $2.04 billion, or 51 cents per share, compared with $1.97 billion, or 49 cents per share during the year-earlier period. Adjusted earnings per share were 56 cents, above FactSet’s earnings consensus for 43 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter hit $39.85 billion, compared with $39.49 billion during the same period a year ago. Revenue was above FactSet’s expected $37.28 billion consensus. Revenue from automotive sales were up to $37.11 billion in the quarter, compared with $36.93 billion a year ago, and the company said that automotive profits were driven by North America. Europe and Asia Pacific were also profitable. The car manufacturer said it expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.65 to $1.85. The FactSet consensus is for full-year earnings of $1.51 per share. Ford shares are down 7% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 11% in the year.

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Tupperware beats profit expectations buy misses on sales, to wind down Beauticontrol business

Tupperware Brands Corp. reported a second-quarter net loss of $17.7 million, or 34 cents a share, after a profit of $52.4 million, or $1.03 a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as restructuring charges, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.21, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.20. Revenue rose to $572.9 million from $564.7 million, but missed the FactSet consensus of $578.6 million, as growth in Tupperware North America and Brazil offset declines in Europe, Asia Pacific and Beauty North America. Separately, the food storage container maker that it was “unsuccessful” in finding a buyer for its Beauticontrol business, so it decided it wind down the business over the next 60 to 90 days. Looking ahead, the company expects third-quarter adjusted EPS of 91 cents to 96 cents, compared with the FactSet consensus of 98 cents, while the 2017 outlook of $4.66 to $4.76 surrounds the FactSet consensus of $4.70. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 32.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 10.6%.

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Hershey reports Q2 profit, earnings beat and increases quarterly dividend

Hershey Co. reported a second-quarter profit and earnings beat on Wednesday and announced an increase in its quarterly dividend. Earnings for the latest quarter rose to $203.5 million, or 95 cents per share, from $146.0 million, or 68 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Adjusted earnings-per-share were $1.09, compared with the FactSet consensus of 90 cents. Revenue rose to $1.66 million from $1.64 million, above the FactSet consensus of $1.65 million. For 2017, the company expects retail industry challenges to lower its full-year 2017 net sales growth to around 1% from the previous guidance of 2% to 3%. This will result in “no change” to Hershey’s full-year outlook because of an increase in adjusted gross margin, the company said, reaffirming its adjusted EPS guidance of $4.72 to $4.81. Hershey also said it raised its quarterly dividend by 6% to about 66 cents on common stock and about 60 cents on class B stock. Hershey shares were up 0.24% in premarket trade. Shares have declined 0.1% over the last three months to $107.44, compared with a 3.8% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Anthem quarterly earnings above expectations, but revenue falls short

Anthem Inc. on Wednesday posted quarterly earnings that were ahead of Wall Street’s target, but sales missed the consensus mark. The health insurance heavyweight said net income for the second quarter was $855.3 million, or $3.16 a share, compared with $780.6 million, or $2.91 a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings of $3.37 were above a FactSet consensus estimate of $3.24 a share. Operating revenue was $22.2 billion, up from $21.27 billion a year ago. Analysts had looked for $22.28 billion in operating revenue for the most recent period. Anthem said it’s raising its third-quarter dividend by 5 cents a share to 70 cents a share. It also now expects fiscal year 2017 adjusted earnings to be more than $11.70 a share.

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One version of GOP health-care bills fails in Senate vote

The first version of a health-care bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act fell far short of passage in the Senate Tuesday night following a close vote earlier in the day to move to debate health legislation at all. The version that was defeated 43-57 was titled the Better Care Reconciliation Act and included an amendment from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz that would have allowed insurers to sell bare-bones plans. The version also left in place two taxes on higher-income earners. The Senate is expected to act on two other versions of the bill perhaps as early as Wednesday.

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