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U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday as investors weighed China’s decision to cut the reserve requirement for banks, a move aimed at boosting the economy. The S&P 500 was off by 1 point at 1,946. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 6 points to 16,633. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the day flat at 4,587.
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Target Corp. has hired Arthur Valdez as chief supply chain and logistics officer, leading the company’s transformation including planning, distribution and transportation, the retailer said in a Monday release. He is moving to Minneapolis to join the company, effective March 28. Valdez comes to Target from Amazon.com Inc. where he spent 16 years and held a number of leadership positions across the e-commerce company’s domestic and global supply chain. He was most recently Amazon’s vice president of operations focused on its international supply chain expansion. Target shares are up 8% for the year so far while the S&P 500 is down 4.7% for the same period.
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American Express Co. said in a Monday release it would see a $1 billion gain from the sale of its Costco Wholesale Corp. U.S. co-branded card portfolio to Citibank N.A. The sale is expected to close June 2016, and all eligible Costco American Express Card accounts will be transferred to Citi. Because the close is several months away and card member borrowing and payment trends are hard to determine, the gain could change, American Express said. American Express shares are unchanged in Monday premarket trading, but down 32.1% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 7.4% for the past 12 months.
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American Express Co. said in a Monday release it would see a $1 billion gain from the sale of its Costco Wholesale Corp. U.S. co-branded card portfolio to Citibank N.A. The sale is expected to close June 2016, and all eligible Costco American Express Card accounts will be transferred to Citi. Because the close is several months away and card member borrowing and payment trends are hard to determine, the gain could change, American Express said. American Express shares are unchanged in Monday premarket trading, but down 32.1% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 7.4% for the past 12 months.
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Signet Jewelers Ltd. soared 10.5% in premarket trade after the company announced preliminary fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations. The jewelry company said earnings per share will be $3.42, up from $2.84 for the same period last year. Signet sees adjusted EPS of $3.63, exceeding its own guidance range of $3.54 to $3.60 and the FactSet consensus of $3.58. The company said same-store sales were up 4.9%, exceeding the FactSet consensus of 4.6%. The company’s board has approved a new share repurchase program of $750 million along with an 18% increase in its dividend. Signet raised its synergy guidance to between $225 million and $250 million from between $150 million and $175 million for the three years betwen Feb. 1 2015 and Jan. 31 2018 due to “incremental synergy opportunities” the company identified in its merger with Zales, said Mark Light, chief executive officer, in a Monday release statement. Signet shares are down 17.3% for the past 12 months while the S&P 500 is down 7.4% for the same period.
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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares slumped more than 6% in premarket trade Monday, after the company withdrew its financial guidance and said it would reschedule its fourth-quarter earnings release. The company made the announcement as its chief executive Michael Pearson returned from medical leave and the Canadian drugmaker moved to split its chief executive and chairman roles. Valeant named Robert Ingram as chairman of the board, taking that role away from Pearson, who was on medical leave after being diagnosed with severe pneumonia. The company came under fire last year for its drug pricing strategy, as well as for accounting issues and its relationship with the specialty pharma network Philidor. Shares are down 59% in the last 12 months, while the s&P 500 has lost 7%.
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Sysco Corp. said Monday it will layoff 1,200 workers, or about 2% of its workforce, over the next 15 months, as part of its plan to boost earnings. The food products distributor expects to record $25 million to $30 million in severance and benefits charges, starting in the fiscal third quarter ending March. The company will also record charges of $70 million in 2016 and $130 million in fiscal 2017 for writeoffs and accelerated depreciation and technology conversion costs. As a result of its productivity plan, Sysco raised its operating income growth target to at least $500 million from $400 million by the end of fiscal 2018. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has climbed 11% over the past year, while the S&P 500 has slipped 7.4%.
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AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. said Monday it had net earnings of $41.6 million, or 42 cents per share in the fourth quarter, up from $29.8 million, or 30 cents a share, during the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 43 cents, just above the FactSet consensus of 40 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter hit $783.9 million, which is up from $712.2 million a year ago, but below the FactSet consensus of $802 million. AMC said attendance grew 5.2% in 2015 as the box office had a record year. The theater chain closed its $173 million acquisition of Starplex Cinemas during the fourth quarter. The deal added 33 theaters with 346 screens in 12 states. Shares of were up slightly on low volume in pre-market trade.
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Federal-Mogul Holdings Corp. said Monday it had a net loss of $58 million, or 36 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, narrower than the loss of $185 million, or $1.24 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 22 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 12 cents.The transportation equipment maker said sales edged up to $1.798 billion from $1.795 billion, but were below the FactSet consensus of $1.813 billion. “Net sales increases from the acquired valvetrain business, as well as from strong domestic aftermarket sales in the U.S. and Canada, were offset by a $132 million negative impact from currency exchange rate fluctuations,” the company said in a statement. The earnings came after Icahn Enterprises Inc. offered to buy the shares of Federal-Mogul it does not already own for $7 a share in cash. Shares were halted in premarket trade, but closed at $4.98 on Friday.
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China is expected to cut 1.8 million jobs from the country’s coal and steel sectors, China’s minister for human resources and social security said in a briefing, according to a Dow Jones report. Of the total, about 1.3 million lay offs will come from the coal sector and about 500,000 from the steel sector, in an effort to reduce excess capacity in those industries as commodities prices have declined, the report said. China’s government plans to allocate the equivalent of about $15.3 billion over two years for severance packages, the report said.
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