Chevron swings to unexpected loss as sales tumble

Chevron Corp. said Friday it swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $588 million, or 31 cents a share, battered by the low price of oil. The company had earnings of $3.5 billion, or $1.85 a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue came to $28 billion, down from $42 billion a year ago. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 45 cents and revenue of $27.7 billion. “Our 2015 earnings were down significantly from the previous year, reflecting a nearly 50 percent year-on-year decline in crude oil prices, ” Chief Executive John Watson said in a statement. The company is taking steps to improve earnings, cutting costs and selling assets. “I expect similarly large reductions again in 2016,” said Watson. “In addition, asset sales proceeds were $6 billion in 2015, with additional sales planned for 2016 and 2017.” Shares fell 1.4% in premarket trade, and are down 17% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has fallen 6.3%.

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MasterCard fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations, revenue misses

MasterCard Inc. said net income increased for the fourth quarter 2015 to $890 million, or 79 cents per share, from $801 million, or 69 cents per share, for the same period last year. The FactSet consensus was 69 cents per share. Revenue increased 4% to $2.5 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $2.6 billion. MasterCard said revenue growth was driven by a 12% increase in gross dollar volume, on a local currency basis, to $1.2 trillion, a 12% increase in processed transactions to $13 billion, and a 12% increase in cross-border volume. MasterCard shares are up 0.7% in premarket trading, but up 2.5% for the past 12 months. The S&P is down 6.3% for the past year.

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Gilead says Milligan will replace current CEO John Martin, who will become exec chairman

Gilead Sciences Inc.’s said Friday in pre-market trade that chairman and 20-year chief executive officer John Martin will become the company’s executive chairman, effective March 10. He will be replaced by president and chief operating officer John Milligan, who will become CEO and join the company’s board of directors. The biopharmaceutical company’s stock was down 2.5% in light pre-market trade.

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AbbVie beats fourth-quarter profit expectations

AbbVie shares fell 4% in pre-market trade Friday. AbbVie reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.52 billion, or 92 cents per share, compared to a loss of $810 million, or a loss of 51 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Abbvie reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, above the FactSet consensus of $1.12. The company reported net revenue of $6.40 billion and adjusted revenue of $6.36 billion, up from $5.45 billion in the year-earlier period. The FactSet consensus was $6.38 billion. The company confirmed its 2016 guidance of adjusted EPS of $4.90 to $5.10.

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Colgate-Palmolive swings to a loss on Venezuelan-related charges

Colgate-Palmolive Company said Friday it had a fourth quarter loss of $458 million, or 51 cents a share, after earnings of $628 million, or 68 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding charges, the company had EPS of 73 cents a share, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 72 cents per share. Sales fell 7.5% to $3.9 billion, matching the FactSet consensus. The company said it took a $1.1 billion charge relating to a change in accounting for its Venezuela operations. The company said it expects full-year EPS to decline in the low single digits, including a 10 cents hit from the Venezuela accounting change. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 5.8% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has lost 6.3%.

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Amazon’s stock heads for record price drop, by a wide margin

Amazon.com Inc.’s stock is on course to suffer on Friday the biggest-ever one-day price drop since the online retailing giant went public in May 1997. The stock’s premarket plunge–down $58.35, or 9.2%–follows disappointing fourth-quarter results out late Wednesday. Until Friday, the biggest price drop was the $44.32 tumble (11%) it suffered on Jan. 31, 2014, according to FactSet data, while the next-biggest was the $38.90 (5.8%) slide on Jan. 4, 2016. The biggest percentage selloff was 25% ($3.97) on July 24, 2001. Through Wednesday, Amazon shares had gained 1.4% over the past three months while the S&P 500 had lost 9.4%.

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Men’s Wearhouse to launch new holding company, Tailored Brands Inc.

Men’s Wearhouse Inc. said it will launch a new publicly- trading holding company starting Jan. 31, Tailored Brands Inc. Men’s Wearhouse shareholders will become shareholders of Tailored Brands on a one-for-one basis. The holding company will replace Men’s Wearhouse as the publicly-held company starting Feb. 1, trading under the symbol “TLRD.” Company directors and executive officers won’t change. Fourth-quarter earnings will be announced on Feb. 16. Men’s Wearhouse shares are inactive in premarket trading, but down 72.2% for the last 12 months. The S&P is down 6.3% for the past year.

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Whirlpool earnings beat expectations, but sales fall short

Whirlpool Corp. on Friday posted quarterly adjusted earnings that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, but sales fell short of its mark. The appliance maker’s fourth-quarter net earnings were $180 million, or $2.28 a share, more than doubling from $81 million, or $1.02 a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings came in at $4.10 a share. Sales were $5.56 billion, compared with $6 billion in the year-earlier period. Analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of $3.91 a share, on sales of $5.71 billion. Sales excluding the impact of currency increased 4%, Whirlpool said. The company expects full-year 2016 per-share earnings of $11.25 to $12, and adjusted earnings of $14 to $14.75 a share. Shares were inactive premarket.

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U.S. stock futures rise after Bank of Japan adopts negative rate

U.S. stock futures pointed early Friday to sizable gains at the open, joining in a global rally after the Bank of Japan said it would adopt a negative interest rate policy for the first time. S&P 500 futures traded higher by 19.55, or 1%, to 1,900.25, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped by 160 points, or 1%, to 16,132. Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 38.25 points, or 0.9%, to 4,192.

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