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Iran will sign an oil deal with French oil producer Total SA , according to news reports Thursday, citing Iran’s energy minister. An agreement will be completed Thursday, said Energy Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who was in Paris with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Total has maintained an office in Iran since it ceased exploration and production activities in 2010, according to Dow Jones Newswires. An already oversupplied oil market has been expecting a fresh flood of Iranian oil since international sanctions against the country were lifted earlier this month.

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Under Armour Inc.’s stock soared 12% in premarket trade Thursday, after the athletic apparel company beat fourth-quarter profit and revenue expectations and provided an upbeat sales outlook. Earnings for the latest quarter rose to $105.6 million, or 48 cents a share, from $87.7 million, or 40 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was 46 cents. Revenue increased to $1.17 billion from $895.2 million, above the FactSet consensus of $1.12 billion. For 2016, the company expects revenue of $4.95 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $4.91 billion. The stock has plunged 29% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has lost 9.9%.

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Lee Shavel, the chief financial officer of Nasdaq , is retiring effective March 31, 2016, the exchange said Thursday. He will join the board of directors of a public company, according to the press release. Ron Hassen, senior vice president and corporate controller at Nasdaq, will
serve as interim CFO and the company will be conducting a search for Shavel’s replacement. Shavel was also the executive vice president of corporate strategy and joined Nasdaq in 2011.

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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s stock surged 4.6% in premarket trade Thursday, after the China-based e-commerce giant reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectations. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, earnings more than doubled to $1.92 billion, with earnings per share increasing 114% to 76 cents. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EPS came to 99 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 89 cents. Revenue rose 32% to $5.33 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $5.11 billion, with mobile revenue from China commerce retail nearly tripling to $2.89 billion. Gross merchandise value transacted on China retail marketplaces increased 23% to the U.S. equivalent of $149 billion. Annual active buyers in China retail marketplaces rose to 407 million from 386 million. “We remain focused on our top strategic priorities, including global imports, rural expansion, increasing our footprint in first-tier Chinese cities and building a world-class cloud computing business,” said Chief Executive Daniel Zhang. The stock has tumbled 16% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has lost 9.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Time Warner Cable Inc. on Thursday reported a rise in fourth-quarter sales and posted earnings ahead of expectations. The cable company said profit for the quarter dropped to $486 million, or $1.70 a share, down from $554 million, or $1.95 a share, a year-ago. On an adjusted basis, earnings fell 11% to $1.80 a share. Revenue rose 5% to $6.07 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $1.77 a share on revenue of $6.05 billion. The company said its income was hit by higher depreciation expenses from TWC Maxx and other capital investments.

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New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has launched an antitrust probe of the National Football League and the way it sets ticket prices, media reports said on Thursday. Citing a person with knowledge of the investigation, Bloomberg said Schneiderman is probing whether the NFL’s pricing rules for resales are illegal. The attorney general noted that the reselling practices harm consumers, because the NFL Ticket Exchange, a marketplace operated by Ticketmaster, can lead buyers to think they are paying market prices. Talking to The New York Times, Schneiderman said his office “will continue to crack down on those who break our laws, prey on ordinary consumers and deny New Yorkers affordable access to the concerts and sporting events they love”. The antitrust probe comes just 10 days before the Super Bowl, where average resale tickets have topped $5,000.

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Smartphone sales growth grew moderately over the holiday quarter with the big gains not from Apple Inc. or Samsung , but from Huawei and Lenovo , according to figures from International Data Corp. Sales of smartphones rose 5.7% to 377.8 million units in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago, IDC said. Of those unit sales, Apple sold 0.4% more at 74.8 million, while Samsung sold 14% more at 85.6 million units. On the other hand, unit sales from Huawei jumped 37% to 32.4 million units, and Lenovo sales surged 43.6% to 20.2 million units, according to IDC.

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From:: Stock Market News