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Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. slid almost 3% premarket Friday, extending their late-session losses from Thursday after posting earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter. J.P. Morgan analysts said the report provided fodder for bulls and bears, “with progress on the e-commerce front but pricing, membership growth, and tough compares ahead all remaining battleground issues. ” The bear case rests on uncertain membership growth and heightened competition in the wake of Amazon.com Inc.’s takeover of Whole Foods. “Management tackled the membership growth concern head-on noting that excluding cannibalization from new openings, the average number of members in remaining locations grew by ~4% in 2017,” said the note. “However, bears will point to ‘comp’ membership income growth decelerating again this quarter after stripping out the 53rd week, fee hike, square footage growth, FX translation impact, and the living social deal.” Where the company did make progress was on e-commerce, unveiling two new delivery options and an early effort to leverage customer knowledge from its customer base, said the note. Shares have gained 4.4% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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Shares of streaming giant Netflix Inc. were slightly higher Friday, after Wedbush raised its price target on the stock to $88 from $82, but reiterated an underperform rating, saying it still expects the company to burn cash to fund content acquisition. Netflix has said it plans to spend $7 billion on content in 2018, after spending $6 billion this year. On Thursday, the company announced it would raise monthly subscription prices for standard and premium plans in the U.S. starting next month. “International profits may remain elusive due to competition for content and subs, and the price increase is likely to cause a
deceleration in domestic growth,” analysts led by Michael Pachter wrote in a note. “Negative free cash flow makes discounted cash flow valuation impossible.” Wedbush raised its revenue estimates to reflect the price change, and said it expects top-line growth to be absorbed by higher cost of revenue. Shares have gained 57% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Norwegian committee that chooses the winner said Friday. The prize recognizes ICAN’s efforts in drawing attention to the “catastrophic human consequences” of the use of nuclear weapons and its work with governments and the United Nations to encourage treaties to ban them, the Nobel committee said in a statement. “We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time. Some states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and there is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by North Korea,” they said.

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An earthquake measuring at least 6.0 magnitude has struck off the east coast of Japan, according to an U.S. Geological Survey alert sent out early Friday. The tremors were detected off the coast of Honshu at 7:59 a.m. UTC, or 4:59 p.m. local time, it said.

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Data-center operator Switch Inc. priced its initial public offering higher than expected Thursday evening to pull in more than half a billion dollars. The Las Vegas-based data-center company, which owns three large data centers and is developing a fourth, announced that it would sell 31.25 million shares at $17 apiece, after previously stating a target range of $14 to $16. At that price, Switch stands to collect at least $531.25 million at a valuation of about $4.2 billion; underwriters have access to another 4.7 million shares, which could push the take even higher. The company has said it will use the proceeds to buy out investors in Switch Ltd. and take control of that company though Switch Inc., which was just incorporated in 2017. A multi-class share structure will allow founder and Chief Executive Rob Roy to maintain control, as his shares will have 10 times the voting rights of common shares. Switch is expected to begin trading Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SWCH.

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White House chief of staff John Kelly’s personal phone was believed to be compromised by hackers for months before being discovered, according to a Politico report late Thursday. White House tech support staff discovered the breach this summer, after Kelly complained his phone wasn’t working properly, Politico said. The breach may have occurred as long ago as December, and potentially exposed data on his phone from not just the White House, but the Department of Homeland Security, where he was formerly secretary. Kelly became President Donald Trump’s chief of staff in July. White House officials told Politico that Kelly had not used the phone much since joining the administration, relying mostly on a government-issued phone instead. In a separate report Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russian hackers stole highly classified National Security Agency secrets in 2015 by using Kaspersky antivirus software to target an NSA contractor who had sensitive information on his home computer.

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Synchronoss Technologies Inc. has resumed talks with Siris Capital Partners to sell itself, because Siris raised its offer and agreed to a period of limited exclusivity to make a buyout, Synchronoss said Thursday. Synchronoss stock shot up nearly 20% after hours. The company has been in talks with Siris, its largest shareholder, for several weeks over the possibility of an all-cash buyout, but the discussions fell apart in September after the private equity firm terminated its interest. Siris owns about 6 million shares of the mobile cloud solutions company, or 13% of outstanding stock. Synchronoss noted in a statement that the talks did not mean a sale was certain or imminent. Synchronoss stock is down 72% this year, with the S&P 500 index climbing 13.4%.

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Oil and natural-gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuating platforms and rigs ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, prompting the shut-in of 14.6%, or 254,607 barrels of oil a day, in Gulf oil production, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said late Thursday. Nate is expected to become a hurricane Saturday and pass through the center of the Gulf, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is forecast to make landfall on the Louisiana coast Sunday morning. The BSEE said 6.4%, or 206.71 million cubic feet a day, of natural-gas production has been shut in.

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