Tag: stock market

Vascular Solutions Inc. announced Friday a deal to be acquired by Teleflex Inc. in a deal valued at $1 billion. Under terms of the deal, Teleflex will pay $56 in cash for each Vascular share outstanding, a 1.6% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $55.10, which matched Wednesday’s record close. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the first half of 2017, will be funded through the proceeds from one or more debt financings. Vascular’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has run up 60% year to date, while Teleflex shares have rallied 11% and the S&P 500 has gained 7.2%.

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Twitter Inc. announced a new head of product Thursday after acquiring the executive’s social-networking-app startup for an undisclosed amount. Keith Coleman, who was director of product management for Google Inc. for a decade before leaving in 2014, was named the permanent replacement for Kevin Weil as vice president of product at Twitter. Weil left in a January exodus of top Twitter executives, and was the fifth person to lead the product team at Twitter in six years, according to Bloomberg News. Coleman founded Yes Inc. after leaving Google, now known as Alphabet Inc., in 2014; Twitter acquired Yes and its team, according to a post on the Yes site.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that Pimco would pay $20 million to settle charges that it misled investors about the performance of the Pimco Total Return Active ETF . The SEC said that for the first four months that the exchange-traded fund traded, it outperformed its flagship mutual fund through an “odd lot” strategy, where the company bought smaller-sized bonds to boost performance. This strategy resulted in the ETF overvaluing its portfolio, while the SEC also said that Pimco didn’t disclose this practice as unsustainable as the fund grew in size. “PIMCO misled investors about the true long-term impact of its odd lot strategy and denied them the opportunity to make fully informed investment decisions about the Total Return ETF,” Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said in a statement. Under terms of the settlement, Pimco agreed to censure under the SEC’s order without admitting to or denying the findings.

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Gap Inc. shares fell 1% in late Thursday trading after the retail company reported a decline in revenue and same-store sales for the month of November. Gap said sales for the four weeks ending Nov. 28 totaled $1.53 billion, down from $1.57 billion last year. Same-store sales for the month fell 1%. Gap said an August fire in its Fishkill, NY distribution center hurt November’s results most, with same-store sales negatively impacted by three percentage points. Analysts say not all of the impacts from the fire have been negative. Same-store sales for the namesake Gap brand fell 3%, and same-store sales at Old Navy fell 2%. Banana Republic, which has been plagued by declining same-store sales results, reported a same-store sales increase of 5% for the month. Gap shares are up 1.4% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up 7.2% for the same period.

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Shares of Five Below Inc. jumped more than 9% late Thursday after the discount retailer reported fiscal third-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations and sales slightly under forecast. Five Below said sales rose by 18% to $199.5 million in the quarter, from the $169.7 million in year-ago period. It earned $5.4 million, or 10 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $4.3 million, or 8 cents a share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 9 cents a share on sales of $201 million. Shares had ended the regular trading day up 1.3%.

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Shares of Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. fell more than 6% late Thursday after the gun maker reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales above Wall Street expectations. Smith & Wesson said it earned $32.5 million, or 57 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $14.2 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, the gun maker reported a net income of $39.1 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with $14.2 million, or 25 cents a share, a year ago. Net sales reached $233.5 million, from $143.2 million a year ago, Smith & Wesson said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 57 cents a share on sales of $228 million. The company tweaked higher its sales expectations to a range of $230 million and $240 million for the three months to end Jan. 31; in September, the company had predicted sales in a range of $220 million to $230 million for the quarter. The shares ended the regular trading day up 2.8%.

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Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the cosmetics retailer topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter and raised its outlook. Ulta shares surged 4.7% to $269.50 after hours. The company reported third-quarter earnings of $1.40 a share on revenue of $1.13 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast $1.37 a share on revenue of $1.11 billion. For the fourth-quarter, Ulta said it expects earnings of $2.08 to $2.13 a share on revenue of $1.52 billion to $1.54 billion. Analysts estimate $2.05 a share on revenue of $1.51 billion.

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Shares of Darden Restaurants Inc. , which owns the Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse restaurant chains, surged 3.3% toward a record close Thursday, after Guggenheim Securities turned bullish, citing expectations of growing consumers will start favoring casual dining over fast-food restaurants. Analyst Matthew DiFrisco upgraded Darden to buy from neutral. “Our bias is to increase exposure to the more discretionary casual dining segment, as opposed to the more staple in nature quick service, given the outlook for consumer stimulus and already improving consumer confidence,” DiFrisco wrote in a note to clients. As a result, he also downgraded both McDonald’s Corp. and Wendy’s Co. to neutral from buy. Darden’s stock has run up 19% year to date, while McDonald’s shares were little changed, Wendy’s stock has rallied 17% and the S&P 500 has gained 7.1%.

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Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday that it has amended its by-laws to require the separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive officer. The bank will also require the chairman and vice chairman of the board to be independent directors. The changes were effective Nov. 29. Currently, Stephen Sanger is Wells Fargo’s chairman of the board, while Tim Sloan is CEO. That compares with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , in which Jamie Dimon is both chairman and CEO. Wells Fargo’s move follows a sales practices scandal that led to the resignation of former CEO John Stumpf. “The Board previously acted to elect an independent Chairman to lead the Board and we believe formalizing this structure is the right decision at this time for the Company and its investors, customers, and team members,” Sanger said. “Efforts to restore the trust of our customers and team members are well underway and will continue until we have fully addressed the issues surrounding retail banking sales practices.” The stock, which climbed 2.4% in afternoon trade, has lost 0.2% year to date, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has run up 18% and the S&P 500 has gained 7.2%.

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Oil futures rallied Thursday to settle at their highest level in about six weeks as prices extended their gains into a second straight session on the heels of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ deal to ease back output. January West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.62, or 3.3%, to settle at $51.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, which gained 9.3% Wednesday, logged their highest settlement since Oct. 19, according to FactSet data.

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