Tag: stock market

Shares of United Natural Foods Inc. rallied more than 8% late Monday after the wholesale food retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales largely in line with forecasts. United Natural said it earned $38.3 million, or 76 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter, compared with $41.75 million, or 83 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales reached $2.13 billion, up 0.8% from $2.11 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to earn 66 cents a share on sales of $2.16 billion in the quarter. The retailer tweaked its expectations for full fiscal 2016, estimating net sales between $8.46 billion to $8.50 billion, an increase of about 3.4% to 3.8% over fiscal 2015. The company expects GAAP earnings of $2.39 a share to $2.45 a share for the year, compared with fiscal 2015 GAAP earnings of $2.76 a share. Shares ended the regular trading session up 0.6%.

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Oil futures settled higher on Monday, rebounding from last week’s loss amid ongoing supply disruptions in Canada and Nigeria. Prices had briefly pared some of their earlier gains after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, in a speech Monday, failed to rule out an interest-rate increase at the central bank’s meeting later this month. But “her acknowledgement of the poor jobs data in May and the consequences of a Brexit on U.S. monetary policy led to speculation that a rate increase could be delayed further out,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com. July WTI crude settled at $49.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.07, or 2.2%. Prices, which lost 1.4% last week, settled at their highest level since July.

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Gold futures pared back some of their earlier gains Monday as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said further gradual increases in U.S. interest rates will “probably” be appropriate. Higher interest rates can boost the dollar and weigh on dollar-denominated prices of gold. Gold for August delivery traded at $1,245.10 an ounce, up $2.20, or 0.2%, as Yellen spoke to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Prices were trading at around $1,246.30 before the speech began.

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General Mills Inc. said Monday that it will introduce Tiny Toast nationwide in June, the first new cereal launch for the company in more than 15 years. Tiny Toast features crunchy toast pieces covered in small pieces of strawberries or blueberries. The cereal is made with real fruit and other natural flavors, but contains no artificial flavors, colors from artificial sources, or high fructose corn syrup. More than 80% of General Mills’ cereals contain no artifical flavors or colors from artificial sources, the company said in a release. General Mills’ cereal brands include Cheerios, Trix, and Lucky Charms. General Mills shares are down 0.4% in Monday trading, but up 16.6% for the past year. The S&P 500 is up 0.8% for the last 12 months.

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General Mills Inc. said Monday that it will introduce Tiny Toast nationwide in June, the first new cereal launch for the company in more than 15 years. Tiny Toast features crunchy toast pieces covered in small pieces of strawberries or blueberries. The cereal is made with real fruit and other natural flavors, but contains no artificial flavors, colors from artificial sources, or high fructose corn syrup. More than 80% of General Mills’ cereals contain no artifical flavors or colors from artificial sources, the company said in a release. General Mills’ cereal brands include Cheerios, Trix, and Lucky Charms. General Mills shares are down 0.4% in Monday trading, but up 16.6% for the past year. The S&P 500 is up 0.8% for the last 12 months.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was upgraded on Monday to buy from hold at Jefferies based on channel checks that indicate the retail giant’s store improvements are yielding sales results. Jefferies raised Wal-Mart’s price target to $82 from $60. Jefferies analysts conducted channel checks and surveys to determine that the company’s staff investments, price cutting, inventory management, grocery sourcing, and other efforts will produce long-lasting results and “should lead to upside in sales and an upward earnings per share revision cycle,” Jefferies wrote in a note. The bank also believes that online grocery will improve market share and lead to e-commerce sales growth. “Our Google consumer surveys showed those customers that were aware that Walmart is about to make incremental price investments were also those that expressed a willingness to shop Walmart more in the next year, suggesting that these actions should improve traffic,” bank analysts said. Wal-Mart shares are up 0.5% in Monday trading, and 16.2% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 3% in the year to date.

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U.S. stocks opened slightly higher Monday as investors braced for a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, which could shed light on monetary policy in the wake of Friday’s dismal jobs report. The disappointing employment data was viewed as likely to prevent the Fed from delivering a rate increase this month. Meanwhile, strong gains in crude-oil futures also boosted risk appetite. The S&P 500 gained less than a point to 2,099. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 24 points, or 0.1%, to 17,831 at the open. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the session up 5 points, or 0.1%, at 4,948.

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Uber riders will have to pay if their drivers have to wait more than two minutes to pick them up, the ride-hailing company said Monday. The late fee is already in place in select U.S. cities and the company said it would be rolling out the feature to 12 more cities this month. Uber did not disclose the cost of the fee. Additionally, the company announced the expansion of a driver destinations button, which will alert drivers to pickups that are already on their designated route, and the pilot of a pause button that allows drivers to pause the app, rather than declining rider.

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Uber riders will have to pay if their drivers have to wait more than two minutes to pick them up, the ride-hailing company said Monday. The late fee is already in place in select U.S. cities and the company said it would be rolling out the feature to 12 more cities this month. Uber did not disclose the cost of the fee. Additionally, the company announced the expansion of a driver destinations button, which will alert drivers to pickups that are already on their designated route, and the pilot of a pause button that allows drivers to pause the app, rather than declining rider.

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Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said its plan to separate its car-rental and equipment-rental businesses into two public companies was formally approved by its board of directors. The rental-car business, currently named Hertz Rental Car Holding Co., will be named Hertz Global Holdings Inc., while the equipment-rental business will be called Herc Holdings Inc. The separation will be completed through a dividend distribution, in which shareholders of record on June 22 will receive one share of Hertz Rental Car Holding for each five shares they currently own. Each current share of Hertz will represent one share of Herc Holdings, but those shares will be adjusted for a 1-for-15 reverse stock split. The new Hertz Global Holdings will begin trading on July 1, 2016, under the current symbol of “HTZ” on the NYSE, while Herc Holdings will trade on the NYSE with the symbol “HRI.” Hertz’s stock, which was up 3% in premarket trade, has tumbled 29% in 2016 through Friday, while shares of rival Avis Budget Group Inc. have slumped 16% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.7%.

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