Tag: stock market

Earvin “Magic” Johnson has left the board of payment processing company Square Inc. and is being replaced by Lord Paul Deighton, who was most recently the United Kingdom’s commercial secretary to the Treasury, Square said Friday. “Unfortunately, due to new projects that will require significant time commitments, I regretfully have to resign,” Johnson, a former professional basketball player, said in the press release. Square’s board of directors includes the company’s co-founders Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, venture capitalist Roelof Botha, venture capitalist Mary Meeker, Ruth Simmons, former president of Brown University, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and David Viniar, a former Goldman Sachs executive.

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Earvin “Magic” Johnson has left the board of payment processing company Square Inc. and is being replaced by Lord Paul Deighton, who was most recently the United Kingdom’s commercial secretary to the Treasury, Square said Friday. “Unfortunately, due to new projects that will require significant time commitments, I regretfully have to resign,” Johnson, a former professional basketball player, said in the press release. Square’s board of directors includes the company’s co-founders Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, venture capitalist Roelof Botha, venture capitalist Mary Meeker, Ruth Simmons, former president of Brown University, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and David Viniar, a former Goldman Sachs executive.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Lyondell Basel Industries N.V. announced Friday a new program to buy back up to 10% of its shares over the next 18 months. Based on Thursday’s closing price of $81.25, and with about 426.7 million shares outstanding according to FactSet, the new program could be valued at $3.47 billion. The plastics and chemicals giant also raised its quarterly dividend by 9% to 85 cents a share, to be payable June 7 to shareholders of record on May 24. Based on Thursday’s closing price, the new dividend implies an annual dividend yield of 4.18%, compared with the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.19%, according to FactSet. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has dropped 6.5% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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J.C. Penney Co. Inc. shares slid 12% in premarket trade Friday, after the company missed quarterly sales estimates as same-store sales fell way below expectations. The retailer said it had a net loss of $68 million, or 22 cents a share, in the first quarter, narrower than the loss of $150 million, or 49 cents a share, posted in the year-earlier period. Sales edged down to $2.81 billion from $2.86 billion. The FactSet consensus was for a loss per share of 38 cents and sales of $2.92 billion. Same-store sales fell 0.4%, well below the FactSet consensus for a gain of 3.2%. “While our first quarter sales were below our
expectations, we are maintaining our annual comp guidance of 3% to 4%
as a result of the positive nature of our recent sales trends, the
strength of our Sephora business and our decision to accelerate our
appliance rollout,” Chief Executive Marvin Ellison said in a statement. But the company lowered its full-year margin outlook due to the rollout of appliances and rapid growth of its online business. Shares are up 17% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 1%.

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Insurer XL Group Plc said Friday its board has approved a share buyback program of up to $1 billion. The company said an early program that had $204.1 million remaining has been cancelled. The company said it will pay a quarterly dividend of 20 cents a share on June 30 to shareholders of record as of June 15. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 13% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 1%.

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Tiffany & Co.’s chief financial officer, Ralph Nicoletti, plans to resign effective May 20, the high-end jewelry retailer disclosed in a regulatory filing. Nicoletti became Tiffany’s CFO April 2, 2014. The company said it will conduct a search for a successor. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, had tumbled 13% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.

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Apple Inc. will reportedly invest $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing. Reuters reported Thursday night that the tech giant hopes the venture will help it better understand the Chinese market. While China is Apple’s second-largest market, its signature iPhones have failed to take off there as well as hoped. Didi Chuxing is a rival of Uber Technologies Inc., and dominates the Chinese ride-hailing market. Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that he hopes the two companies will collaborate in future opportunities. Didi Chuxing told Reuters that Apple’s $1 billion stake was the biggest single investment it’s ever had.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Symantec Corp. late Thursday said it was cutting 10% of its workforce in an effort to restructure the company. The computer security company said it plans to shed 1,200 jobs and close certain facilities at a cost of $230 million to $280 million. As a result, Symantec said it expects to reduce expenses by an estimated $400 million a year. Earlier Thursday, Symantec reported first-quarter results in-line with its recent profit warning and released an outlook for the year. Symantec shares declined 0.7% to $16.79 after hours.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Acacia Communications Inc. priced its initial public offering at the high end of the estimated range late Thursday. Acacia said it will price 4.5 million shares at $23 a piece to raise $103.5 million. An additional 675,000 shares will be available to cover overallotments. The optical-networking products maker was estimated to price its IPO in the $21 to $23 a share range. Shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker “ACIA” on Friday.

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Conformis Inc. shares plummeted in the extended session Thursday after the medical maker of custom-fit joint replacements cut its outlook and said its board is looking for a new chief executive. Conformis shares dropped 36% to $6.47 after hours. The company now sees full-year revenue of $76 million to $81 million, down from its previous forecast of $84 million to $87 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated revenue of $85.7 million. For the fiscal second-quarter, Conformis reported a loss of 37 cents a share on revenue of $20.3 million. Analysts had expected a loss of 36 cents a share on revenue of $20.2 million. The company said that Philipp Lang will remain on as CEO until the board has chosen a successor through an executive search.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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