Tag: stock market

Whole Foods Market Inc. shares jumped 3.7% in after hours trading Wednesday after third-quarter earnings beat expectations. The healthy food grocer said it had net income of $142 million, or 44 cents per share, down from $158 million, or 44 cents per share, for the same period last year. The FactSet consensus was 41 cents per share. Sales totaled $3.70 billion for the quarter, up slightly from $3.65 billion last year. The FactSet consensus was $3.74 billion. Same-store sales decreased 3%, exceeding the FactSet consensus of a 2% decline. The company now expects to be at or below its previous earnings per share and sales guidance for fiscal 2016. Whole Foods sees earnings per share up to $1.53, below the FactSet consensus of $1.55. And the company forecasts a 3% increase in sales, with previous guidance of $15.85 billion on the low end. The FactSet consensus is $15.95 billion. Whole Foods shares are down 14.9% for the year so far while the S&P 500 is up 0.4% for the same period.

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MetLife Inc. shares slumped 2% in after-hours trading Wednesday, after the insurance company missed profit and revenue estimates for its first quarter. The company said it had net income of $2.2 billion, or $1.98 a share, in the quarter, compared with $2.1 billion, or $1.87 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings, which exclude derivative gains, came to $1.20 a share, below the FactSet consensus of $1.38. Revenue fell to $16.6 billion from $17.0 billion, also below the FactSet consensus of $17.1 billion. “While market headwinds remain, we experienced volume growth and underwriting results were solid,” Chief Executive Steven A. Kandarian said in a statement. “We continue to make good progress on our initiatives to maximize shareholder value, including expense control and the planned separation of a substantial portion of the U.S. retail business.” Shares are down about 9% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.5%.

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TripAdvisor Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Wednesday after the travel-booking website fell short of Wall Street estimates for the first quarter. TripAdvisor shares fell 6.9% to $58.75 after hours. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 32 cents a share on revenue of $352 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 46 cents a share on revenue of $370.6 million.

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Crude-oil futures eked out a modest gain Wednesday after trading in negative territory for much of the day as investors wrestled with a higher-than-expected build in inventories. West Texas Intermediate oil for June delivery , settled, 13 cents, or 0.3%, higher at $43.78 a barrel. The advance for crude came during an up-and-down session, which had been supported earlier by wildfires in oil-rich Alberta, Canada. The fires, which emerged late Tuesday, were forcing reductions in crude production in that region, which is supportive for oil prices.

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Gold futures extended losses to settle lower Wednesday as a rebound in the U.S. dollar pressured the precious metal. The greenback had earlier slid on weak employment data but has recovered to edge higher. The private sector added 156,000 jobs in April, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc., missing the 193,000 projected by economists. A stronger buck works against metals denominated in the dollar as it makes them more expensive. June gold fell $17.40, or 1.4% to settle at 1,274.40.

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Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk vowed to keep the company on track on Wednesday following news Vice President of Production Greg Reichow is taking a leave of absence. “Greg and the team deserve a lot of credit for building an all-new manufacturing organization from the ground up and for making Model S and Model X a reality. We’re confident that with the strength of the team, high-quality manufacturing at Tesla will continue,” Musk said in a statement. Reichow has been with Tesla for more than five years and has led the production team for the past three years. Earlier Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Josh Ensign, vice president of manufacturing, would also leave. Tesla shares added to losses after the news. The company is expected to report first-quarter results after the bell, with many expecting wider losses for the electric-car maker.

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Tesla Motors Inc. shares added to losses Wednesday following news reports saying that at least one executive is leaving the company. Greg Reichow, Tesla’s vice president of production, will take a leave of absence, CNBC reported, citing a Tesla spokesperson. The VP of manufacturing, Josh Ensign, is also slated to depart, according to a Bloomberg report. Also on Wednesday, investor Jim Chanos said he was short on the company stock and also on solar installer SolarCity Corp. , where Tesla’s Chief Executive Elon Musk is the chairman. Shares of Tesla were off 4%, bringing weekly losses so far to more than 7%, and SolarCity shares were down 2.5%. Tesla is slated to report first-quarter results after the bell Wednesday, and some on Wall Street predicted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss for the Silicon Valley electric-car maker.

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American Apparel, which is fashioning a turnaround after a lengthy legal battle with former Chief Executive and founder Dov Charney, is launching a new accessories and small home goods line derived from ideas crowdsourced by the public. The Made In campaign is a call for ideas and proposals for goods including fragrances, footwear and jewelry that American Apparel will sell. Vendors must ensure that their products are made in the U.S., that they can deliver 500 units to American Apparel’s distribution center within 30 days, and must agree to sell the goods for $100 or less. Interested parties must submit a 90-second video by June 17. American Apparel will determine interest by June 30.

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Republican presidential candidate John Kasich will end his White House campaign Wednesday afternoon, NBC News reported. Kasich had vowed to stay in the race Tuesday night following Donald Trump’s victory in Indiana. But Trump is on track to clinch the Republican nomination and Kasich has won few delegates.

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U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as investors grappled with a number of mixed economic reports that suggested the economy continues to grow at a slow pace. The S&P 500 was down 9 points, or 0.4%, to 2,054. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 74 points, or 0.4%, to 17,671 at the open. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the session down 24 points, or 0.5%, at 4,738.

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