LinkedIn shares rally 15% after earnings, outlook top Street view

LinkedIn Corp. shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the social network’s earnings and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. LinkedIn shares surged 15% to $142 after hours. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 74 cents on revenue of $860.7 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 60 cents a share on revenue of $827.8 million. For the second quarter, LinkedIn forecast adjusted earnings of 74 cents to 77 cents a share on revenue of $885 million to $890 million. Analysts had estimated earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $885.9 million.

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Amazon blows away quarterly expectations, shares rocket 11%

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. skyrocketed 11% in after-hours trade Thursday, following the company’s much stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The company swung to a profit in the quarter, with net income coming in at $513 million, or $1.07 a share, after a loss of $57 million, or 12 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue climbed 28% year-over-year. Analysts on average were calling for earnings of 58 cents on sales of $28 billion, according to FactSet. The company forecast sales for the current quarter between $28 billion and $30.5 billion, compared with the consensus estimate of $28.3 billion. In a statement, CEO Jeff Bezos attributed the quarter’s gains to hardware, with Amazon selling twice as many Fire tablets than in the same quarter last year. However, the company does not breakout revenue from hardware specifically. Sales of Amazon Web Services grew to $2.57 billion during the quarter from $1.56 billion last year.

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Apple’s stock to suffer longest losing streak in over 3 years

Apple Inc.’s stock slumped 3.1% late in Thursday’s regular session, putting it on track for a sixth-straight decline. That would be the longest such stretch since the seven-session losing streak ending Feb. 21, 2013. The 10th-time is the charm for Apple bears, as the stock has suffered nine five-session losing streaks since the last streak of at least six sessions. The stock has dropped $12.31, or 11%, during the current loss streak, to shave off about 84 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Carl Icahn dumps entire stake in Apple, citing China

Shares of Apple Inc. fell 2% on Thursday afternoon after activist investor Carl Icahn said he sold his stake in the company following the iPhone maker’s dismal second quarter. In an on-air interview with CNBC, Icahn, whose investment firm owned 45.8 million shares of Apple as of Dec. 31, according to FactSet, spoke about concerns he had regarding Apple’s growth, including sales in China, which plummeted 26% during the quarter.

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Gold, silver futures rally for a fourth straight session

Gold and silver futures rallied on Thursday, with gold settling at its highest level in seven weeks and silver again finishing at its best level since May. Decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan to stand pat on interest rates put pressure on the dollar, providing support for the dollar-denominated precious metals. June gold added $16, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,266.40 an ounce and July silver settled at $17.588 an ounce, up 25.3 cents, or 1.5%.

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Facebook is now the 6th most valuable S&P 500 component

Facebook Inc. is now the sixth most valuable company by market capitalization in the S&P 500, moving up one notch in the wake of blowout first-quarter results. The stock soared $10.47, or 9.6%, in morning trade Thursday, to boost Facebook’s market cap by $29.07 billion to $339.81 billion. That takes it above Johnson & Johnson ; the consumer product giant’s stock is shedding 0.5% Thursday, to knock the market cap down to $309.60 billion from $311.06 billion on Wednesday. The next hurdle for Facebook is Berkshire Hathaway Inc. , with a market cap of about $362.50 billion. Above that is Exxon Mobil Corp. , Microsoft Corp. , Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. .

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Johnson & Johnson raises quarterly dividend to 80 cents vs. 75 cents

Consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson said Thursday it is raising its quarterly dividend to 80 cents from 75 cents. The new payment will be made June 7 to shareholders of record as of close of business May 24. Shares were down 0.4% in early trade, but are up 9% in the year so far, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average , which is up about 3%.

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EIA reports 73 billion-cubic-foot rise in natural-gas supplies

Natural-gas futures continued to decline on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 73 billion cubic feet for the week ended April 22. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of 70 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 2.557 trillion cubic feet, up 870 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 832 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. June natural gas fell 7 cents, or 3.3%, to $2.083 per million British thermal units. Prices traded at $2.096 before the report.

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Global Water Resources stock pops in trading debut

Shares of Global Water Resources , a water resources company, opened at $8.13 Thursday, above the issue price of $6.25. The company sold 1,164,800 shares late Wednesday to raise about $7.3 million. It had previously set a price range of $5.25 to $6.25 a share and had planned to sell 1 million shares. Roth Capital Partners is the sole underwriter of the offering. Shares were trending down shortly after the opening to hover around $6.70.

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U.S. stocks open lower after BOJ surprises, GDP disappoints

U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking declines in European and Asia shares, after the Bank of Japan rattled investors by offering no additional stimulus measures. The S&P 500 shed 3 points, or 0.2%, to 2,091. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 44 points, or 0.2%, to 17,993. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 3 points, or 0.1%, to 4,853. A slightly weaker-than-expected report on U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product also weighed on shares.

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