Hertz’s stock tumbles after warning of disappointing earnings, car rental revenue

Shares of Hertz Global Holdings Inc. tumbled 6.2% in premarket trade Monday, after the car rental company warned that first-quarter U.S. car rental revenue and adjusted earnings per share would be below previous expectations. U.S. rental car revenue per available car day (RACD) is expected to decline in the range of 2.5% to 3.5% from a year ago, while transaction days are expected to increase in the “low single-digit” range. For the 2016, Hertz now expects total car rental revenue to be flat to down 1.5%, compared with previous guidance of an increase of 1.5% to 2.5%. “We are disappointed that the pricing pressure experienced late in 2015 further intensified in the first quarter of 2016,” said Chief Executive John Tague. The stock has plunged 32% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.2%.

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Restaurant Brands International upgraded to outperform on cost cutting opportunities

Restaurant Brands International Inc. was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital Markets on an upbeat outlook for Burger King and fresh opportunities for cost cuts at the Tim Horton chain. The price target was raised to $48 from $38. RBC analysts believe Burger King has sales momentum that has carried it through the first quarter, and raised the fast-food chain’s first quarter same-store sales growth estimate to 4% from 2%. “We believe Burger King has weathered the storm of competitive discounting with its own value platforms,” analysts wrote in a note published Monday. “We believe hot dogs also contributed to first quarter growth. Lastly, we believe the company will continue to find efficiences in the Tim Horton’s supply chain–a key source of earnings per share upside versus the street in the second half of 2015.” Restaurant Brands shares are inactive in premarket trading, but down 4.4% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 0.2% for the year to date.

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Golden State Warriors tie NBA record with 72nd win of season

The Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, 92-86, tying the NBA record held by the 1995-’96 Chicago Bulls for most wins in a season, with 72. Stephen Curry poured in a game-high 37 points for the Warriors. The Warriors (72-9) will get a chance to break the record Wednesday in their final regular-season game, when they face the Memphis Grizzlies at home. With Sunday’s win, the Warriors also dealt the Spurs their first home loss of the season, denying them a chance at setting an NBA record of their own.

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Willett wins Masters after Speith’s epic collapse

Danny Willett won The Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., on Sunday, following an epic collapse by defending champ Jordan Speith. Willett, 28, finished 5-under par, becoming only the second English player to win the 80-year-old tournament. Speith held what looked to be an insurmountable 5-stroke lead going into the back nine, but dropped six shots over three holes, including a shocking quadruple-bogey.

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Belgium charges four men over terror attacks

Four men have been charged with terrorism offences by Belgian prosecutors in connection with the bombings in Brussels last month, media reports said Saturday. The four are among the six arrested on Friday and include key suspect Mohamed Abrini, who was on Europe’s most-wanted terror suspect list after the Paris shootings that left 130 dead. Belgian authorities are working to determine whether Abrini was the “man in the hat” attacker caught on CCTV at Brussels airport before the explosions on March 22, two officials told The Wall Street Journal. The death toll from the Brussels attacks stands at 32. The other detainees charged on Saturday were named as Osama K., Herve B.N., and Bilal E.M., while the other two arrested Friday have been released, the BBC reported.

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SAP U.S. shares slip following outlook

SAP SE shares declined in the extended session Friday after the German software giant forecast earnings for the quarter that fell shy of Wall Street estimates. SAP U.S. shares slipped 1.7% to $75.44 after hours. The company said it expects adjusted first-quarter earnings of 64 eurocents a share on revenue of 4.73 billion euros. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimate earnings of 68 eurocents a share on revenue of 4.71 billion euros. SAP reiterated its guidance for the year. Analysts expect 3.95 euros a share on revenue of 21.51 billion euros.

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Viamet Pharmaceuticals files for $100 million IPO

Viamet Pharmaceuticals has filed an initial public offering for up to $100 million worth of shares. The North Carolina-based drug maker has researched and developed antifungal drugs. “We have applied our technology to design antifungal compounds that we believe are highly differentiated from, and will address the shortcomings of, currently available antifungal agents,” the company said in a filing Friday. Viamet warned, however, that it has “limited operating history” and has incurred “significant” losses since its start, including a deficit of $86 million as of December. It anticipates it will “continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future,” it said in the filing. The company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol VMET.

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Procter & Gamble raises dividend by 1%

The Procter & Gamble Co. said late Friday its board of directors declared a dividend of 66.95 cents a share payable on May 16 to shareholders of record April 18, a 1% increase compared with the prior quarterly dividend. The maker of consumer products such as laundry detergent Tide and Crest toothpaste said the increase reflects savings from streamlining its portfolio. The annualized dividend yield on P&G’s common stock hovers around 3.2%, the company said. Shares of P&G were flat in after-hours trading after ending the regular trading session down 0.1%.

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Stocks finish slightly higher as consumer stocks dent energy gains

U.S. stocks finished Friday’s session slightly higher as a slump in the consumer-discretionary sector shaved energy gains resulting from a rally in oil. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 35.00 points, or 0.2%, at 17,576.96, after being up 153 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 Index gained 4.77 points, or 0.2%, to close at 2,046.68. Just before the closing bell, the Nasdaq Composite Index swung to a slight gain of 2.32 points to close at 4,850.69.

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Oil futures end sharply higher on falling U.S. output signs

Oil futures jumped sharply Friday to end the week with strong gains on signs a decline in U.S. output is gathering steam. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May delivery rose $2.46, or 6.6%, to end at $39.72 a barrel, booking a weekly rise of 8%. Crude maintained Friday gains after data showed the number of U.S. oil rigs continued to decline. Data earlier this week showed an unexpected drop in crude oil inventories and a further rise in U.S. refinery capacity utilization.

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