Tag: stock market

Shares of SodaStream International rose 1.8% in premarket trade Thursday, after the beverage company beat fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. Net income for the quarter hit $2.83 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a loss of $8.19 million, or 39 cents per share during the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter were 24 cents, well above the FactSet consensus of 17 cents. SodaStream reported revenue fell to $112.9 million in the quarter, compared with $126.5 million last year. Revenue was better than expected, the FactSet consensus was $110 million. The company said the decrease in revenue from the previous year was mostly due to weakened foreign currencies, relative to the U.S. dollar. The company is also in transition from soda to a healthy water brand. Chief Executive Daniel Birnbaum said while they’ve begun to see benefits, there is still plenty of work to do to sustain profitable growth.

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Iraq followed in Iran’s footsteps on Thursday and avoided committing to freezing oil production, but said talks between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are still ongoing, The Wall Street Journal reported. Investors have been waiting to hear whether the two nations could agree to capping output at January levels after Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela earlier this week decided to freeze their oil output. However, the deal was contingent on whether Iran and Iraq would follow. Iran on Wednesday expressed support for a plan to freeze production, but stopped short of committing to it itself. Iraq’s oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Thursday his country is supportive of any deal to boost oil prices, but didn’t specify whether Iraq would curb its own output. “The deterioration of the oil prices has directly impacted the global economy and the historical responsibly of the producers requires great speed in finding positive solutions that will help prices return to the normal [levels],” Mahdi said in a statement, according to the Journal.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s stock slumped 4.2% in premarket trade Thursday, after the discount retail giant missed fiscal fourth-quarter sales expectations, offsetting a profit beat and a raised dividend. Operating income for the latest quarter fell to $6.6 billion from $7.9 billion a year ago. Earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.43, while adjusted EPS came to $1.49 to beat the FactSet consensus of $1.46. Revenue fell to $129.7 billion from $131.6 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $130.5 billion. International sales were $32.7 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $33.29 billion. Same-store sales at Walmart U.S. increased 0.6% from a year ago, but missed the FactSet consensus of 0.9% growth. “We are seeing momentum in our Walmart U.S. business as we continue to lap positive comps, and our international business is healthy and growing,” said Chief Executive Doug McMillon. The company increased its annual dividend to $2 a share from $1.96 a share. The stock has gained 8.5% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 7.2%.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday it is raising its annual dividend to $2.00 a share from $1.96. The dividend will be paid in four quarterly installments of 50 cents a share. The first will be paid April 4 to shareholders of record as of March 11. Shares were trading down 4% in premarket trade, as the company also reported fourth-quarter earnings. Shares are down 23% in the last 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 8.7%.

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The American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday said U.S. crude-oil inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels in the latest week, according to news reports. The data from API, an industry trade group, is watched for clues to weekly data from the Energy Information Administration due Thursday morning. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal produced an average forecast for a 3.1 million barrel rise in oil inventories.

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Marvell Technology Group Ltd. shares rose in the extended session Wednesday after the semiconductor company said it had settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Carnegie Mellon University. Marvell shares, which had been halted after hours, rose 4.6% to $9.73. The company said it settled with Carnegie Mellon for $750 million with no ongoing royalty payments. Marvell noted the university had been awarded $1.54 billion back in 2012, and that as of Jan. 30, it had more than $2.3 billion in cash and short-term investments and $388 million in litigation reserves.

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Ingram Micro Inc. , an information-technology company based in Irvine, Calif., with a market capitalization of $4.4 billion, will be sold to China’s Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co. for $38.90 a share, the company said late Wednesday. Once the $6 billion deal is finalized, Ingram Micro will operate as a subsidiary of Tianjin Tianhai and become a part of the HNA Group but maintain its headquarters in Irvine. The company’s executive management team will also be retained with Alain Monié continuing as chief executive. Shares of Ingram Micro soared 24% in after-hours trading on the news. The purchase price is roughly 31% over the stock’s closing price of $29.65 on Wednesday.

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NetApp Inc. shares declined in the extended session Wednesday after the storage and data management company announced layoffs and forecast an earnings outlook that fell short of Wall Street estimates. NetApp shares declined 2.8% to $22.90. The company forecast adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 55 cents to 66 cents a share on revenue of $1.35 billion to $1.5 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 72 cents a share on revenue of $1.45 billion. For the fiscal third quarter, NetApp reported adjusted earnings of 70 cents a share on revenue of $1.39 billion. Analysts had forecast 68 cents a share on revenue of $1.44 billion. In a separate filing, NetApp said it will cut its workforce by 12% by the end of 2017’s fiscal first quarter.

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Nvidia Corp.’s stock shot up 8.8% in after-hours trade Wednesday, after the graphics chip company beat fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales expectations, and provided an upbeat sales outlook. For the quarter ended Jan.31, earnings came to $207 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with $193 million, or 35 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as one-time restructuring charges, adjusted earnings per share were 52 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 32 cents. Revenue climbed to $1.4 billion from $1.31 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.31 billion. For the current quarter, the company expects revenue of $1.26 billion, plus or minus 2% ($1.234 billion to $1.285 billion), compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.23 billion. “Nvidia is at the center of four exciting growth opportunities — PC gaming, VR, deep learning, and self-driving cars,” said Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang. “We are especially excited about deep learning, a breakthrough in artificial intelligence algorithms that takes advantage of our GPU’s ability to process data simultaneously.” The stock had run up 24% over the past three months through Wednesday’s close, compared with an 8.3% decline in the S&P 500.

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Marvell Technology Group Ltd. shares were halted in the extended session Wednesday just before the semiconductor company said it had settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Carnegie Mellon University. Marvell shares were halted at $9.30. The company said it settled with Carnegie Mellon for $750 million with no ongoing royalty payments. Marvell noted the university had been awarded $1.54 billion back in 2012, and that as of Jan. 30, it had more than $2.3 billion in cash and short-term investments and $388 million in litigation reserves.

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