Tag: stock market

It would be “illogical” for Iran to freeze oil production just as sanctions against the country’s crude exports are lifted, the country’s envoy to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Wednesday, according to news reports. “Asking Iran to freeze its oil production level is illogical…when Iran was under sanctions, some countries raised their ouptut and they caused the drop in oil prices,” the envoy, Medhi Asali, was quoted as saying in the Shargh daily newspaper,according to Reuters. The remarks come as Iranian officials prepared to meet with counterparts from Iraq, Venezuela and Qatar a day after Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producer Russia agreed to freeze production if other major oil nations also agreed. Oil futures remained higher Wednesday, with March crude up 82 cents, or 2.8%, at $29.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Gannett Co. missed fourth-quarter earnings expectations Wednesday. The media company reported net income of $20.4 million, or 17 cents per share, down from $66.9 million, or 58 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Gannett reported adjusted earnings per share of 53 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 54 cents. Gannett reported revenue of $739.3 million, down from $818.9 million in the year-earlier period and below the FactSet consensus of $756 million. Shares of Gannett have fallen 10% in the past three monhts, compared to the S&P 500’s decline of 8%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gannett Co. missed fourth-quarter earnings expectations Wednesday. The media company reported net income of $20.4 million, or 17 cents per share, down from $66.9 million, or 58 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Gannett reported adjusted earnings per share of 53 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 54 cents. Gannett reported revenue of $739.3 million, down from $818.9 million in the year-earlier period and below the FactSet consensus of $756 million. Shares of Gannett have fallen 10% in the past three monhts, compared to the S&P 500’s decline of 8%.

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Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. said it had net income of $185 million, or 97 cents per share, up from $150 million, or 77 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were $1 per share, just above the FactSet consensus of 99 cents. Sales for the quarter totaled $1.55 billion, up slightly from $1.51 billion last year. The FactSet consensus was $1.53 billion. Dr. Pepper Snapple said volume in the U.S. and Canada was flat, while it grew 6% in Mexico and the Caribbean. The Dr. Pepper, 7Up, Sunkist and A&W brands declined while brands including Schweppes, Crush and Squirt grew. The company sees 2016 EPS between $4.20 and $4.30, below the FactSet consensus of $4.34. Sales are expected to rise 1%. Dr. Pepper Snapple plans to return $1 billion to shareholders in stock repurchases and dividends. The company’s shares are down 0.9% in premarket trading, but up 19.4% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 9.8% for the previous 12 months.

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Regulus Therapeutics Inc. stock surged nearly 40% in active pre-market trade Wednesday after the company reported positive results from a phase 2 study of a Hepatitis C treatment. Regulus said it will accelerate the Hepatitis C drug’s development, given what CEO and President Paul Grint called its “promising potential to shorten treatment regimens.” The company’s RG-101 drug was injected at the beginning and end of the four-week treatment regimen, with patients also taking anti-viral agents throughout the month-long period. Nearly all of the 38 patients evaluated through eight weeks of follow-up saw the Hepatitis C virus reduced to very low levels, and all the patients saw the same result through 12 weeks of follow-up. Additional results from all 79 patients in the trial should emerge late in the second quarter, the company said.

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Analog Devices Inc. reported a fiscal first-quarter profit that declined to $164.5 million, or 52 cents a share, from $178.8 million, or 57 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 56 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 54 cents. Revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 30 slipped to $769.4 million from $772 million, but was above the FactSet consensus of $761 million. For the fiscal second quarter, the semiconductor company expects adjusted EPS of 58 cents to 66 cents, compared with the FactSet consensus of 65 cents. Revenue is expected to decline 2% or increase 4% from the first quarter, while the FactSet consensus of $801 million implies a 4.1% sequential increase. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 5% to 42 cents a share, to be payable March 8 to shareholders of record on Feb. 26. The company boosted its stock repurchase program by $1 billion. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 12% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has slipped 7.6%.

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Apple Inc.’s stock inched lower in premarket trade Wednesday, bucking the gains seen in the broader technology sector, after filings showed that some high-profile investors sold some of their Apple shares during the fourth quarter. Carl Icahn disclosed late Tuesday that he cut his stake in the technology giant by 7 million shares, or about 13%, to 45.8 million shares as of Dec. 31 from 52.8 million shares as of Sept. 30. David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital hedged fund slashed its Apple stake nearly in half to 6.3 million shares from 11.7 million shares. And David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management trimmed its Apple holdings to 1.26 million shares from 1.31 million shares. Apple’s stock slipped 4 cents, or less than 0.1%, ahead of the open, while the he PowerShares QQQ ETF , which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, climbed 0.6%.

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Shares of Priceline were up 10% in pre-market trade Wednesday after the company beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations. Priceline reported net income of $504 million, or $10 a share, up from $452 million, or $8.52 a share in the year-earlier period. Priceline reported adjusted earnings per share of $12.63, above the FactSet consensus of $11.81. The company reported revenue of $2 billion, up from $1.84 billion in the year-earlier period and above the FactSet consensus of $1.96 billion. For the first quarter of 2016, Priceline said it expects adjusted earnings per share between $9 and $9.60. The FactSet consensus was $9.60.

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Alphabet Inc. announced Tuesday afternoon that its think tank, previously called Google Ideas, will become a technology incubator separate from the Google search company. The new Alphabet arm, which will be called Jigsaw, has sought to discover and develop technology that can help solve problems such as digital censorship and online attacks. “As a technology incubator, Jigsaw will be investing in and building technology to expand access to information for the world’s most vulnerable populations and to defend against the world’s most challenging security threats,” Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote in a blog post announcing the change Tuesday. Google reincorporated as Alphabet last year, becoming a holding company in which many businesses besides Google will exist.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he believes that billionaire GOP candidate Donald Trump will not be president. “The reason is, I have a lot of faith in the American people and I think they recognize that being president is a serious job, it is not hosting a talk show,” Obama said during a press conference following a meeting with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The president said his disquiet with Republican candidates was not restricted to Trump. Obama said Republican candidates have expressed anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments and that foreign observers are troubled that none of the candidates have expressed a willingness to combat the threat of climate change. “The other countries on the world kind of count on the United States being on the side of science, and reason and common sense,” Obama said.

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