Tag: stock market

TJX Companies , the parent company to off-price retailers T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and other brands, has named Ernie Herrman chief executive officer effective Jan. 31, the beginning of the company’s fiscal year. He replaces Carol Meyrowitz, who has been CEO since 2007. She will continue as chairman of the board, a position she’s held since June 2015, and assume the role of executive chairman of the company, a new title. The company’s board previously indicated their selection of Hermann as CEO on Oct. 7, 2015. He will continue as president of the company and member of the board of directors. TJX shares are inactive in premarket trading and up 8% for the past 12 months. The S&P 500 is down 2.7% for the same period.

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Luxury goods company Compagnie Financiere Richemont was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Cowen & Co. Compagnie Financiere Richemont brands include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Chloé. Analysts worry if difficult fourth-quarter conditions in Hong Kong and Macau continue into 2016, it will put pressure on the company’s stock. The Hong Kong/Macau region is “a meaningful-top driver with 16% group mix,” said a Cowen note published Monday. There’s also concern that high-end consumers in the U.S. and Europe won’t make up the shortfall for softness in Asia. Uncertainty based on the U.S. presidential election, losses on the S&P 500 (down 5.1% for the year so far) and the terrorist attacks in Paris are creating risk. And weak demand around the world for watches could lead to declines. Cowen cites Swiss Watch data that shows a 3.8% year-over-year decrease in watch exports in Dec. 2015.

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Shares of Twitter rose 8% in pre-market trade Monday after talk of a possible deal with venture capitalist Mark Andreessen and Silver Lake partner. CNBC cited The Information as first reporting the possible deal. Shares of Twitter have fallen 41% in the past three months, compared to the S&P 500’s drop of 7%.

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Alere Inc. shares surged almost 50% in premarket trade Monday, after Abbott Laboratories said it has agreed to buy the diagnostics company in a deal with an equity value of $5.8 billion. Abbott Labs said it will pay $56 per Alere share, or a 50% premium over Friday’s closing price. “The combination of Alere and Abbott will create the world’s premier point of care testing business and significantly strengthen and grow Abbott’s diagnostics presence,” Abbott Chief Executive Miles White said in a statement. The deal will immediately boost earnings per share and will be “significantly accretive” after that, said Abbott. The company is expecting to generate annual pretax synergies of about $500 million by 2019. Abbott shares were not yet active in premarket trade.

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Imax Corp. is dipping its toes into the TV world with an original content distribution deal with Discovery Communication Inc.’s flagship network Discovery Channel. The network will get 18 months of exclusive paid global TV rights for up to 10 Imax documentary films, according to a news release. Terms of the deal weren’t announced, but it includes a marketing partnership. The original Imax documentary films are to be released through the Imax Orginal Film Fund, created in 2014 to deliver educational documentaries for Imax’s museum, aquarium and science center partners. “Working with IMAX, we can provide audiences multiple global platforms to experience these important stories,” Discovery Channel Group President Rich Ross said in a statement.

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Cardinal Health second quarter earnings came in at $326 million, or 98 cents per share, compared to $289 million, or 86 cents per share from the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.30 a share, above the FactSet consensus of $1.26. Revenue rose 23% to $31.4 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $29.2 billion. For fiscal year 2016, Cardinal Health affirmed its adjusted EPS outlook of $5.15 to $5.35, which compares with the FactSet consensus of $5.29. The stock had lost about 1% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 has dropped about 7%.

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Energy transportation company Dominion Resources Inc. said Monday it has agreed to buy natural-gas company Questar Corp. in an all-cash deal valued at $4.4 billion. Dominion will pay Questar shareholders $25 a share in cash, or a 30% premium over the average stock price of Questar’s last 20 trading days ended Jan. 29, and assume its debt. Dominion said the combined company will serve about 2.5 million electric utility customers and 2.3 million gas utility customers in seven states. The deal is expected to close by year-end and to boost Dominion earnings. Separately, Dominion said it has committed about $1 billion to three solar generating facilities in Utah, backed by long-term power purchase agreements with local electric utilities. Dominion shares were not yet active in premarket trade, while Questar was indicating higher.

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CarMax Inc. said Monday that Bill Nash, who the used car retailer promoted to president effective Feb. 1, will assume the role of Chief Executive when current CEO Tom Folliard retires by the end of the year. Nash was most recently executive vice president of human resources and administrative services since 2012. After Folliard retires, he will serve as non-executive chairman of the board. The company also promoted Cliff Wood to chief operating officer, from EVP of stores. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 25% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has lost 6.7%.

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Healthcare insurance company Aetna Inc. on Monday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, partly thanks to higher underwriting margins and higher fees. Net profit for the quarter jumped 38% to $320.8 million, or 91 cents a share, from $232 million, or 65 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings advanced 12% to $1.37 a share from $1.22 last year. Revenue inched up to $15.05 billion from $14.77 billion year-over-year. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $1.21 a share on revenue of $14.95 billion. In relation to its proposed takeover of Humana Inc. , Aetna said it’s working “diligently” with the Department of Justice and state regulators toward getting final approval.

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Chinese leaders are set to lower the 2016 growth target for the country to 6.5%-7% when they meet for the National People’s Congress in early March, Reuters reported over the weekend. Citing sources close to the matter, Reuters said the proposed growth target had already been endorsed by top policymakers at a closed-door Central Economic Work Conference in mid-December, although the leaders had struggled to reach a consensus given global economic jitters. China last year set a minimum annual growth target of 6.5% in the five years to 2020 to meet an existing goal of doubling gross domestic product between 2010 and 2020. However, because of the uncertain economic backdrop, this is the first time policymakers have set a target range for 2016, according to Reuters. China’s GDP expanded by 6.9% in 2015, the slowest pace of growth in 25 years.

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