Tag: stock market

Schlumberger Ltd. shares rose 2.5% late Thursday after the oil-field-services company reported better-than-expected adjusted fourth-quarter earnings and quarterly sales in line with Wall Street consensus. The Houston, Texas, company said it earned an adjusted 65 cents a share in the quarter, down from $1.50 a share in the year-ago period. Revenue hit $7.74 billion, down from $12.64 billion in the year-ago period. The company faced a continued decline in rig activity, project delays and cancellations and other problems stemming from lower oil prices, it said in a statement. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Schlumberger to report adjusted earnings of 63 cents a share on sales of $7.77 billion in the quarter. Oil and gas weakness have led to a fourth-quarter charge of $530 million to cover expenses related to a leave of absence program and layoffs, the company said. The steps taken amid the uncertainty will help Schlumberger “emerge as a stronger company relative to industry peers and competitors once the price of oil and the market conditions in our industry” improve, it said. The company also announced its board of directors approved a $10 billion share buyback program. Shares of Schlumberger ended the regular trading session up 0.6%.

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​Shares of American Express Co. dropped in Thursday’s extended session after the ​credit-card company posted a smaller quarterly profit than the same period last year despite beating expectations. American Express reported its fourth-quarter earnings fell to $899 million, or 89 cents a share, from $1.45 billion, or $1.39 a share, a year earlier. ​On an adjusted basis, the financial company earned $1.23 a share. Revenue, net of interest expense, shrank to $8.39 billion from $9.08 billion a year ago. Fourth-quarter results reflect a $419 million charge that includes restructuring costs associated with the enterprise growth group. ​Analysts ​surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.12 a share on revenue of $8.3​8​ billion. American Express expects 2016 earnings per share of $5.40 to $5.70. Shares fell 1.8% in after-hours trading after an earlier rally of 4%.

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Starbucks Corp. shares slipped in the extended session Thursday after the coffee chain’s second-quarter outlook fell short of Wall Street estimates. Starbucks shares fell 3.6% to $56.94 on heavy volume. The company forecast adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings of 38 cents to 39 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast 40 cents a share. Starbucks reported first-quarter earnings of 46 cents a share on revenue of $5.37 billion. Analysts had expected 45 cents a share on revenue of $5.39 billion.

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Tiffany & Co. late Thursday announced its board approved a new stock buyback program of up to $500 million over a three-year period. The latest plan will replace the $300 million package from March 2014, of which $61 million is remaining. Shares of Tiffany were flat in after-hours trading.

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U.S. stocks finished higher Thursday, as a sharp rally in oil prices helped the main indexes rebound from Wednesday’s rout, which had pushed them below their August lows. The S&P 500 [: SPX] rose 9.5 points, or 0.5%, to 1,868, with seven of its 10 sectors closing in positive territory. Energy, telecommunications and consumer-discretionary stocks led the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 113 points, or 0.7%, at 15,881. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.4 point, or less than 0.1%, at 4,472 after briefly dipping into negative territory.

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Sports Direct International , a UK apparel and accessories retailer, disclosed a 14.4% stake in Iconix Brand Group Inc. in an SEC filing on Thursday. Sports Direct owns 6.98 million Iconix shares. Iconix brands include London Fog, Madonna’s Material Girl brand, home design company Royal Velvet and luxury brand Badgley Mischka. The filing is the second amendment to a previous filing. The first amendment was on Jan. 13, in which Sports Direct said it had an 11.52% stake in Iconix. Sports Direct purchased more than a million shares between Jan. 13 and Jan. 20. Sports Direct has made headlines for allegations that it underpaid and mistreated workers and is embroiled in a legal battle with the Rangers football club, according to The Guardian. Sports Direct shares are down 44.5% for the past 12 months. Iconix is down 84.3% for the same period. The S&P is down 7.1% over the past year.

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Dominion Midstream GP LLC, the partner of Dominion Midstream Partners LP , said Thursday it is raising its quarterly cash distribution by 7% to 21.35 cents a unit. The new payment will be made Feb. 15, to shareholders of record as of Feb. 5. Shares were trading up 3.6%, but are down 26% in the last 12 months, while the s&P 500 has fallen 7.8%.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that crude inventories rose by 4 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 15. The American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday reported a 4.6 million-barrel climb, according to sources. Analysts polled by Platts expected supplies to be up 2.9 million barrels. Gasoline supplies climbed by 4.6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 1 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. Oil prices initially turned lower after the supply report, then moved higher again as traders mulled the data. March crude was last at $28.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 60 cents, or 2.3%. Prices traded at $28.42 before the data.

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IBM Corp. acquired cloud-based video streaming company Ustream Inc. on Thursday to boost its video offerings for corporate clients using IBM’s cloud suite. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ustream has provided the infrastructure to power live streams and on-demand video content from major content creators, including Facebook and The Discovery Channel. IBM said the company will help support the growing demand among businesses of producing video content for things such as marketing, presentations and webinars. Ustream will join IBM’s newly-formed cloud video services segment, led by IBM general manager Braxton Jarratt. Shares of IBM increased 2% to $124.46 in recent trade, though they are down 12% over the last three months, versus a 7% decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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Burlington Stores Inc. was up 4.6% in Thursday trading after the company’s shares were upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. Analysts believe the off-price retailer will report earnings that meet or beat consensus through fiscal 2017. The bank raised its price target to $59 from $56. “We expect the beat-and-raise story to resume as Burlington returns to fundamental outperformance with normalizing weather,” analysts wrote in a Thursday note. They believe the company will improve sales and margins with better merchandise, inventory management and smaller stores. Goldman Sachs raised its earnings per share estimates for fiscal 2015, 2016 and 2017 to $2.31, $2.80 and $3.24 respectively from $2.30, $2.75 and $3.15. Burlington shares are up 8% over the past three months. The S&P is down 7% for the same period.

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