Tag: stock market

Macy’s Inc. shares fell 2.4% in after hours after it said it had a 4.7% same-store sales decline during the months of November and December 2015 on an owned-plus-licensed basis, compared with last year. On an owned basis, the retailer said in a release that same-store sales were down 5.2%. Macy’s Chief executive Terry Lundgren attributed much of the decline to unseasonable weather conditions. “About 80 percent of our company’s year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to shortfalls in cold-weather goods such as coats, sweaters, boots, hats, gloves and scarves,” Lundgren said in a statement. “We also continued to feel the impact of lower spending by international tourists as the value of the dollar remained strong.” The company experienced double-digit increases in online sales, filling 17 million online orders on both Macys.com and Bloomingdales.com, he said. The company now expects fourth-quarter earnings per share between $2.18 and $2.23 and same-store sales decline of 4.7%. Previous guidance forecast fourth quarter earnings per share between $2.54 and $2.64 and same-store sales declines between 2% and 3%. The fourth-quarter earnings consensus is $2.56 according to FactSet.

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Macy’s Inc. unveiled a series of cost cuts Wednesday, intended to cut selling, general & administrative costs by about $400 million. “In light of our disappointing 2015 sales and earnings performance, we are making adjustments to become more efficient and productive in our operations,” Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said in a statement. The cost cuts are equal to more than two-thirds of the department store chain’s goal of annual SG&A cost cuts of $500 million, net of growth initiatives. They include the closure of 40 stores, 4 of which were shuttered in 2015, the remaining 36 of which will be closed in spring. The company is consolidating the grouping of its stores into five regions and 47 districts, from a previous 7 regions and 58 districts. It will cut jobs at its Macy’s and Bloomingdale stores, affecting 3,000 employees, some of whom will be placed in other positions. It will offer voluntary buyouts to about 165 senior executives in its stores, office and support functions. About 35% of those roles will be eliminated. The company has hired investment bank Eastdil Secured to advise on its plans for real-estate transactions with help from Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, and is searching for a senior real-estate executive to manage ventures. The company expects to book a charge of $200 million in the fourth quarter, which was not included in its previous guidance.

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Shares of teen retailer Zumiez Inc. rallied Wednesday after the company raised its fourth-quarter outlook and said its net sales fell 6.2% to $134.5 million. The retailer said it expects fiscal fourth quarter net sales between $237 million to $239 million and net income per share between 45 cents and 47 cents. Comparable sales are seen down 11% in the quarter. The company had previously predicted net sales between $226 million and $231 million and EPS between 40 cents and 46 cents. Shares of Zumiez rose 12% in late trading Wednesday after ending the day down 1.5%.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. was upgraded to buy from hold at Evercore ISI after the bank said in a note published Wednesday that it made “incorrect assumptions” about the company’s performance potential. Executives have managed an earnings per share inflection and have cut costs while executing an leadership restructuring and handling a tough reimbursement environment, the note said. Challenges remain in the reimbursement area, Evercore wrote, and analysts forecast first-quarter 2016 results that are slightly below consensus, but the bank’s upgrade is based on multi-year growth. The earnings estimate for Walgreens Boots Alliance for the first quarter is 96 cents per share, according to FactSet. Walgreens shares are down 5.2% for the past three months while the S&P is up 0.3% for the same period.

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Oil futures fell on Wednesday with growing concerns over the global glut of supplies sending prices for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude to their lowest settlements since 2004. January crude settled at $33.97 a barrel, down $2, or 5.6%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. WTI prices settled at their lowest level for a most-active contract since February 2004, according to FactSet data. February Brent lost $2.19, or 6%, to end at $34.23 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. That was the lowest settlement since June 2004, according to FactSet.

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Treasury yields extended Wednesday their decline to their lowest levels in nearly four weeks after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed that the first interest-rate increase in nearly a decade was a “close call” for some officials. A flight to the safety in U.S. government bonds helped push Treasury yields lower earlier in the session on worries about North Korea’s nuclear capability and sluggish growth in China. Central bankers highlighted in the minutes their “significant concern about still-low readings on actual inflation and the uncertainty and risks present in the inflation outlook.” The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 6.2 basis points to 2.186%, its lowest point since Dec. 11, according to Tradeweb. Bond yields fall when prices rise and vice versa. The yield on the two-year Treasury note lost 3.2 basis points to 0.996%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond declined by 6.4 basis points to 2.947%.

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U.S. stocks remained lower Wednesday after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed some policy makers had reservations about raising interest rates. The main indexes extended losses immediately after the minutes were released at 2 p.m. Eastern, but quickly trimmed their losses to return to their levels ahead of the release. The S&P 500 was down 23 points, or 1.1% at 1,993. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 222 points, or 1.3%, at 16,934. The Nasdaq Composite was down 54 points, or 1.1%, at 4,837.84. Steve Chiavarone, associate portfolio manager at Federated Investors, said the reservations were understandable. “When you’re moving off the zero line, you really don’t want to have to go back to zero,” he said. Fed policy makers voted unanimously to raise rates in December, the first hike in nearly a decade.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Still-low inflation readings and signs that inflation might actually soften in the near term made the Federal Reserve’s rate hike a “close call” for some officials, according to the minutes of the December 15-16 meeting, released Wednesday. Fed officials voted unanimously last month to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 but the minutes make clear that some were more reluctant to hike than others. Going forward, the central bankers agreed to add to the policy statement that they were “watching actual and expected progress” towards to 2% inflation target carefully “because of their significant concern about still-low readings on actual inflation and the uncertainty and risks present in the inflation outlook.” More generally, Fed officials agreed “on the importance of communicating clearly” if the future rate policy path became “shallower” due to a weaker economic outlook or “steeper” if activity and inflation surprised to the upside.

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The Obama administration said that initial analysis by the U.S. is “not consistent with” claims by North Korea that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. Reports of a test unnerved global investors Wednesday and helped send U.S. stocks lower. White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters the U.S. is learning more about the reported test and that any nuclear test would break U.N. Security Council resolutions.

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Wegmans Food Markets Inc. is recalling about 1,125 pounds of chicken products that were made without federal inspection, said the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in a press release published Wednesday. The items, which include Wegmans Italian Flavored Chicken Breast Cutlet, Wegmans Brown Sugar Barbecue Seasoned Chicken Breast Cutlet, Wegmans Garlic & Fennel Whole Chicken Roaster and Wokery Sherry Chicken, were produced on Jan. 3, 2016 and were shipped to distribution and retail locations in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia. Customers are advised not to consume the items, but return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. There have been no reported illnesses, according to FSIS. On Tuesday, Minnesota-based Huisken Meat Co. recalled about 89,568 pounds of beef products that may have been contaminated with wood material, FSIS said. The Sam’s Choice Black Angus Vidalia Onion items were made between Nov. 19, 2015 and Dec. 9, 2015. There have been no reports of illness, but consumers are advised to throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.

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