Tag: stock market

Stifel analyst Scott Devitt trimmed his Facebook Inc. stock price target to $168 from $195 late Wednesday in a colorful note that compared Facebook to eBay Inc. and said that Facebook shares belonged in something akin to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. [S: brka] CEO Warren Buffett’s “too hard” pile for stocks where there’s not enough information out there. Like eBay back in 2014, Facebook is “an unstructured content business built on trust that lost that trust prior to implementing policies to add structure and process,” wrote Devitt, who kept his hold rating on shares. He wrote that Instagram may be able to save Facebook, just as PayPal was thought to be able to save eBay back in the day. Still, he’s concerned by the uncertainty around Facebook’s latest data issue. “We would buy all of our Buy-rated stocks and many of our Hold-rated stocks before we would buy Facebook shares, given the information available to us,” Devitt wrote. Facebook shares are down 1.7% in premarket trading but up 21% over the past 12 months. The S&P 500 is up 15% in that time.

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Shares of arts supplies retailer Michaels Cos. slid 10% premarket Thursday, after the company offered guidance for fiscal 2018 that was below estimates. The company said it had net income of $202.9 million, or $1.11 a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter to Feb. 3, up from $197.4 million, or 95 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.19, matching the FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $1.891 billion from $1.751 billion, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.879 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.5%, more than the 1.8% FactSet consensus. The company said it will continue to invest in its strategic priorities in fiscal 2018, including its brand assortment and online business. It has decided to close 94 of its Aaron Brothers stores and reposition the brand as a “store-within-a-store,” offering custom framing services at Michaels Stores. The company expects to take charges of $37 million to $42 million on the closures, most of which will be booked in the first quarter. For all of fiscal 2018, the company is expecting sales of $5.217 billion to $5.293 billion, and adjusted EPS of $2.19 to $2.32. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $5.368 billion and EPS of $2.59. Shares have fallen 1.9% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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G-III Apparel Group Ltd. shares slid 4% premarket, after the owner of the Calvin Klein, DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld and Tommy Hilfiger brands offered guidance for fiscal 2019 that was below consensus, offsetting better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter. The company said it had a net loss of $542,000, or 1 cent a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter to Jan. 31, narrower than the loss of $20.1 million, or 42 cents a share, posted in the year-earlier period. The number includes charges relating to the acquisition of the Donna Karan brand, asset impairments related to leasehold improvements and furniture and fixtures at certain retail stores, tax charges stemming from the December revamp and other items. Excluding those, the company had adjusted EPS of 26 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 17 cents. Sales rose to $715 million from $603 million, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $708 million. Looking ahead, the company said it expects fiscal 2019 earnings to be hit by the bankruptcy of Bon-Ton Stores Inc., as well as the impact of new revenue-recognition rules. The company is expecting sales of about $2.94 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.98 to $2.08. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $3.108 billion and EPS of $2.18. Shares have gained 70% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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Shares of Conagra Brands Inc. rallied 1.4% in premarket trade Thursday, after the branded food company, which brands include Hunt’s, Reddi-wip and Slim Jim, beat profit expectations and raised its outlook. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 25 rose to $362.8 million, or 90 cents a share, from $179.7 million, or 41 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as the benefit of a lower tax from recent tax legislation, adjusted earnings per share came to 61 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 56 cents. Revenue rose to $1.995 billion from $1.981 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $2.000 billion, as better-than-expected revenue from its refrigerated and frozen and international segments offset in-line results from its foodservice segment and a miss in its grocery and snacks business. For fiscal 2018, Conagra raised its adjusted EPS outlook to $2.03 to $2.05 from previous guidance of “near the high end” of $1.84 to $1.89. The stock had dropped 7.2% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF had shed 8.7% and the S&P 500 had gained 1.1%.

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Shares of arts supplies retailer Michaels Cos. slid 6.8% premarket Thursday, after the company offered guidance for fiscal 2018 that was below estimates. The company said it had net income of $202.9 million, or $1.11 a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter to Feb. 3, up from $197.4 million, or 95 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.19, matching the FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $1.891 billion from $1.751 billion, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.879 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.5%, more than the 1.8% FactSet consensus. The company said it will continue to invest in its strategic priorities in fiscal 2018, including its brand assortment and online business. It has decided to close 94 of its Aaron Brothers stores and reposition the brand as a “store-within-a-store,” offering custom framing services at Michaels Stores. The company expects to take charges of $37 million to $42 million on the closures, most of which will be booked in the first quarter. For all of fiscal 2018, the company is expecting sales of $5.217 billion to $5.293 billion, and adjusted EPS of $2.19 to $2.32. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $5.368 billion and EPS of $2.59. Shares have fallen 1.9% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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Accenture PLC reported early Thursday fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook, but the stock was little changed in premarket trade. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 28 rose to $901.1 million, or $1.37 a share, from $876.7 million, or $1.33 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding a benefit of 21 cents a share from recent tax legislation, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.58, above the FactSet consensus of $1.49. Net revenue rose to $9.59 billion from $8.32 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $9.31 billion, as revenue from both its consulting and outsourcing businesses both rose above expectations. For fiscal 2018, the company raised its net revenue growth outlook to 7% to 9% from 6% to 8% and its adjusted EPS outlook to $6.61 to $6.70 from $6.48 to $6.66. Separately, the company declared a semi-annual dividend of $1.33 a share, matching the previous semi-annual dividend. The stock had rallied 5.3% over the past three months and 28.1% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 had tacked on 1.1% the past three months and 15.5% the past year.

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Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants Inc. said Thursday it had net income of $11.6 million, or $1.73 a share, in its fiscal third quarter to February 26, down from $220.2 million, or $1.32 a share, in the year-earlier period. The number includes a 54 cents charge for debt retirement costs, a 61 cents benefit from the tax revamp and a 4 cents charge for Cheddar’s integration costs. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.71, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.64. Sales rose 13% to $2.13 billion , slightly below the FactSet consensus of $2.15 billion. Same-restaurant sales rose 2%, also below the FactSet consensus for a rise of 2.5%. “The company estimates that more severe winter weather negatively impacted same-restaurant sales by -70 basis points in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 compared to the same fiscal quarter last year,” Darden said in a statement. Looking ahead, the company is now expected fiscal 2018 adjusted EPS of $4.75 to $4.80, up from a prior $4.70 to $4.78. Shares rose 0.4% premarket, but are up 21% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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Congressional negotiators agreed on a $1.3 trillion spending bill late Wednesday, that would avert a government shutdown Saturday. The bill includes $1.5 billion to partially fund President Donald Trump’s border wall, as well as spending increases for defense, infrastructure projects and opioid-fighting efforts, but does not take steps to protect so-called Dreamers or make payments to subsidize health insurers. The bill has the support of the White House and is expected to pass in the House and Senate on Friday.

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From:: Stock Market News

Congressional negotiators agreed on a $1.3 trillion spending bill late Wednesday, that would avert a government shutdown Saturday. The bill includes $1.5 billion to partially fund President Donald Trump’s border wall, as well as spending increases for defense, infrastructure projects and opioid-fighting efforts, but does not take steps to protect so-called Dreamers or make payments to subsidize health insurers. The bill has the support of the White House and is expected to pass in the House and Senate on Friday.

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Twitter Inc.’s chief information security officer, Michael Coates, is leaving the company, amid a wave of security-chief departures from major tech companies this week. Coates confirmed his departure in a tweet Wednesday, after the news was first reported by The Verge. Coates said he was leaving to start his own security company, and had announced his departure internally a few weeks ago. Also Wednesday, Michael Zelewski, the director of information security engineering at Alphabet Inc.’s Google, announced he was leaving the company after 11 years, and on Monday the Wall Street Journal reported Facebook Inc.’s security chief, Alex Stamos, plans to leave the company in August.

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