Tag: stock market

Shares of Sysco Corp. said Friday it will raise its quarterly dividend by 9.1% to 36 cents a share, from 33 cents a share. The food distributor said the new dividend will be payable Jan. 26 to shareholders of record on Jan. 5. Based Thursday’s closing share price of $54.48, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 2.64%, compared with the implied yield for the S&P 500 of 1.94%. “Sysco is committed to returning value to our stockholders,” said Chief Executive Bill DeLaney. “Sysco has paid a cash dividend every quarter since our founding as a public company in 1970.” Sysco’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 1.6% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 15.5%.

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Wells Fargo & Co. said Friday it has fired Franklin Codel, head of its consumer lending business, because of his actions in a communication with a former team member who was let go. The dismissal did not relate to the business or operations of the lending business, or to sales practices. The move “was the result of Codel’s acting in a manner that was contrary to the company’s policies and expectations of its senior leaders during a communication he had with a former team member regarding that team member’s earlier termination,” the bank said in a statement. The unit’s four heads will report to Chief Executive Tim Sloan, while the bank appoints a successor. Shares were indicating lower in premarket trade, and are down about 1% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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Abercrombie & Fitch Co. shares soared 20% in Friday premarket trading after the retailer reported much-better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue. Net income for the quarter totaled $10.1 million, or 15 cents per share, up from $7.9 million, or 12 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was 30 cents, beating the 22 cents FactSet consensus. Revenue was $859.1 million, up from $821.7 million last year, and ahead of the $820.0 million FactSet estimate. Same-store sales rose 4% for the quarter, with Hollister up 8% and the namesake brand down 2%. The FactSet consensus was for a 0.4% rise. For the fourth quarter, the company sees same-store sales up in the low-single digits and sales up in the mid-to-high-single digits. Abercrombie & Fitch shares are up 32.2% for the last three months, but down nearly 26% for the past 12 months. The S&P 500 index is up 18.2% for the period.

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Acorda Therapeutics Inc. unveiled royalty transactions Friday valued at $53 million. The company said it will receive $40 million in a royalty monetization with Healthcare Royalty Partners and $13 million in a deal with H. Lundbeck A/A. In return for the payment to Acorda, HCR receives the right to royalty revenue on Fampyra, a treatment for MS, payable by Biogen Inc. up to an agreed limit. After that, Acorda will continue to receive Fampyra royalty revenue until the stream ends. The payment from H. Lundbeck amends the license agreement for Selincro, an alcohol dependence therapy, to eliminate future royalty and milestone obligations on sales outside of the U.S. Acorda shares were slammed on Wednesday after it announced that several patients in a Parkinson’s Disease drug trial had died. Shares were slightly lower premarket, and are down 8% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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Trucking company J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. said Friday it has made reservations to buy “multiple” Tesla Semi trucks, giving Tesla Inc.’s stock an extra boost in premarket trade. “We believe electric trucks will be most beneficial on local and dray routes, and we look forward to utilizing this new, sustainable technology,” said J.B. Hunt Chief Executive John Roberts. Tesla unveiled the electric Semi big rig trucks late Thursday. Tesla’s stock surged 3.7% ahead of the open. It was up 2.1% before J.B. Hunt’s announcement. Tesla’s stock had lost 11.2% over the past three months through Thursday, while J.B. Hunt shares have gained 6.3%, the Dow Jones Transportation Average had gained 4.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had rallied 7.9%.

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Hibbett Sports Inc. shares surged 22% in premarket trade Friday, after the sports retailer blew past estimates for its fiscal third quarter and raised guidance for the full year. Hibbett said it had net income of $7.6 million, or 37 cents a share, for the quarter, down from $14.6 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Sales rose to $237.8 million from $237.0 million. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 22 cents and sales of $219 million. Chief Executive Jeff Rosenthal said the company was “very pleased” with results for the period. “Sales in equipment and accessories remained soft, but were offset by positive comparable store sales in footwear and significant improvement in branded apparel,” he said. “Our e-commerce sales exceeded even our high expectations, as we experienced good response from early marketing initiatives and strong conversion from online traffic.” The company raised its outlook for fiscal 2018, and said it now expects EPS of $1.42 to $1.50, up from prior guidance of $1.25 to $1.35. It expects same-store sales to be down in a mid-single-digit range, against earlier expectations of a decline in the mid to high-single-digit range. Shares have fallen 60% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.

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Shares of Foot Locker Inc. shot up 11% in premarket trade Friday, after the athletic footwear retailer reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that fell less than expected. Net income for the quarter to Oct. 28 declined to $102 million, or 81 cents a share, from $157 million, or $1.17 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 87 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 80 cents. Revenue slipped to $1.87 billion from $1.89 billion, but beat the FactSet consensus of $1.83 billion. Same-store sales decreased 3.7% from a year ago, but the FactSet consensus was for a decline of 4.6%. Merchandise inventories were $1.32 billion, down 3.4% from a year ago. Chief Executive Richard Johnson said despite the “highly promotional” environment, the availability of premium product is gradually improving compared with the first half of the year. The stock had plunged 33.2% over the past three months through Thursday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has climbed 6.0% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.4%.

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SailPoint Technologies Holdings, Inc. priced its initial public offering at $12 Thursday night, setting the company up to begin trading Friday morning. The price for 20 million shares was higher than the expected range of $9 to $11 a share, and means the IPO will bring in at least $240 million. Sailpoint sells enterprise identity-management tools, which helps businesses securely manage employees’ use of multiple apps on their systems. The company has been owned by private-equity firm Thoma Bravo, which will maintain a majority stake in Sailpoint after the IPO. Thoma Bravo offered 5 million shares in the IPO, while Chief Executive Mark McClain and President Kevin Cunningham sold 700,000 shares combined. The other 14.3 million shares were sold by Sailpoint, which will collect at least $171.6 million before fees that it intends to use for general corporate purposes, including “expanding our global presence,” according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sailpoint revenue increased to $132.4 million in 2016 from $95.4 million in 2015, while net losses were reduced to $3.2 million from $10.8 million in that time. Underwriters have access to 1.5 million more shares, which are expected to list Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SAIL.

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Electronic Arts Inc. late Thursday suspended micropayments on its highly anticipated new video game “Star Wars: Battlefront II,” just hours before the game’s Friday launch. The move was made to appease fans, who had revolted online in the days leading up to the game’s release. Many voiced strong opposition to its “loot-box” system, in which players paid real money to unlock characters and in-game items, arguing that the game forced players who did not pay for upgrades to spend dozens of hours to unlock items, and potentially penalized players who did not want to spend as much. “We’ve heard the concerns,” said Oskar Gabrielson, general manager of EA’s Dice unit, in a statement Thursday. “We hear you loud and clear, so we’re turning off all in-game purchases. . . . and all progression will be earned through gameplay.” EA said it would make changes to improve gameplay, and in-game purchases would return at a later date. EA shares were flat after hours Thursday, after closing up slighly for the day, and are up almost 42% year to date compared to the S&P 500’s 15% gain.

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Stitch Fix Inc. priced its initial public offering at $15 a share Thursday evening to pull in at least $120 million ahead of the online clothing seller’s market debut Friday. The price was lower than the $18 to $20 range that the company originally expected, as The Wall Street Journal reported was likely earlier Thursday. Stitch Fix is selling 8 million shares in the offering, lower than the initial estimate of 10 million shares, while founder and Chief Executive Katrina Lake is selling 1 million shares; underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, have access to an additional 1.2 million shares. Financial information shared in the filing show very strong revenue gains, from net revenue of $73.2 million in its 2014 fiscal year to $342.8 million in 2015, $730.3 million in 2016 and $977.1 million in the 2017 fiscal year, which ended July 31. Stitch Fix turned a profit in its 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, $20.9 million and $33.2 million in net income respectively, but slipped back to a loss of less than $600,000 last year. The company’s stock is expected to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol SFIX.

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