Tag: stock market

Shares of streaming giant Netflix Inc. were slightly higher Friday, after Wedbush raised its price target on the stock to $88 from $82, but reiterated an underperform rating, saying it still expects the company to burn cash to fund content acquisition. Netflix has said it plans to spend $7 billion on content in 2018, after spending $6 billion this year. On Thursday, the company announced it would raise monthly subscription prices for standard and premium plans in the U.S. starting next month. “International profits may remain elusive due to competition for content and subs, and the price increase is likely to cause a
deceleration in domestic growth,” analysts led by Michael Pachter wrote in a note. “Negative free cash flow makes discounted cash flow valuation impossible.” Wedbush raised its revenue estimates to reflect the price change, and said it expects top-line growth to be absorbed by higher cost of revenue. Shares have gained 57% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Norwegian committee that chooses the winner said Friday. The prize recognizes ICAN’s efforts in drawing attention to the “catastrophic human consequences” of the use of nuclear weapons and its work with governments and the United Nations to encourage treaties to ban them, the Nobel committee said in a statement. “We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time. Some states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and there is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by North Korea,” they said.

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An earthquake measuring at least 6.0 magnitude has struck off the east coast of Japan, according to an U.S. Geological Survey alert sent out early Friday. The tremors were detected off the coast of Honshu at 7:59 a.m. UTC, or 4:59 p.m. local time, it said.

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Data-center operator Switch Inc. priced its initial public offering higher than expected Thursday evening to pull in more than half a billion dollars. The Las Vegas-based data-center company, which owns three large data centers and is developing a fourth, announced that it would sell 31.25 million shares at $17 apiece, after previously stating a target range of $14 to $16. At that price, Switch stands to collect at least $531.25 million at a valuation of about $4.2 billion; underwriters have access to another 4.7 million shares, which could push the take even higher. The company has said it will use the proceeds to buy out investors in Switch Ltd. and take control of that company though Switch Inc., which was just incorporated in 2017. A multi-class share structure will allow founder and Chief Executive Rob Roy to maintain control, as his shares will have 10 times the voting rights of common shares. Switch is expected to begin trading Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SWCH.

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White House chief of staff John Kelly’s personal phone was believed to be compromised by hackers for months before being discovered, according to a Politico report late Thursday. White House tech support staff discovered the breach this summer, after Kelly complained his phone wasn’t working properly, Politico said. The breach may have occurred as long ago as December, and potentially exposed data on his phone from not just the White House, but the Department of Homeland Security, where he was formerly secretary. Kelly became President Donald Trump’s chief of staff in July. White House officials told Politico that Kelly had not used the phone much since joining the administration, relying mostly on a government-issued phone instead. In a separate report Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russian hackers stole highly classified National Security Agency secrets in 2015 by using Kaspersky antivirus software to target an NSA contractor who had sensitive information on his home computer.

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Synchronoss Technologies Inc. has resumed talks with Siris Capital Partners to sell itself, because Siris raised its offer and agreed to a period of limited exclusivity to make a buyout, Synchronoss said Thursday. Synchronoss stock shot up nearly 20% after hours. The company has been in talks with Siris, its largest shareholder, for several weeks over the possibility of an all-cash buyout, but the discussions fell apart in September after the private equity firm terminated its interest. Siris owns about 6 million shares of the mobile cloud solutions company, or 13% of outstanding stock. Synchronoss noted in a statement that the talks did not mean a sale was certain or imminent. Synchronoss stock is down 72% this year, with the S&P 500 index climbing 13.4%.

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Oil and natural-gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuating platforms and rigs ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, prompting the shut-in of 14.6%, or 254,607 barrels of oil a day, in Gulf oil production, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said late Thursday. Nate is expected to become a hurricane Saturday and pass through the center of the Gulf, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is forecast to make landfall on the Louisiana coast Sunday morning. The BSEE said 6.4%, or 206.71 million cubic feet a day, of natural-gas production has been shut in.

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Yum China Holdings Inc. jumped as much as 5% in late trading Thursday after announcing earnings that included the spin-off’s first dividend and an increased stock-buyback plan, and detailing plans for a new chief executive. Yum China, which spun off from Yum Brands inc. about a year ago, said that President and Chief Operating Officer Joey Wat will succeed Mickey Pant as CEO in March 2018. For the third quarter, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in China reported net income of $211 million, or 53 cents a share, on sales of $2.04 billion, up from profit of $192 million on sales of $1.88 billion a year ago. Analysts on average expected earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $1.98 billion, according to FactSet. Yum China also announced its first dividend, 10 cents a share payable Dec. 21 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 30, and said the board had expanded its stock-repurchase authorization from $300 million to $550 million. Yum China shares neared $42 in after-hours action following the report, after closing with a 0.2% increase at $39.97.

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Costco Wholesale Corp. shares declined in the extended session Thursday even after the wholesale club topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Costco shares slipped 1% to $165.49 after hours. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $919 million, or $2.08 a share, compared to $779 million, or $1.77 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $42.3 billion from $36.56 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated $2.02 a share on revenue of $41.63 billion. The company reported a same-store sales rise of 5.7% for the quarter and 6.2% for September.

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U.S. stocks ended Thursday firmly in the green, adding to a series of records on the back of hopes around reforms to the tax code that could deliver a further fillip to assets perceived as risky like stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up about 114 points, or 0.5%, at 22,775, while the S&P 500 index climbed 14 points, or 0.6%, at 2,552, posting its sixth straight record close. That marks the longest such string of all-time closing highs since the eight straight records in 1997, according to WSJ Market Data Group. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed up about 50 points, or 0.8%, at 6,585. Technology and financial shares were among the best performing sectors on the day. Already in an uptrend, Wall Street got a midday boost after the House of Representatives passed a budget resolution–seen as setting the stage for an overhaul of the tax code. All three benchmarks finished at records for the third day in a row. In individual stocks, Netflix Inc. shares jumped 5.4% after the video-streaming giant raised the price of two of its memberships.

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