Marvell Technology shares slip after earnings, outlook top Street

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. shares slipped in the extended session Thursday even after the chipmaker’s quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. Marvell shares declined 1.5% after hours, following a 2.7% gain to close the regular session at $24.32. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $48.8 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a loss of $80.1 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 32 cents a share. Revenue rose to $615.4 million from $566.4 million in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 31 cents a share on revenue of $611 million.

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Stock market ends higher as Trump signs metals tariffs

Stocks ended with gains Thursday after President Donald Trump moved to implement tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, but provided an immediate exemption for Mexico and Canada while allowing other countries to negotiate exclusions. Stocks traded on either side of unchanged for much of the session, finding strength late in the day as details of the plan emerged. The S&P 500 ended 0.4% higher at 2,738.97, according to preliminary figures, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 93.85 points, or 0.4%, to 24,895.21. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 7,427.95.

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Blue Apron stock plunges after Weight Watchers announces meal kits

Shares of Blue Apron Holdings Inc. fell 17.1% in Thursday trading after Weight Watchers International Inc. said that it would be rolling out its own meal kits. Weight Watchers plans to unveil its kits next week at a Chicago conference. Earlier this week, Walmart Inc. also announced that it would be debuting meal kits in stores. Shares of Blue Apron have come under pressure since the company’s June IPO in part due to increased competition in the meal-kit industry. Shares are down 24% so far this week, and they’re off 79% from their IPO price of $10. The S&P 500 Index is up 16% over the past 12 months.

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Finsar earnings damage stock as revenue growth stalls

Finisar Corp. shares fell Thursday afternoon after the optical-networking reported earnings that showed stalled revenue growth and a weaker forecast than expected. Finisar reported a fiscal third-quarter net loss of $55.7 million, or 49 cents a share, on sales of $332.4 million, barely more than $332.2 million a year ago. After adjusting for tax changes, stock-based compensation and other effects, the company claimed earnings of 20 cents a share, down from 59 cents a share a year ago. Analysts on average expected Finisar to report adjusted earnings of 23 cents a share on sales of $333.2 million. For the fourth quarter, Finisar projected adjusted earnings of 9 cents to 15 cents a share on revenue of $300 million to $320 million. Analysts on average were expecting adjusted earnings of 21 cents a share on sales of $332 million in the fourth quarter. Finisar stock fell about 6.5% after earnings were announced, following a close at $20.22; shares have declined 41.5% in the past year, as the S&P 500 index has gained 15.4%.

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Massachusetts regulator will investigate Wells Fargo Advisors

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin on Thursday announced he was opening an investigation into the wealth management arm of Wells Fargo & Co. The securities regulator said he wanted to determine whether the company had steered investors into higher-fee accounts and made investment recommendations unsuited to their needs. Wells has been dogged by revelations that it opened accounts for customers without their knowledge or consent, as part of a push toward selling more products and services. Wells shares are down 7% in the year to date, compared to a flat showing for the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Horace Mann chairman to retire after 8 years in the role

Horace Mann Educators Corp. disclosed Thursday that Chairman Gabriel Shaheen will retire from the company’s board of directors, as he will not stand for re-election at the annual shareholder meeting on May 23. Shaheen has been chairman since May 2010 and a member of the board of directors the past 11 years. The company, which provides insurance and retirement services to school employees, said it appointed Wade Reece as vice chairman, effective March 6. The stock slipped 0.2% in afternoon trade. Separately, the company said late Wednesday that raised its quarterly dividend 3.6% to 28.5 cents a share from 27.5 cents a share, with the new dividend payable March 30 to shareholders of record on March 19. At current share prices, the new annual dividend rate of $1.14 implies a dividend yield of 2.68%, compared with the S&P 500’s implied dividend yield of 1.89%. Horace Mann’s stock has gained 2.4% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has climbed 15.9%.

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Oil prices settle at a more than 3-week low

Oil on Thursday marked its lowest settlement in more than three weeks. Prices extended their sharp losses from a day earlier, when the Energy Information Administration reported a weekly climb in U.S. crude supplies and a rise in domestic crude production to another weekly record. April WTI crude dropped $1.03, or 1.7%, to settle at $60.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as low as $59.95.

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Tesla’s $2.6 billion payday for Elon Musk garners more opposition

Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. called Tesla Inc. [s” tsla] plan to award Chief Executive Elon Musk an estimated $2.6 billion compensation over a decade “unprecedented,” and advised shareholders to vote against it. The award would be worth $260 million a year, leading to to “massive costs” over the years and it would dilutive for investors, ISS said in a note Thursday. “Even when annualized, Musk’s pay opportunity would dwarf that of nearly every CEO at the largest
and most profitable public companies. This raises even more questions given that Musk does not devote his fulltime attention to Tesla, and serves as the CEO of multiple other high-profile companies,” ISS said. Competitor proxy adviser Glass Lewis came out against the proposal on Monday, also calling it too costly and too dilutive. Tesla unveiled the plan last month, and shareholders will vote on it later this month.

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Steel and aluminum stocks sink as Trump expected to sign watered down tariff decree

Shares of steel and aluminum producers sank in afternoon trade Thursday, ahead of the expected signing by President Donald Trump of a somewhat softer tariff decree than the one announced last month following widespread pressure to change his tone. Shares of U.S. Steel Corp. dropped 3.6%, AK Steel Holding Corp. shed 4.7%, Nucor Corp. slid 3.5%, Steel Dynamics Inc. fell 3.6% and Commercial Metals Co. gave up 4.3%. Among aluminum producers, shares of Alcoa Corp. lost 1.8%, Century Aluminum Co. tumbled 9.1% and Kaiser Aluminum Corp. were down 1.5%. The SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF dropped 2.6%. Trump is expected to sign proclamations on steel and aluminum imports at 3:30 p.m. ET, with Trump saying he has the right to move the tariffs “up or down” depending on the country. On Feb. 16, the sector surged after Trump said he was planning a 25% tariff on steel imports from all countries and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports. The metals & mining ETF has now lost 3.7% since Feb. 16, while the S&P 500 has inched 0.2% lower over the same time.

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Trump to sign steel, aluminum tariffs Thursday afternoon

President Donald Trump will sign proclamations on steel and aluminum imports at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, the White House said. Trump said at a cabinet meeting he’s planning on tariffs of 10% for aluminum and 25% for steel, “initially.” But he added, “I’ll have a right to go up or down, depending on the country.”

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