Tag: stock market

Finish Line Inc. shares were halted late Monday as the company warned its per-share earnings will come well below Wall Street expectations and predicted a steep decline in sales and profits for the year. The footwear retailer said its net sales were $469.4 million in the second quarter, down 3.3% compared with the year-ago period, thanks to a 4.6% decrease in comparable sales. “Based on the decline in sales and pressure on gross margin from increased markdowns,” the company expects to report second-quarter earnings per share in the range of 8 cents to 12 cents, it said in a statement. Analysts polled by FactSet expect second-quarter earnings of 37 cents a share on sales of $477 million. “The marketplace for athletic footwear became much more promotional as our second quarter progressed resulting in challenging sales and gross margin trends,” Chief Executive Sam Sato said. Based on the results so far this year and the expectation margin trends will “remain challenging” through the year, Finish Line said it expects comparable sales to decrease 3% to 5%, versus a previous guidance of an increase in the low-single digits. Adjusted earnings per share are seen in the range of 50 cents to 60 cents for fiscal 2018, versus a previous guidance range of $1.12 to $1.23 a share, and compared with adjusted earnings per share of $1.06 for the fiscal year ended in February. “We believe it is prudent to adjust our outlook as we expect the environment to remain highly competitive and promotional throughout the remainder of the year,” Sato said. “In light of our disappointing second-quarter results and revised projections for fiscal 2018, we will remain very disciplined in managing our expenses and inventories throughout the remainder of the year.” The shares ended the regular trading session down 2.3%. Finish Line is scheduled to report earnings on Sept. 22.

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Abiomed Inc. said late Monday its Chief Financial Officer Michael Tomsicek resigned last Thursday. The heart-pump maker said Tomsicek left to pursue other interests. Abiomed said former CFO Robert Bowen will return from retirement to serve as a consultant until a new CFO can be hired, while Corporate Controller Ian McLeod will serve as interim CFO. Abiomed shares rose 0.7% to $149 after hours.

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U.S. stocks closed Monday trade little changed, with gains in health-care and technology stocks offsetting losses for energy and financials as investors watched the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey that has left parts of the Houston-area underwater. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat at 21,808. Shares of insurance giant Travelers Cos. Inc., traded lower in the aftermath of the storm, taking a toll on the blue-chip gauge. The S&P 500 index ended the session in the green but with a slight gain of 1.18 point, or less than 0.1%, at 2,444. The health-care sector rose 0.6%, posting the day’s best gain among the broad-market index’s 11 sectors, while energy and financials led losses, down 0.5% a piece. The Nasdaq Composite Index , meanwhile, posted the best performance among the three main U.S. equity benchmarks, up 0.3% at 6,283. Crude-oil prices were in focus as the now-Tropical storm Harvey continued to buffet the Gulf Coast region , a substantial energy refining hub for U.S. crude products, with heavy rains. October West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.30, or 2.7%, to settle at $46.57 a barrel. Meanwhile, September gasoline climbed 4.6 cents, or 2.7%, to $1.712 a gallon– the highest finish for a front-month contract since April 17. Crude products saw prices sink as the devastating storm saps demand from refineries but puts gasoline prices higher demand.

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Oil prices dropped Monday to settle at their lowest level in about a month as refinery shutdowns due to storm system Harvey raised concerns that domestic supplies of crude oil will rise. October West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.30, or 2.7%, to settle at $46.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest finish for a front-month contract since July 24, according to FactSet data.

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Shares of insurance giant Travelers Cos. Inc. and investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., on Monday afternoon were yanking the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower. The fallout of now-Tropical storm Harvey, which has submerged much of the Houston area in what is expected to be 50 inches of rain. That has whacked insurance companies, while growing doubts about additional rate hikes in 2017, has pressured bank shares. Travelers’s stock was off 2.7%, or about $3.41, while Goldman’s shares were down about 1.6% at $3.55, translating to a 47-point retreat in the price-weighted Dow industrials . A $1 move in any of the Dow equates to a 6.84-point swing in the blue-chip average. Overall, the Dow reversed modest gains at the open, to trade down 25 points, or 0.2%, at 21,781, while the S&P 500 index was off 2 points at 2,441, and the Nasdaq Composite Index traded 0.2% higher.

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A strong auction for 5-year Treasury notes helped to push down yields for government paper across the board after foreign buyers showed strong appetite. Indirect buyers, a proxy for non-U.S. investors, snapped up 69.1% of the issue, its third largest in history of the auction. While, dealers, or traders authorized to buy and sell government securities from the Federal Reserve, took down 17.5% of the notes, their all-time smallest share. A smaller allocation to dealers can suggest a broader array of investors are interested in the issue. Prior to the sale, trading for Treasurys was mostly flat, but yields were dragged lower after the auction. The yield for the 5-year Treasury note [s:tmubmusd05y] slipped 1.7 basis point to 1.742%, while the 30-year Treasury bond’s yield [s:tmubmusd30y] fell from its intraday highs to 2.753%. The 10-year note’s yield [s:tmubmusd10y] was slightly lower at 2.162%. “The big buyside takedown suggests that there was strong foreign demand, but regardless of the source, there are strong buyers of 5s here,” wrote Thomas Simon, senior money market economist for Jefferies.

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From:: Stock Market News

A strong auction for 5-year Treasury notes helped to push down yields for government paper across the board after foreign buyers showed strong appetite. Indirect buyers, a proxy for non-U.S. investors, snapped up 69.1% of the issue, its third largest in history of the auction. While, dealers, or traders authorized to buy and sell government securities from the Federal Reserve, took down 17.5% of the notes, their all-time smallest share. A smaller allocation to dealers can suggest a broader array of investors are interested in the issue. Prior to the sale, trading for Treasurys was mostly flat, but yields were dragged lower after the auction. The yield for the 5-year Treasury note [s:tmubmusd05y] slipped 1.7 basis point to 1.742%, while the 30-year Treasury bond’s yield [s:tmubmusd30y] fell from its intraday highs to 2.753%. The 10-year note’s yield [s:tmubmusd10y] was slightly lower at 2.162%. “The big buyside takedown suggests that there was strong foreign demand, but regardless of the source, there are strong buyers of 5s here,” wrote Thomas Simon, senior money market economist for Jefferies.

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Saudi Arabia and Russia discussed the possibility of extending their production-cut agreement for another three months during a meeting in St. Petersburg in July, according to The Wall Street Journal. The agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some non-OPEC members to cut roughly 1.8 million barrels per day from their peak October 2016 levels, was due to expire at the end of March. Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio del Pino was set to visit Russia and Saudi Arabia to discuss compliance with the cuts and a possible extension of the deal ahead of a planned meeting on Sept. 22 in Vienna, according to the report, which cites people familiar with the matter. Oil futures continued to trade sharply lower, with October West Texas Intermediate crude down $1.55, or 3.2%, at $46.32 a barrel.

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Expedia Inc. Chairman Barry Diller confirmed in an email to employees Monday that Dara Khosrowshahi has been tapped as the next chief executive of Uber Technologies Inc. and said that he believes he’ll accept the job. “Nothing has been yet finalized, but having extensively discussed this with Dara I believe it is his intention to accept,” Diller wrote in the August 28 email, which was released in an filing with the SEC. He added that he has asked Khosrowshahi not to communicate with employees until he formally accepts or rejects the job. Shares of Expedia were down 4% Monday afternoon.

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After news of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s about $11 billion acquisition of Kite Pharma Inc. , Juno Therapeutics Inc. shares surged 16.3%, Bluebird Bio Inc. shares surged 9.7% and Cellectis SA ADR shares surged 11.8% in extremely heavy midday trade Monday. The Kite Pharma acquisition marks a large investment by Gilead into a cancer treatment called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T, which uses a patient’s immune T-cells and re-engineers them to better fight cancer. Juno, Bluebird and Cellectis are other biotech companies working in CAR-T. BTIF analyst Dane Leone upgraded Juno on Monday, adding, “we continue to be skeptical of JUNO’s current competitive positioning, but upgrade our ranking to Neutral from Sell, as there is not a near term catalyst to offset the positive tailwind for the entire CAR T space.” Though there has been speculation about Celgene — which owns about 10% of Juno’s current shares outstanding — acquiring Juno, “we would be surprised” by a full acquisition, Leone said, since “at this juncture with emerging overlap in Multiple Myeloma and third to market status in CD19 hematological malignancies, we struggle to find a rationale for Celgene wanting to fully own Juno.” Kite Pharma shares surged 28% in extremely heavy morning trade. Shares have surged 144% over the last three months, compared with a 1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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