Tag: stock market

Industrial and defense stocks were major gainers Friday, as investors digested earnings reports from some big names in the sector, including General Electric Co. and Honeywell International Inc. . Rockwell Collins Inc. led S&P 500 gainers with a 3.4% gain, after it beat profit and sales expectations for its first quarter. Honeywell was in second place with a 2.5% gain after it reported stronger-than-expected earnings and raised the low end of its guidance range for the full year. Textron Inc. , which reported earlier this week, was up 1.8%. Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. were both up about 1%. GE, which posted strong results for its industrial segment but weakness in oil & gas, bucked the trend to trade down 0.7%. The S&P 500 was flat.

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Uber Technologies Inc. has lengthened the timeline of its internal investigation into claims of sexual harassment at the company, Recode reported. The investigation began after a former engineer wrote a blog post detailing sexual harassment she had faced at the company. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is leading the investigation and has asked for more time to conduct interviews, Recode reported, citing sources. The results of the investigation are now expected to come out by the end of May. Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Onconova Therapeutics Inc. shares dropped 12.3% to $2.19 in morning trade Friday after the company priced a stock offering at $2.10 per share. Shares were valued at $2.49 as of Thursday’s close. The company plans to offer about 2.5 million shares on or about April 26 for an expected $5.2 million that it plans to use to develop its drug for higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, which are considered a form of cancer and are related to bone marrow damage. Onconova shares have declined 10.9% over the last three months, compared with a 3.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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U.S. stocks opened little-changed as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the first round of voting in the French presidential election, which takes place Sunday. The S&P 500 index was unchanged at 2,355, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 20,592. The Nasdaq Composite Index was little-changed at 5,915. While centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron remains the favorite to win overall, some fear that the National Front’s Marine Le Pen and far-left contender Jean Luc Melenchon might advance to the second round, an upset that would lead to a “nightmare scenario” for markets. Corporate earnings reports released Friday before the bell were generally positive, as shares of industrial conglomerate General Electric Co. rallied after its earnings surpassed expectations. Honeywell International Inc. also beat, sending shares higher. Meanwhile, shares of Mattel Inc. slumped after the toy maker’s quarterly results, released late Thursday, missed the mark.

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Bebe Stores Inc. announced Friday that it will liquidate all merchandise and inventory and close all stores by the end of May 2017. In the 8K filing, the women’s clothing and accessories retailer said it would also sell certain furnishings, fixtures and equipment. The company expects an impairment charge of about $20 million from deferred rents and other credits, a result of the store closures. The impairment charge will be recorded with the third and fourth quarters of 2017. And it may incur a loss from the sale of its merchandise. Bebe had 180 retail stores as of Dec. 31, 2016 and about 2,601 employees as of July 2, 2016, according to filings. The company had anticipated closing up to 25 stores in 2017. Bebe shares are down 0.3% in premarket trading and down 37.3% for the past year.

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Mattel Inc. shares sank 6.8% toward a five-month low in Friday premarket trading after the toy company reported first-quarter earnings that missed expectations. The late-Thursday announcement also brought down Hasbro Inc. shares, which fell 2.1% in premarket activity. Mattel reported a loss per share of 33 cents and an adjusted loss per share of 32 cents. The FactSet consensus was a 17-cent loss. Sales plunged 15%, totaling $735.6 million down from $869.4 million last year. The FactSet consensus was $794.0 million. Mattel shares are down 19% for the last year, Hasbro shares are up 10.6% for the period, and the S&P 500 index is up 12.6% for the past 12 months.

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Wells Fargo & Co. said Friday it is expanding the class-action settlement for its retail sales practices by $32 million, bringing the total to $142 million. The settlement will now include customers who were impacted by the bank’s retail sales practices as early as May of 2002, the bank said in a statement. Wells Fargo became the subject of a major scandal last year, when it admitted that employees had opened as many as 2 million accounts without customer authorization between 2011 and 2016 to meet sales targets. The bank said the new agreement has been submitted to the Northern District of California court. Wells Fargo is expecting this latest move to resolve claims in 11 other pending class actions regarding unauthorized accounts that were opened in customers names without their consent. Shares were slightly higher in premarket trade, but are down 3% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 5%.

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Shares of XBiotech Inc. plummeted 30% in premarket trade Friday, after the biosciences company indicated its cancer treatment’s marketing application would not be recommended by a European review panel. The company said late Thursday that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) rendered a negative “trend” vote related to XBiotech’s marketing authorization application for its antibody candidate for the treatment of colorectal cancer, with the key outstanding issue related to clinical relevance of the therapy. A negative trend vote suggests it is unlikely that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use will give a positive opinion at the formal decision vote scheduled in May. It means additional steps will likely be needed to gain marketing approval. “We are disappointed by the outcome of the meeting. We believe that the data speak in a clear and resounding voice to clinical relevance of a new antibody therapy in advanced colorectal cancer,” said Chief Executive John Simard. The stock had rocketed 68% year to date through Thursday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF had climbed 9.4% and the S&P 500 had gained 5.2%.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said early Friday that the company’s new plaque psoriasis drug Siliq will cost $3,500 a month. Siliq, an injectable drug that Valeant got the rights for from AstraZeneca , is intended for patients with moderate-to-severe iterations of the chronic skin condition, who haven’t responded to other medications. Valeant said the $3,500 price tag was “the lowest injectable biologic psoriasis treatment currently on the market” and was evaluated and approved by its Patient Access and Pricing Committee, which was created in May 2016 after a series of scandals, including one about drug pricing, rocked the company. Valeant expects to start selling and marketing Siliq starting in the second half of this year. Siliq’s label will contain a “black box warning” about risks for patients with a history of suicidal thoughts or behavior. Valeant shares, which slumped 0.5% in premarket trade on Friday, have dropped 39.7% over the last three months, compared with a 3.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Amazon.com Inc. said Friday that it will create 2,500 full-time jobs in New Jersey through three new fulfillment centers. The state already has seven facilities. Employees at the new Cranbury Township and Logan Township centers will pick, pack and ship larger items like patio furniture and music equipment. Workers at the Edison fulfillment center will handle smaller items like books and toys. Amazon announced in January that it would create 100,000 jobs over the course of 18 months, many in fulfillment centers. Amazon shares are up 0.2% in premarket trading and up 43% over the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 12.6% for the last 12 months.

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