Tag: stock market

U.S. stocks on Thursday began trade near break-even levels, as investors attempted to shake off Wednesday’s about-face that saw the Dow erase a 200-point advance, partly based on worries about the Federal Reserve’s plan to shrink its $4.5 trillion balance sheet this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened flat at 20,638, but tilting lower, the S&P 500 index was about a point lower, or less than 0.1%, at 2,351, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was steady at 5,867.
Weighing on investors’ minds are concerns that President Donald Trump’s tax-reform plans will take longer than expected, as were jitters over a meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. On the economic front, a report on jobless claims showed that the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week sank by 25,000 to 234,000, marking the second-lowest level of the current economic expansion. The report comes ahead of the closely watched nonfarm-payrolls report due Friday and a health private-sector employment report on Wednesday. In corporate news, Amazon.com Inc. said it plans on hiring 30,000 part-time workers in 2018.

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Coach Inc. said Thursday that it has named Ian Bickley to a newly-created role in the company, president of global business development and strategic alliances, effective July 2. Bickley will be responsible for strategic partnerships, oversee real estate development, and lead strategic distributor relationships, licensing partnerships and other collaborations. Bickley is currently Coach’s president of the international group and has been with the company for 24 years. Coach shares are inactive in premarket trading, but up 12.3% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 5.1% for the year to date.

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Warner Music Group’s Latina division and Natcom Global said on Thursday they’ve reached an agreement to collaborate on production and distribution of online video. The video will be distributed through Natcom’s Vidweb platform to online publishers and will be regionally focused, as well as available in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Video will include everything from artist interviews, red carpet events and behind the scenes footage. And Warner Music Latina and its artists will share in any advertising revenue generated by video on third-party platforms.

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Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. said Thursday that it has raised its annual dividend by 5.4%, to $1.37 per share from $1.30 per share. The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3425 per share for the first quarter ending March 31, 2017. The cash dividend is payable on May 15, 2017 to shareholders of record as of April 28. Tanger Factory Outlet shares are inactive in premarket trading, and down 11.1% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 14% for the last 12 months.

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Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC shares surged as much as 6.6% in premarket trade on Thursday after the company said it had reached a settlement with Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC over Hikma’s plans for a generic version of Jazz Pharma’s narcolepsy drug Xyrem. The agreement allows Hikma to sell an authorized generic of Xyrem starting in 2023 but also grants Jazz a royalty on net sales. Hikma can sell the authorized generic for six months to five years total, and Jazz receives a “substantial” increase in its royalty rate if Hika sells the drug for more than a year. Hikma will also pay Jazz to supply the authorized generic drug, and reimburse Jazz for some distribution costs and part of the cost of marketing the authorized generic drug, which will happen through Jazz’s program. After the end of the authorized generic period, Hikma can sell its generic drug on its own. Janney upgraded Jazz on the settlement to buy, saying “while this comes about three years earlier than previous settlements with other generic filers, it eliminates the risk of an earlier launch.” Jazz is also receiving royalties, has the option to launch its own authorized generic and can allow other authorized generics after Hikma’s 180-day exclusivity period, Janney analyst Ken Trbovich said. Jazz shares were valued at $140.65 as of Wednesday’s close. Shares have surged 22.1% over the last three months, compared with a 3.3% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Twitter Inc. unveiled a low-data, mobile Twitter feature Thursday called “Twitter Lite.” Twitter Lite works as a mobile site, not through the Twitter app, minimizes data usage and loads quickly on slow internet connections. Users will still see their timeline, tweets, direct messages and other notifications with the option to load the visual content. The feature is meant to tackle issues users have faced loading the site in slow mobile network areas, such as in the Asia Pacific, India, Latin America and Africa, as well as issues with expensive data plans or lack of storage. Shares of Twitter were up 0.5% in premarket trade Thursday. Shares of Twitter have fallen 6% in the past month, compared to the S&P 500’s loss of 1%.

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Shares of Advanced Micro Devices fell nearly 4% in premarket trade Thursday after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the stock with a sell rating. Analyst Toshiya Hari slapped an $11 12-month price target on the stock, which implies 22% downside from Wednesday’s close price of $14.17. While Hari acknowledged the strides AMD has made under Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su since she was appointed in 2012, he said the stock seems to have already priced in a sharp improvement in its competitive and financial position. He finds current valuation metrics difficult to justify and expects shares to underperform the market after AMD’s analyst day in May. Among the problems facing AMD is competition from Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. , which Hari said will likely offset any meaningful traction AMD gets with new products. Shares of AMD have increased 25% in the past three months and more than 400%in the past year, vastly outperforming the S&P 500 , up 3% and 14%, respectively.

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Constellation Brands reported stronger fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, which it attributed to gains in high-end whiskey sales. The wine and spirits seller reported net income of $452 million, or $2.26 a share, compared with $296 million, or $1.48 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales came in at $1.63 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. The company issued at outlook for fiscal 2018; with earnings per share of $7.65 to $7.95 and comparable-basis EPS of $7.70 to $8.

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Pacific Crest Securities said Thursday it expects Netflix Inc. to deliver strong long-term returns, but views the stock as more neutral at current levels as it awaits first-quarter earning scheduled for April 17. Analysts led by Andy Hargreaves wrote in a note that they expect the first-quarter results to be solid, but there is a risk that international expectations for the second quarter may disappoint. “A broader strategic effort may be necessary to drive appreciation beyond our $170 price target, said Hargreaves. Netflix shares closed Wednesday at $143.62. “Although we believe Netflix is extremely well positioned to expand into a variety of areas, timing of potential catalysts related to this is uncertain and seems unlikely to come in the near term,” said the note. Netflix shares have gained 16% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Amazon.com Inc. plans to hire more than 5,000 part-time workers in the next year to work from home as customer service agents. The new roles are part of the company’s plan to hire 30,000 part-timers in the U.S. over the next 12 months. The employees will work 20 or more hours a week and receive benefits. The rest of the 25,000 part-time jobs it is looking to fill over the next year will be in its fulfillment centers. Shares of Amazon gained 0.2% to $911.55 in premarket trade. They’ve increased 51% in the past 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500 , up 14%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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