Tag: stock market

VF Corp. , the distributor of brands including North Face, Timberland and Wrangler, on Thursday outlined plans for the five-year period through 2021, and said it expects to return $8 billion to shareholders in the period. In a statement released ahead of an investor meeting, the company said it will overhaul its portfolio, shift to a consumer and retail-centric model, boost direct-to-consumer and digital operations and shift investment to Asia, especially China. The company expects revenue to grow at a five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4% to 6% in the period, EPS to grow at a five-year CAGR of 10% to 12% and margins to reach 51.5% by 2021. The company expects to generate more than $9 billion of cash. The company’s board has approved a new $5 billion share buyback. VF Corp. is planning to change its fiscal year end to March 31 from the Saturday closest to Dec. 31 of each year, which it expects will give it better visibility into revenue growth and expense planning. Shares have gained more than 5% in the year so far, in line with the S&P 500’s gains.

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North Carolina lawmakers said they have reached an agreement to repeal the state’s controversial “bathroom law.” Republicans in the state legislature announced the deal with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper late Wednesday night, and said the bill would be voted on Thursday morning, according to multiple news reports. The law, passed last year, banned transgender people from using public bathrooms of their gender identity. The law sparked outrage from the LGBT community and boycotts from a number of businesses, organizations and entertainers, which reportedly have cost the state $3.76 billion in lost business. Details of the compromise measure were not announced. The state was pressured to act because it was poised to lose hosting rights to NCAA championship games through 2022. LGBT leaders have said nothing less than a complete repeal of the law will be acceptable.

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A restraining order blocking President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban was extended indefinitely Wednesday night by a federal judge in Hawaii. Technically, Judge Derrick Watson converted the ruling from a temporary restraining order, which is only meant to last a couple of weeks, to a more lasting preliminary injunction. In its lawsuit against the executive order, the state of Hawaii claims the travel ban unfairly discriminates against Muslims. Earlier this month, federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland issued rulings blocking the executive order a day before it was scheduled to take effect. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has already ruled against the White House over its previous travel ban.

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Gartner Inc. will replace Dun & Bradstreet Corp. on the S&P 500 index , S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Wednesday. The switch comes as tech research and advisory company Gartner is set to close on its acquisition of CEB Inc. . “Post-merger, Gartner will be more representative of the large-cap market space,” S&P said, while “Dun & Bradstreet has a market capitalization more representative of the mid-cap market space.” The change is expected to take effect before the open of markets on April 5, S&P said. Gartner shares declined 0.6% to $108 after hours.

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Apple Inc. closed at a record high for the second straight day and sixth time in the month of March on Wednesday, pushing the company’s market capitalization to $756 billion. Apple shares rose 0.2% to $144.12 Wednesday, narrowly topping Tuesday’s record close even as rival Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd introduced its new iPhone rival, the Galaxy S8, and App Annie reported that Alphabet Inc.’s Android operating system would top Apple’s iOS in app revenue for the first time this year. Apple has now gained 23.5% in the past three months and 33.8% in the past year, easily outpacing S&P 500 index gains of 4.9% and 14.8% in those periods.

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Ivanka Trump, the elder daughter of President Donald Trump, will become an unpaid federal employee, she told The New York Times in a statement. Her title will be special assistant to the president; her husband, Jared Kushner, is senior adviser. Ivanka Trump will file the financial disclosure forms required of federal employees and be bound to same ethics rules.

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ConocoPhillips shares rallied in the extended session Wednesday after the oil company agreed to sell its interest in an oil sands joint venture to Cenovus Energy Inc. ConocoPhillips shares rallied 5.7% to $48.58, while Cenovus shares fell 8.3% to $12 after hours. Under the agreement, Cenovus will acquire ConocoPhillips’s 50% stake in the FCCL Partnership, which is operated by Cenovus, for $17.7 billion, or $14.1 billion cash and 208 million Cenovus shares. The companies expect the deal to close in the second quarter.

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ConocoPhillips shares rallied in the extended session Wednesday after the oil company agreed to sell its interest in an oil sands joint venture to Cenovus Energy Inc. ConocoPhillips shares rallied 5.7% to $48.58, while Cenovus shares fell 8.3% to $12 after hours. Under the agreement, Cenovus will acquire ConocoPhillips’s 50% stake in the FCCL Partnership, which is operated by Cenovus, for $17.7 billion, or $14.1 billion cash and 208 million Cenovus shares. The companies expect the deal to close in the second quarter.

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Oil prices rose Wednesday to finish at their highest level in roughly three weeks. Data from the Energy Information Administration revealed a weekly rise in U.S. crude supplies that was below some market expectations, along with bigger-than-expected drops in gasoline and distillate stockpiles. Disruptions to crude production in Libya added further support to oil prices. May West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.14, or 2.4%, to settle at $49.51 a barrel.

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Citizens Financial Group Inc. shares took a sharp turn down Wednesday, after a Wall Street Journal report that employees fabricated meetings with customers to meet goals set by the bank. Eleven current and former branch employees told the paper that bankers lied about the number of meetings they were having with customers as part of the company’s “Citizens Checkup” program. In some instances, bankers falsified forms to make them look more like records of real meetings. The bank responded by saying it had no data to support those claims and “strict controls and standards” to detect such behavior. Shares of Providence, R.I.-based Citizens were last down 3% and have fallen 4.8% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained more than 5%.

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