RH shares rally on higher-than-expected forecast

Shares of RH , the company formerly known as Restoration Hardware, rallied in the extended session Thursday after the high-end home furnishings retailer forecast higher-than-expected quarterly results. RH shares surged 14% to $28.70 after hours. The company said it expects adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 68 cents a share on adjusted revenue of about $590 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 65 cents a share on revenue of $584.7 million. Separately, RH said its board authorized up to $300 million in stock buybacks.

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Acacia Communications plunges after disappointing forecast

Acacia Communications Inc. plummeted 17% in late trading Thursday after the networking company projected sharply lower earnings and revenue than Wall Street expected. Acacia, which went public in May amid a sudden resurgence in investor demand for optical-networking companies, reported net income of $64.5 million, or $1.55 a share, on sales of $142.4 million. After adjustments for stock-based compensation, Acacia reported adjusted earnings of 94 cents a share. That performance easily beat average analyst forecasts of 90 cents a share in adjusted earnings on sales of $139.7 million, according to FactSet, but Acacia’s forecast fell far short of expectations. The Maynard, Mass., company projected first-quarter adjusted earnings of 63 cents to 70 cents a share on revenue of $108 million to $114 million. Analysts on average projected adjusted profit of 78 cents a share on revenue of $137.3 million, according to FactSet. Acacia shares, which closed with a 1.9% gain at $63.43, plunged to close to $52 in after-hours action. The stock has been very volatile in its first year on Wall Street, with prices ranging from $27.05 to $128.73; at Thursday’s closing price, the company had a market capitalization of $2.37 billion.

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Splunk shares drop as outlook falls short of Street view

Splunk Inc. shares fell in the extended session Thursday after the data-analysis company’s outlook for the quarter fell short of Wall Street estimates. Splunk shares dropped 7.2% to $60.25 after hours. The company forecast revenue of $231 million to $233 million in the fiscal first quarter, and about $1.19 billion for the year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated revenue of $241.5 million for the first quarter, and $1.19 billion for the year. For the fiscal fourth quarter, Splunk reported adjusted earnings of 25 cents a share on revenue of $306.5 million. Analysts expected 17 cents a share on revenue of $288.2 million.

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Gap shares rise after earnings and sales beat

Gap Inc. shares rose 1% in late-Thursday trading after the retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. Gap Inc., whose brands include the namesake chain of stores, Banana Republic and Old Navy, reported net income of $220.0 million, or 55 cents per share, up from $214.0 million, or 53 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS was 51 cents, beating the 50-cent FactSet consensus. Sales totaled $4.43 billion, up from $4.39 billion and ahead of the $4.41 billion FactSet consensus. Same-store sales were up 2%, with Old Navy reporting a 1% same-store sales increase, and Gap and Banana Republic reporting same-store sales declines of 3% and 7% respectively. The company sees fiscal 2017 EPS in the range of $1.95 to $2.05. Same-store sales are expected to be flat or up slightly. Gap shares are down 12.1% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 23% for the same period.

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise falls after revenue miss, slashed earnings forecast

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. shares dropped sharply Thursday afternoon after the company reported lower sales than expected and slashed its earnings projections for the fiscal year. HPE revealed net income of $267 million, or 16 cents a share, on sales of $11.41 billion for the fiscal first quarter. After adjusting for restructuring charges and a host of other costs, HPE claimed adjusted profit of 45 cents a share. Analysts on average expected HPE to report adjusted earnings of 44 cents a share, the midpoint of HPE’s forecast of 42 cents to 46 cents a share, on sales of $12.06 billion. HPE brought down its previous forecast for full-year earnings, to a range of 60 cents to 70 cents a share on a GAAP basis and $1.88 to $1.98 a share after adjustments. HP’s previous projections called for standard profit of 72 cents to 82 cents a share and adjusted earnings of $2 to $2.10 a share. In its announcement, HPE cited three “significant headwinds” that have developed since those projections were provided in October: “increased pressure from foreign exchange movements, higher commodities pricing, and some near-term execution issues.” HPE shares dropped nearly 6% in late trading, after closing with a 0.5% decline at $24.66.

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The Nasdaq Composite is on the verge of ending one bullish 2017 win streak

The Nasdaq on Thursday is on track to end in negative territory on back-to-back days for the first time in 2017. The tech-heavy index was under pressure, off 0.5% at 5,832 in late-afternoon trade, as shares of tech companies slumped, including Nvidia Corp. which threatened to see its biggest daily drop ever. The last time the Nasdaq Composite Index fell on successive sessions was the three-day period to end 2016, according to FactSet data. That’s 36 days without a two days in a row in the red, which marks the longest such streak since Aug. 25, 2016, Dow Jones data show. So far, the Nasdaq has only declined 9 times this year and hasn’t seen a 1% drop since Dec. 1, 2016, representing 56 trading days. The index’s longest streak without a 1% tumble was 73 trading days from Jan. 4, 1995 to April 18, 1995, when it closed down 1.1% on the 74th. The downtrend for the Nasdaq comes as the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are trading slightly higher, with blue-chips set for 10 straight days of gains, its longest such streak in 30 years.

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The Nasdaq Composite is on the verge of snapping one bullish 2017 win streak

The Nasdaq on Thursday is on track to end in negative territory on back-to-back days for the first time in 2017. The tech-heavy index was under pressure, off 0.5% at 5,831 in late-afternoon trade, as shares of tech companies slumped, including Nvidia Corp. which threatened to see its biggest daily drop ever. The last time the Nasdaq Composite Index fell on successive sessions was the three-day period to end 2016, according to FactSet data. That’s 36 days without a two days in a row in the red, which marks the longest such streak since Aug. 25, 2016, Dow Jones data show. So far, the Nasdaq has only declined 9 times this year and hasn’t seen a 1% drop since Dec. 1, 2016, representing 56 trading days. The index’s longest streak without a 1% tumble was 73 trading days from Jan. 4, 1995 to April 18, 1995, when it closed down 1.1% on the 74th. The downtrend for the Nasdaq comes as the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are trading slightly higher, with blue-chips set for 10 straight days of gains, its longest such streak in 30 years.

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Prologis boosts dividend by nearly 5%

Prologis Inc. said Thursday that it raised its quarterly dividend by nearly 5% to 44 cents a share from 42 cents a share. The logistic real estate company’s new dividend will be payable March 31 to shareholders of record on March 15. Based on current share prices, the new annual dividend rate of $1.76 a share represents a dividend yield of 3.49%, compared with the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.01%, according to FactSet. The stock, which was up 0.2% in afternoon trade, has run up 33% over the past three months, while the SPDR Real Estate Select Sector ETF has gained 6.6% and the S&P 500 has rallied 23%.

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Oil futures end higher after smaller-than-expected inventory rise

Oil futures ended higher Thursday, maintaining gains after data showed a smaller-than-expected rise in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery rose 86 cents, or 1.6%, to close at $54.45 a barrel. Oil spiked then trimmed gains after the Energy Information Administration said crude inventories rose by 600,000 barrels in the week ended Feb. 17. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had penciled in, on average, a 3.4 million barrel rise.

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The Nasdaq Composite is threatening to snap one bullish 2017 win streak

The Nasdaq on Thursday is on track to end in negative territory on back-to-back days for the first time in 2017. The tech-heavy index was under pressure, off 0.5% at 5,831 in late-afternoon trade, as shares of tech companies slumped, including Nvidia Corp. which threatened to see its biggest daily drop ever. The last time the Nasdaq Composite Index fell on successive sessions was the three-day period to end 2016, according to FactSet data. That’s 36 days without a two days in a row in the red, which marks the longest such streak since Aug. 25, 2016, Dow Jones data show. So far, the Nasdaq has only declined 9 times this year and hasn’t seen a 1% drop since Dec. 1, 2016, representing 56 trading days. The index’s longest streak without a 1% tumble was 73 trading days from Jan. 4, 1995 to April 18, 1995, when it closed down 1.1% on the 74th. The downtrend for the Nasdaq comes as the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are trading slightly higher, with blue-chips set for 10 straight days of gains, its longest such streak in 30 years.

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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