Tag: stock market

Apple Inc. will open its new spaceship-like corporate headquarters to employees in April. The company, which has dubbed the facility Apple Park, said the 175-acre campus will be ready to be occupied within two months. The company will move more than 12,000 employees there over six months in 2017, while construction on non-core buildings and landscaping will continue through the summer. The 2.8 million-square-foot building features curved class and solar panels that will enable much of the facility to operate on renewable energy. It will also include a 1,000-seat auditorium for the company to host future flagship product events. The announcement comes as Apple stock trades at all-time highs, despite decelerating iPhone sales. Its shares ticked 0.16% lower to $195.96 in premarket trade Wednesday after notching an all-time high of $136.70 on Tuesday. Its shares have gained 22.3% in the past three months and 41% in the past year, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average , a 30-member index of which Apple is a part of. The Dow is up 9% in three months and 25% in the past year.

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Carnival Corp. said Wednesday that its joint venture in China has agreed to order the first cruise ships built in China for use in the Chinese market. The agreement is an update to terms of the September 2016 agreement between Carnival and China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC) The deal is for two ships, which will be built by CSSC and Italy-based Fincantieri S.p.A. with the first expected to deliver in 2023. There’s an option for four additional ships. The joint venture, announced in 2015, includes plans to launch a cruise brand in China using ships purchased from Carnival’s existing fleet and then to add Chinese-built ships to accelerate growth and meet increasing demand. Carnival holds a minority interest in the venture. Carnival Corp. shares are little changed in premarket trading, and up 16.4% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 21.6% for the last 12 months.

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Argos Therapeutics Inc. said an independent data monitoring committee recommended the Phase 3 trial of its treatment for renal cell carcinoma be “discontinued for futility,” based on an interim data analysis. The committee said the study as unlikely to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, which is the study’s primary endpoint. “We are extremely disappointed with these results, which included seventy-five percent of the targeted events needed to permit the primary analysis and assessment of overall survival in the study,” said Argos Chief Executive Jeff Abbey. Argos said it will determine the next steps for the treatment after it discusses the data with the Food and Drug Administration. The stock, which is currently halted for news until 8:30 a.m. ET, has lost 12% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.4%.

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Facebook Inc. is in discussions with Major League Baseball to stream some games in the upcoming season, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters citing people close to the matter. The deal would mark the latest effort by sports leagues to use social media as a way to reach new viewers, particularly those in younger demographics who continue to cut the proverbial cable cord. In 2016, Twitter Inc. struck a similar deal to stream NFL Thursday Night Football games. According to Bloomberg, the MLB deal would also include one game a week. Shares of Facebook traded around $133.60 in premarket trade Wednesday, outperforming the S&P 500 . They’ve gained 10% in the past three months and 25% in the past year, while the index has increased 7% in three months and 22% in a year.

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Aetna Inc. said Wednesday it has entered an accelerated share buyback with two dealers to repurchase shares worth $3.3 billion. The health insurer said it will execute the deal under its existing authorization and fund it with available cash. The company will pay $1.65 billion to each dealer on Wednesday and will receive an initial delivery of 10.4 million shares of its common stock. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but have gained 18% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 21.6%.

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Shares of Parker Drilling Co. plunged 13% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the provider of drilling services to the energy industry launched a public offering of 12 million shares of common stock. That would boost the number of shares outstanding, currently at about 125.2 million, by nearly 10%. The company said it also granted the underwriters of the offering options to buy up to an additional 1.8 million shares, and that it launched a public offering of $50 million worth of convertible preferred stock. Parker Drilling plans to use the proceeds from the offerings for general corporate purposes. On Tuesday, the company said it ended 2016 with $210 million in total liquidity. The stock has soared 90% over the past 12 months, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has climbed 24% and the S&P 500 has rallied 22%.

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Assured Guaranty Ltd. said Wednesday it will raise its quarterly dividend by 9.6% to 14.25 cents a share from 13 cents a share. The credit enhancement company’s new dividend will be payable March 22 to shareholders of record on March 8. Based on Tuesday’s stock closing price of $41.36, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 1.38%, compared with the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.01%, according to FactSet. Assured Guaranty’s stock, which was still inactive ahead of the open, has soared 71% over the past 12 months while the S&P 500 has gained 22%.

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SpaceX has been forced to delay a shipment to the international space station after a navigation error, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The problem with the GPS arose as the supply ship, called the Dragon, was less than a mile from the orbiting outpost, the AP reported. SpaceX said the problem can be resolved before another attempt to delivery supplies on Thursday, said the AP.

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Garmin Ltd. shares jumped 6% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the company blew past earnings estimates for the fourth quarter and offered upbeat guidance for 2017. The GPS maker said it had net income of $136.6 million, or 72 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $132.4 million, or 70 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 73 cents, well ahead of the FactSet consensus of 58 cents. Sales rose to $860.8 million from $781.4 million, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $793 million. Growth was driven by strong sales in the company’s outdoor, fitness, marine and aviation segments, Chief Executive Cliff Pemble said in a statement. For 2017, the company is expecting adjusted EPS of $2.65 and sales of about $3.02 billion. The current FactSet consensus is for 2017 EPS of $2.66 and $2.97 billion. Shares have gained 23% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 21.7%.

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Shares of Mobileye N.V. climbed 3% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. The company, which provides technology that helps power driverless cars, reported net income of $32.6 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $18.8 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding one-time items, non-GAAP earnings were 22 cents, topping the average analyst estimate of 20 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue for the three-month period climbed 45.6% to $104.6 million from $71.8 million in the year-earlier period, beating the consensus estimate of $96.4 million. Mobileye attributed the results to stronger demand for autonomous-vehicle technology that helped spur new business from automakers. Mobileye stock has increased more than 18% in the past three months and 59% in the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 , which is up 7% in the past three months and 22% in the past year.

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