Tag: stock market

Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that it will create more than 100,000 full-time, full-benefit jobs across the U.S. over the next 18 months. The new additions will take the U.S. full-time workforce from 180,000 in 2016 to more than 280,000 by mid-2018. The new jobs will be nationwide and cut across functions from software developers and engineers to entry-level positions, the company said. Most will be in fulfillment centers currently under construction in states including Texas, California and New Jersey. Amazon says it has created more than 150,000 jobs in the U.S. over the past five years. In addition to job creation, the company said more than 9,000 employees have taken advantage of the Career Choice program, which pre-pays 95% of tuition for a variety of courses. Amazon shares were last trading up 1%, but are up 30% for the past 12 months. The S&P 500 index is up 17% for the last year.

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Eli Lilly & Co.’s stock rallied 2.4% in midday trade Thursday, after the drugmaker confirmed a favorable court ruling related to its cancer treatment Alimta. The company said a federal appeals court upheld a district court ruling, that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s proposed generic products would infringe on Lilly’s vitamin regimen patent. Leerink Partners analyst Seamus Fernandez said the ruling “removes an overhang” and supports Lilly’s positive 2017 financial outlook. Teva’s stock fell 0.5% Thursday, which puts it on track to close at a 10-year low. Lilly’s stock has lost 4.1% over the past 12 months, while Teva shares have plunged 47%, the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has gained 3.8% and the S&P 500 has climbed 17%.

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U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to give a landmark speech Tuesday on her country’s plans for negotiating an exit from the European Union, according to multiple media reports. Critics have accused her of being unclear and not providing details on Brexit efforts. May denied that the government’s approach to Brexit is “muddled” in a Sunday interview with Sky News.

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VF Corp. was downgraded to hold from buy at Canaccord Genuity on concerns over executive departures and competition facing The North Face brand. The price target was cut to $54 from $64. Shares are down 1.2% in Thursday trading, and hit their lowest point in more than three years. VFC, whose brands include Wrangler and Timberland in addition to The North Face, has a new chief executive, Steven Rendle, as of Jan. 1. The company’s group president of VF International, Karl Heinz Salzburger, also announced that he would retire at the end of 2017. Canaccord analysts also learned that The North Face’s Chief Executive Todd Spaletto would be leaving the company after 13 years. Analysts believe these departures, at least, will lead to a period of adjustment or, at worst, could indicate greater challenges. Aside from executive issues, Canaccord analysts are also concerned that cold December weather wasn’t enough to offset weakness between September and November. With growing competition from brands like Canada Goose and Columbia Sportswear Co. and a “lull in innovation,” the brand has lost market share, analysts said. Canaccord forecasts a “reset likely coming” on the Mar. 30 analyst day “from what had been high-single digit revenue growth to mid-single digit growth for its outlook period.” VF Corp. shares are down 10.1% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 16.4% for the same period.

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Shares of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. plunged 16% in morning trade Thursday prior to a trading halt, which put them on track for the biggest one-day selloff in six years, after the automaker said the U.S. Environment Protection Agency issued a notice of violation with respect to its emissions control technology. The company said it was “disappointed” that it was issued the notice, which covers technology employed in 3.0-liter diesel engines in the company’s 2014 to 2016 model years. “FCA US looks forward to the opportunity to meet with the EPA’s enforcement division and representatives of the new administration to demonstrate that FCA US’s emissions control strategies are properly justified and thus are not ‘defeat devices’ under applicable regulations and to resolve this matter expeditiously,” the company said in a statement. The stock was halted for news as of 11:04 a.m. ET. It was on track for the biggest decline since Jan. 3, 2011, when it plummeted 54%. Volume prior to the halt was 42.9 million shares, more than 4-times the full-day average. The stock has gained 14% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has advanced 16%.

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Fear is on the rise. Wall Street’s most popular measure of uncertainty and anxiety in the stock market, the CBOE Volatility Index , climbed more than 11% Thursday, marking its sharpest daily rise since Nov. 3, 2016, according to FactSet data. The spike comes as the Dow Jones Industrial Average , the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index have staged their worst declines in weeks. The Dow, for example, is on track for its steepest daily drop since October. The pullback comes as investors rethink a rally in the equity market that has been supported by a raft of policy proposals by President-elect Donald Trump, which include looser regulations on Wall Street, tax cuts and an increase in fiscal spending– all factors that are expected to boost U.S. economic growth. However, a lack of details on his legislative agenda at Trump’s news conference on Wednesday may have raised concerns about his ability to make good on his promises. The VIX is used as a way for investors to bet declines in the S&P 500, and its levels of late have suggested that traders haven’t been wary of a big drop in stocks, which means a sudden tumble in equities could catch investors flat-footed. Still, current levels of the VIX at about 12.54 may not immediately raise red flags because readings of about 20 are seen as the clearest indication that fear is taking hold in the market. On Wednesday, the VIX also tipped higher on the heels of Trump’s conference.

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Hess Corp.’s stock tumbled 7.6% in morning trade, enough to make it the biggest decliner in the S&P 500 , after the oil and gas exploration company provided before the open its 2017 budget and production outlook. The selloff reverses a premarket gain of as much as 5.1%. Analyst Charles Robertson at Cowen & Co. said Hess’s 2017 guidance was lower than expected, as it suggests the ramp in the Bakken region is taking longer than forecast. He said the company’s 2017 production outlook of 300 million to 310 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, excluding Libya, was below consensus expectations of about 320 million, while the company’s capital expenditure budget of $2.25 billion was below expectations of about $2.4 billion. The stock was now up 10% over the past three months, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF was up 5.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 5.6%.

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Natural-gas futures gained more ground Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas fell by 151 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 6. That was more than the 137 billion cubic feet decline expected by analyst polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.160 trillion cubic feet, down 363 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 4 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. February natural gas rose 20.3 cents, or 6.3%, to $3.427 per million British thermal units. It traded at $3.345 before the data.

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Vista Outdoor Inc.’s stock plunged 17% toward a record closing low in active morning trade Thursday, after the maker of guns, ammunition and other outdoor sports products said an increasingly challenging retail environment will force it to record a “material” asset impairment charge. The stock was the biggest decliner listed on the New York Stock Exchange, on volume that was already almost triple the full-day average. The company said late Wednesday that the third-quarter impairment charge could be in the range of $400 million to $450 million. In comparison, the FactSet consensus for net income is $42 million for the third quarter, and $188.6 million for the full fiscal year. Vista had said in a conference call following fiscal second-quarter results revenue and gross margin declined as a challenging retail environment led to deeper discounting. “These sales and gross margin trends accelerated during the company’s recently completed third quarter to the point where this impairment charge is necessary to comply with accounting standards,” the company said in a statement. The stock has now tumbled 31% over the past year, while the S&P 500 has climbed 17%.

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U.S. stocks fell at the open on Thursday as investors expressed their disappointment at the lack of policy details provided during President-elect Donald Trump’s Wednesday press conference. The S&P 500 index shed 7 points, or 0.3%, to 2,268, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 63 points, or 0.3%, to 19,893. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 23 points, or 0.4%, to 5,540. In corporate news, Applied Optoelectronics Inc. shot higher after the company raised its earnings forecast. Meanwhile, investors focused on Delta Air Lines Inc. after the company posted quarterly earnings that matched forecasts and revenue that beat expectations.

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