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Women’s clothing retailer Chico’s FAS Inc. said Wednesday it is raising its quarterly dividend by 3% to 8.50 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable April 2 to shareholders of record as of March 19. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have fallen 36% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.
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GPS provider Garmin Ltd. said Wednesday it had net income of $138.8 million, or 73 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $136.6 million, or 72 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 70 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 75 cents. Sales rose to $888.5 million from $860.8 million, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $871 million. Outdoor, fitness, marine and aviation revenue grew 9% over the year-earlier quarter to account for 78% of total revenue. Looking ahead, Garmin said it expects full-year revenue of about $3.2 billion, compared with a current FactSet consensus of $3.1 billion. EPS is expected to come to about $3.05, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $2.97. Shares were slightly higher premarket, but have gained 29% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.
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MKM Partners raised its Amazon.com Inc.’s price target to $1,750 from $1,350 on analyst belief that the company has created a competitive advantage that it can maintain and grow into other categories. “We continue to think Amazon is the best growth story of all the mega-caps over the very long term,” analyst Rob Sanderson wrote in a note. MKM maintained its buy stock rating. Analysts highlight investor support for Amazon’s investment spending; say that higher-margin businesses, like AWS and advertising, are growth engines for the e-commerce giant; and highlight the online retail growth of 19% in 2017. MKM sees prospects for earnings per share of $78 in 2022, up from previous estimate of $66. Amazon shares are up 0.7% in premarket trading, and up 71.5% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 15% for the last 12 months.
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Dish Network Corp. said Wednesday it had net income of $1.39 billion, or $2.64 a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $355 million, or 73 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Net income included an income tax benefit of about $1.2 billion due to adjustments to deferred tax assets and liabilities, following the tax revamp signed into law in December. Revenue fell to $3.48 billion from $3.75 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 55 cents and revenue of $3.524 billion. The company ended the quarter with 13.242 million pay-TV subscribers, including 11.030 million Dish TV subscribers and 2.212 million Sling TV subscribers. Net pay-TV subscribers rose about 39,000 in the quarter, including 75,000 reactivations in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, following the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have fallen 29% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 15%.
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Vice President Mike Pence was set to secretly meet with North Korean officials during his recent trip to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but the North Koreans pulled out of the meeting at the last minute, according to reports Tuesday. The Washington Post reported Pence’s meeting with Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and premier Kim Yong Nam was canceled about two hours before it was scheduled to start. “We regret their failure to seize this opportunity,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. Both the Post and AP said the North Koreans ditched the meeting over Pence’s hard-line stance, as well as displeasure over recent new sanctions.
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Nearly half of the U.S. Senate’s 51 Republicans urged President Trump to revive talks with Japan, Canada, Australia and eight other countries on a trade deal the White House rejected last year. The so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership is set to go into effect soon without the U.S. after years of negotiations. “As you know, increased economic engagement with the eleven nations currently in the TPP has the potential to substantially improve the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, support millions of U.S. jobs, increase U.S. exports, increase wages, fully unleash America’s energy potential, and benefit consumers,” the letter by 25 senators said. The senators also said the TPP, which excludes China, would help act as a counter to Chinese influence.
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Foot Locker Inc. said late Tuesday its board of directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of 34.5 cents a share, payable on May 4 to shareholders of record on April 20. That represents an 11% increase in the dividend, the company said. The retailer also said its board approved a $230 million capital expenditures program for this year, compared with about $270 million spent in 2017. That reflects the company’s “greater focus on digital and supply chain initiatives relative to investments in real estate,” Foot Locker said in a statement. “The digital investments include enhancements to its mobile and web platforms, the global roll-out of its new point-of-sale software, and expanding data analytics capabilities.” Spending on its stores, however, will still comprise the majority of the company’s capital expenditures, and will include ongoing store remodels as well as the testing of off-mall retail formats, the company said. Shares of Foot Locker were flat in after-hours trading and ended the regular trading session down 2%.
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Shares of LendingClub Corp. fell more than 4% late Tuesday after the company missed fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and sales expectations. The lender also said it had reached a preliminary settlement of class-action lawsuits filed in federal and California state courts arising from some legacy issues disclosed in 2016. LendingClub said it lost $92.1 million, or 22 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $32.3 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-ago period, thanks mostly to the class-action litigation settlement expense of $77.25 million in the period, it said. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 1 cent a share in the quarter, versus a loss of 2 cents a share a year ago. Revenue reached $156.5 million, up 20% from $30.5 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 2 cents a share on sales of $157.6 million. LendingClub shares ended the regular trading session up 4.6%.
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Shares of Walmart Inc. on Tuesday got walloped, with the retailing giant notching its worst dollar and percentage decline of all time, according to FactSet data. The world’s largest retailer was under heavy selling pressure, down 10.2%, or $10.67, after it said online sales growth slowed during the fourth quarter. That marks a turn from three quarters of strong online growth, for the Bentonville, Ark.-based company as it attempts to wage war against rival and retailing behemoth Amazon.com Inc. . Walmart has been a publicly traded company since the early 1970s. On the upside, Walmart reported that sales in existing stores rose 2.6% in the fourth quarter, representing its 14th consecutive quarter of growth. Walmart’s decline weighed on the broader market, yanking the Dow Jones Industrial Average , where it is a component, down by about 70 points, while the S&P 500 index’s consumer-staples sector, as measured by the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF , also got whacked, with declines there weighing on the broad-market S&P 500. Nearly all the components of the XLP, referring to its ticker, ended in negative territory. The Dow closed the session down 254 points, or 1%, at 24,964, the S&P 500 index settled off 0.6% at 2,716, while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index finished near flat, off less than 0.1%, at 7,234.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Tuesday sharply lower, weighed by a historic pullback in shares of Walmart Inc. Walmart’s shares finished the session down about 10.2%, or $10.67, at $94.11, marking the retailing giant’s worst daily point and percentage decline in history, according to FactSet data. That decline weighed mightily on the Dow, exacting a more than 70-point toll. A $1 swing in any one of the Dow’s 30 components equating to a 6.89-point move. Walmart Inc.’s share stumble comes after its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings a share were weaker than forecast. Much of of the Dow’s 254-point drop, or 1%, to 24,964 was tied to Walmart. A pair of Dow components, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also delivered a downward blow to the equity gauge. The S&P 500 index retreated 0.6% to end at around 2,716, while the Nasdaq Composite Index finished near break-even at, off less than 0.1%, at 7,234.
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