Tag: stock market

Natural-gas futures turned lower Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas fell by 49 billion cubic feet for the week ended Dec. 30. That was well below the 106 billion cubic feet expected by Citi Futures. Total stocks now stand at 3.311 trillion cubic feet, down 364 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 21 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. February natural gas lost 9.1 cents, or 2.8%, to $3.176 per million British thermal units. It traded at $3.288 before the data.

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Watch maker Fossil Group said Thursday it is planning to double its wearables product line-up in 2017 to more than 300 new products and will add extra brands to its stable. These include Armani Exchange hybrid smartwatches, and Misfit’s Vapor, the first touchscreen smartwatch featuring a heart rate, GPS and standalone music functions. The company said it launched more than 140 new wearables in 2016 across 40 countries. Shares fell 6% in early trade, and are down 24% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 12%.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Thursday that has purchased ShoeBuy, an IAC/InterActive Corp. property, for about $70 million. ShoeBuy, an online apparel and accessories retailer, was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Boston. The site will continue to operate as a standalone and complementary site to Jet.com, the e-commerce site that Wal-Mart purchased for $3.3 billion in an August 2016 deal. ShoeBuy’s Chief Executive Mike Sorabella, the company’s executives and its 200-plus employees will join the Wal-Mart organization, and the site’s suppliers will have the option to expand their reach by selling merchandise on Jet.com. Wal-Mart shares are down 0.5% in Thursday trading, but up 9.2% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 12.5% for the last 12 months.

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Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings on Thursday placed ratings on department store chain Macy’s Inc. on CreditWatch negative, meaning it could downgrade the credit in the near term. S&P rates Macy’s at BBB, or two notches above speculative, or “junk” status. The move comes after Macy’s late Wednesday warned on 2016 profit after weaker-than-expected holiday sales. It also announced it was cutting 6,000 jobs. “The
extent of any downgrade will incorporate our view of Macy’s ability to cope with the weak operating trends in the department store sector that continue to reflect symptoms of secular changes in the retail industry,” said S&P. “While many department stores have considerable excess real estate, consumers are increasingly shifting their purchases online, drawn by convenience, selection, and price transparency.” Macy’s shares were trading down 12%, while the S&P 500 was flat.

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Sears Holdings Corp. said Thursday that it will shutter an additional 150 stores in an effort to increase financial flexibility and improve operating performance. Shares are up 5.9% in early trading. Sears announced earlier in premarket that it will sell its Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. , a deal that has a cumulative value of $775 million, including use of the Craftsman license royalty-free for 15 years. Sears will generate up to $1 billion in liquidity through a $500 million loan, secured by real estate properties valued at more than $800 million and a previously announced standby letter of credit facility of up to $500 million, the company said. Sears will close 109 Kmart stores and 41 Sears stores. While these locations generated $1.2 billion in sales over the past year, they had an adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $60 million for that period. Same-store sales at both Sears and Kmart for the first two months of the fourth quarter so far have declined in the range of 12% and 13%. Sears shares are down 45.5% for the last year while the S&P 500 index are up 12.6% for the same period.

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U.S. stocks opened marginally lower on Thursday, as investors turned cautions after mixed labor-market data and poor numbers from retailers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 16 points or 0.1%, at 19,922. The index struggled to pass through the psychologically important 20,000 level for weeks. The S&P 500 declined 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,268, hovering near its all-time high set in December. The Nasdaq Composite began the session down 3 points, or 0.1%, at 5,473.

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Allergan PLC issued 2017 guidance Thursday saying that the company expects to deliver non-GAAP mid-single-digit top-line net revenue growth. The growth is assumed based on stable net revenue for Restasis, a medication for chronic dry eye and a combination of the launch of Namenda XR, an Alzheimer’s medication, in the fourth quarter of 2017, offset by strong performance from Namzaric, another Alzheimer’s medication. It does not including the company’s acquisition of Lifecell. Allergan said it expects to reach double-digit non-GAAP earnings per share growth in 2017. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings per share of $16.08 and sales of $15.3 billion for 2017. Shares of Allergan were up less than 1% Thursday morning. Shares of Allergan have gained 13% in the past month compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 3%.

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Barnes & Noble Inc. on Thursday reported same-store sales during the nine-week holiday period fell more than 9%. On the bright side, online sales were up 2% compared to the same period a year ago and shares of Barnes & Noble were up nearly 6% premarket. The book retailer said its same-store sales drop was due to lower traffic and the decline in popularity of coloring books and artists supplies, not to mention comparisons with Adele’s best-selling album last year, which the company said accounted for about a third of the sales decline. Despite the down holiday season the company is still expected to exceed last year’s operating profit, due to “strong expense management.” Barnes & Noble shares are up more than 26% in the last 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , up more than 12%.

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American Eagle Outfitters Inc. shares were down 4.8% in Thursday premarket trading despite reiterating its fourth-quarter earnings per share guidance. The fourth-quarter announcement came in the wake of warnings from both Macy’s Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. , with both retailers announcing weak holiday sales late Wednesday. Macy’s also announced thousands of job cuts and store closures. American Eagle Outfitters said fourth-quarter earnings are expected to be within the range of 37 cents and 39 cents, consistent with previous guidance, and announced flat same-store sales for the quarter. American Eagle Outfitters shares are down 2.8% for the previous 12 months while the S&P 500 index is up 12.6% for the same period.

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Monsanto Co. on Thursday reported improved first-quarter revenue and profit compared with the year before. Net income for the quarter was $29 million, or 7 cents per share, vs. a loss of $253 million, or a 56 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted earnings per share, which the seed company described as “ongoing EPS,” were 21 cents. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 1 cent. Total sales for the quarter hit $2.7 billion, compared with $2.2 billion during the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus on sales was $2.3 billion. Monsanto offered full-year guidance between $3.97 per share and $4.45 per share, and reconfirmed it’s $4.50 to $4.90 range for “ongoing EPS.” FactSet forecasts per-share earnings for the year will hit $4.72. Shares of Monsanto are up 8% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 Index is up more than 12%.

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