3 hours ago
AutoNation Inc. shares were unchanged in the extended session Monday after the auto retailer reported earnings and named a new chief executive. AutoNation shares were flat after hours, following a 0.2% decline to close the regular session at $41.95. The company reported second-quarter net income of $100.8 million, or $1.12 a share, compared with $97.6 million, or $1.07 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue declined to $5.34 billion from $5.39 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.07 a share on revenue of $5.29 billion. AutoNation also named its Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Miller as CEO and president effective immediately, replacing Carl Liebert, and Christopher Cade as interim CFO while an executive search is conducted.
5 hours ago
Apple Inc. could be within a week of agreeing to a deal to buy Intel Corp.'s modem-chip business, according to a Monday afternoon report. The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple and Intel are in advanced talks on a deal that values the business at $1 billion or more that could lead to a deal in the next week, based on anonymous sources. Intel stock gained about 2% in after-hours trading after the report hit, while Apple shares gained about 0.2%. The deal has been rumored since Apple gave up on its worldwide legal fight with modem maker Qualcomm Inc. on the same day that Intel -- the only other Apple source for iPhone modem chips -- announced that it would wind down its modem business. The Journal reported that Intel and Apple were in talks for more than a year, but Intel began shopping the unit after Apple struck a multiyear deal with Qualcomm as part of the companies' legal settlement. After discussions with other companies, Intel re-ignited talks with Apple, according to the report. Intel reports quarterly earnings Thursday, while Apple is scheduled to report a few days later, on Tuesday, July 30.
5 hours ago
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Monday after the biotech drug maker said its schizophrenia treatment did not pass a late-stage clinical trial. Acadia shares fell 15% after hours, following a 1.1% rise to close the regular session at $25.97. In a Phase 3 clinical trial, Acadia said that its treatment pimavanserin did not perform better than a placebo on a statistically significant basis when added to an existing antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia. By Monday's close, Acadia shares had gained nearly 61% on the year, compared with a 19% rise in the S&P 500 index and a 24% gain in the Nasdaq Composite Index .
6 hours ago
Cadence Design Systems Inc. shares declined in the extended session Monday after the chip-design software company reported results in-line with Wall Street estimates. Cadence shares fell 3.7% after hours, following a 0.4% decline to close the regular session at $72.66. The company reported second-quarter net income of $107.2 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with $75.1 million, or 27 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 57 cents a share. Revenue rose to $580.4 million from $518.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Cadence expects adjusted earnings of 50 cents to 52 cents a share on revenue of $570 million to $580 million in the third quarter, and $2.11 to $2.17 a share on revenue of $2.32 billion to $2.34 billion. Analysts had forecast earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $576.1 million for the third quarter, and $2.09 a share on revenue of $2.32 billion for the year.
6 hours ago
Shares of Whirlpool Corp. rose more than 5% in the extended session Monday after the appliances maker beat adjusted profit and sales expectations and raised its guidance for the full year. Whirlpool said it earned $67 million, or $1.04 a share, in the second quarter, versus a loss of $657 million, or $9.50 a share, in the prior-year period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $4.01 a share, compared with $3.20 a share a year ago. Sales rose to $5.2 billion from $5.1 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of $3.71 a share on sales of $5.02 billion. For the year, Whirlpool expects earnings per diluted share between $17.80 and $18.55. Whirpool shares had ended the regular trading session up 0.1%.
6 hours ago
TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. said late Monday Chief Executive Tim Hockey will step down, with the board starting a search for a new CEO. Hockey will remain the top executive until February 2020; if a successor is not identified by then, he'll move on to an advisory role to help with the transition, the company said. In a separate press release, the broker reported mixed fiscal third-quarter earnings. TD Ameritrade earned $555 million, or $1 a share, in the quarter, compared with $451 million, or 79 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, TD Ameritrade earned $578 million, or $1.04 a share, compared with 89 cents a share a year ago. Revenue rose 8% to $1.5 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of 97 cents a share on sales of $1.47 billion. Shares rose 1% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day up 1.6%.
6 hours ago
Starbucks Corp. said Monday that it will take an equity stake in Brightloom, a restaurant technology company previously called Eatsa. As part of the deal, Brightloom will license Starbucks' mobile and loyalty technology to use in its existing platform. With this upgraded platform, Brightloom aims to offer restaurant brands an all-in-one option for mobile, payments, order management, loyalty, and other functions. Brightloom has also closed a $30 million round of funding that includes Starbucks licensees Alshaya Group and Alsea, as well as Tao Capital Partners and Valor Equity Partners. Starbucks stock has gained more than 41% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index is up 19.1% for the period.
6 hours ago
Stocks logged small gains Monday, buoyed by tech shares, as investors prepared for a busy week that will see more than 140 S&P 500 companies and a third of Dow Jones Industrial Average components deliver second-quarter results. The Dow rose around 17 points, or 0.1%, to end near 27,172, according to preliminary figures, while the S&P 500 rose around 8 points, or 0.3%, to finish near 2,985. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced around 58 points, or 0.7%, to close near 8,204. Tech stocks were the best-performing of the S&P 500's 11 sectors, rising 1.2%. Shares of Micron Technology Inc. rose 3.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the chip maker to buy from neutral on Monday, citing expectations for an improved supply/demand balance in coming months. Other memory-chip companies also advanced.
6 hours ago
Shares of generic-drug manufacturer Lannett Company Inc. shot up 40% in Monday afternoon trade. The company has not released any news that would account for the stock move, a spokesman for the company said. However, Lannet stock's short interest stood at at 20.66 million shares at the end of June, equal to 74.3% of the company's public float of 27.8 million shares. Ihor Dusaniwsky,managing director for predictive analytics at S3 Partners, a company that tracks short interest, said the move was not caused by a short squeeze, although it could trigger one if the stock keeps rallying. Short positions were down about $128,000 year-to-date, through Friday. "Shorts have taken a good stomach punch today, they're down $46.2 million," he said. "They are definitely a candidate for a short squeeze after today." Shares of Lannett have gained 67.9% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 19.2%.
6 hours ago
With a out 16% of the S&P 500 having reported earnings for he second-quarter, the aggregate blended estimate is a decline of 1.9% from a year ago, according to FactSet. Last week, the blended estimate, which combines actual and estimated results, was for a decline of 3.1%. Of the companies that reported results, 79% have beat earnings-per-share estimates by an average of 7.0%, with both above 5-year averages, said FactSet analyst John Butters. After a 0.3% EPS decline in the first quarter, a negative print for the second quarter would mark the first "earnings recession" since the second quarter of 2016. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% in afternoon trading, and has gained 2.6% over the past three months, and rallied 19.0% year to date.
7 hours ago
Microsoft Corp. is making a huge bet on artificial intelligence by sinking $1 billion into AI startup OpenAI, the companies announced Monday. Under a partnership, OpenAI will run all of its services on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform and use Microsoft as its preferred partner for commercializing new AI tech. On its website, OpenAI says its mission is "to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) -- by which we mean highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work -- benefits all of humanity." Microsoft, which is currently the only U.S. company valued at more than $1 trillion, recently reported strong earnings growth driven by Azure. Shares were up 1.2% to $138.19 in recent trading Monday, compared with a flat Dow Jones Industrial Average , a 0.3% gain in the S&P 500 index and a 0.7% gain in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index .
8 hours ago
The Nasdaq Composite surged 0.7% in afternoon trading Monday, and was by far the best performer of the Big 3 stock market indexes, but internal market data would suggest otherwise. The number of declining stocks on the Nasdaq exchange actually outnumbered declines by 1,438 to 1,374, while volume in advancing stocks represented 60.7% of total volume. That suggested the technology friendly Nasdaq index was being driven higher by the more liquid, or larger market capitalization company shares. The Nasdaq 100 index of the 100-largest Nasdaq companies rose 0.8%. The SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF climbed 1.2% and was the biggest gainer of ETFs tracking the S&P 500 11 key sectors. Meanwhile, on the NYSE, the number of advancing stocks led decliners 1,491 to 1,302 and volume of advancing stock represented 56.2% of total volume. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 12 points, or less than 0.1%. Among the largest-cap Nasdaq tech stocks, shares of Microsoft Corp. rose 1.1%, Amazon.com Inc. tacked on 0.4% and Apple Inc. rallied 1.8%.
8 hours ago
Shares of Alphabet Inc. are up slightly to $1,136 Monday after two market research notes said they expect continued strong sales from its search business as well as potential revenue from Maps, Waymo and Life Sciences. Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju, in a note Monday, maintained an outperform rating on Alphabet stock with a price target of $1,400. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter anticipates revenue of $38.24 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $12.92 a share when Alphabet reports second-quarter results on Thursday. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of $11.10 a share on revenue of $38.155 billion.
11 hours ago
Analyst Craig Irwin at Roth Capital Partners on Monday downgraded Tesla Inc. stock to their equivalent of hold, from buy, saying he sees the shares' risk-reward equation "as well balanced at current levels." Tesla has a "viable path tfor meeting at least the low end" of its guidance to deliver between 360,000 and 400,000 cars this year, he said. Tesla is scheduled to report second-quarter results on Wednesday. The stock is down 22% this year, contrasting with gains of 19% and 16% for the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
11 hours ago
Seventeen Iranian nationals have been arrested after allegedly having been recruited by the U.S.'s Central Intelligence Agency to spy on nuclear and military sites in Iran, according to the Iranian government. Some of those arrested, the Associated Press reported citing an Iranian intelligence official, have been sentenced to death. The arrests have occurred over a several-month period, according to the official, identified only as the director of the counterespionage department of Iran's Intelligence Ministry, the AP reported. President Donald Trump tweeted that there was zero truth to the Iranian claim.
12 hours ago
Starbucks Corp. said Monday that it is entering a new category through its partnership with Nestlé, bringing a line of Starbucks Creamers to grocery stores across the U.S. starting in August. Starbucks Creamers will be available in three flavors: caramel macchiato, white chocolate mocha and cinnamon dolce latte. They'll also be sold at select online retailers. Mintel data shows that the creamer category in the U.S. will exceed $7.8 billion by 2023. Starbucks stock has gained 41.2% in 2019 while the S&P 500 index is up 19% for the period.
12 hours ago
Bernstein analyst Harshita Rawat expects that PayPal Holdings Inc. will report "one of the messiest quarters" in recent memory "given many moving pieces around volume growth, Venmo monetization, pricing actions, credit divestiture impact, [foreign exchange], gains on investments, recent M&A & eBay ." Still, she expects that the company will top expectations, though the current consensus forecast doesn't account for recent disclosures around investment benefits. PayPal said recently that it expects 13 cents of earnings impact beyond what it previously forecast related to its investments. The FactSet consensus models 69 cents in June-quarter adjusted earnings per share, while Rawat forecasts 84 cents. She rates the stock at market perform but raised her target price to $110 from $105. PayPal shares are up 0.4% in Monday morning trading, and they've risen 42% so far this year as the S&P 500 has climbed 19%.
12 hours ago
Apple Inc. shares are up 0.7% in Monday morning trading after Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty raised her price target on the stock to $247 from $231, writing that the company has a "low risk" of missing expectations with its September outlook. She's generally upbeat about Apple's June-quarter numbers, which the company will report next Tuesday afternoon. "Investor sentiment continues to surprise us as unusually negative, with call volume throughout the quarter at recent lows despite shares bouncing back ~20% from the May bottom," she wrote. She also expects an acceleration in services revenue for the first time since March 2018. Huberty has an overweight rating on the stock, which has gained 30% so far this year, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 17%.
12 hours ago
Amazon.com Inc. said Monday that it has signed a five-book deal with best-selling author Dean Koontz, with the first book, "Devoted," coming next spring. Before that, a collection of six short thrillers called "Nameless" will be available for free to Prime members and Kindle Unlimited users on November 12. "Devoted" will introduce Megan Bookman, an artist and widow, her gifted golden retriever Kipp, and her autistic son Woody, who is after revenge for his father's murder. Amazon has previously published one of Koontz's short stories, "Ricochet Joe," on its Amazon Original Stories platform. It went on to be an Amazon Charts best-seller. Amazon stock is up 31% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index is up 19% for the period.
12 hours ago
U.S. stock indexes on Monday kicked off the week with slight gains as investors prepped for a barrage of earnings, including a third of the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average . The Dow opened up 0.1% at 27,180, a gain of 30 points, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.2% at 2,983, while the Nasdaq Composite Index kicked off Monday trade 0.4% higher at 8,176. All three benchmarks finished Friday's session with weekly losses. There are 144 S&P 500 components expected to report corporate results this week and 10 of the Dow's 30 components, representing the busiest week for the blue-chip index and the second-busiest week for the S&P 500.
13 hours ago
Etsy Inc. said Monday that it will acquire Reverb Holdings Inc., a seller of new, used and vintage music gear, for $275 million in cash. Reverb will operate as a standalone company when the deal closes. Reverb was founded in Chicago in 2013, and its sellers are individuals, brick-and-mortar retailers, dealers and artists. The deal is expected to close in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2019. Etsy stock has inched up 0.7% in premarket trading, and has rallied more than 50% over the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 6.2% for the period.
13 hours ago
Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari upgraded Applied Materials Inc. and Lam Research Corp. shares to buy from neutral on Monday, while also upgrading KLA Corp. shares to neutral from sell. His increasing conviction on the sector reflects his view that the memory market is showing early signs of stabilization. "Predicated on our improved outlook in memory as well as our view that competitive dynamics will keep logic/foundry spending elevated, we now forecast the [wafer fab equipment] market to grow 7% year over year in 2020, up from our prior assumption of flat year over year," Hari wrote. He expects that more "disciplined" actions from memory manufacturers, including capital-expenditure cuts, will improve the memory supply/demand balance sooner than he previously expected and driver higher levels of wafer-fab equipment spending. Hari elevated Applied Materials shares to Goldman's conviction list in conjunction with the upgrade. Applied's shares have risen 46% so far this year, as the S&P 500 has gained 19%.
13 hours ago
Ebay Inc. said Monday that it has named two new executives, who will be joining the executive leadership team. Pete Thompson, eBay's new chief product officer, joins from Amazon.com Inc. where he was vice president of Alexa Voice Service. Mazen Rawashdeh, who previously spent eight years with eBay between 2003 and 2011, has been appointed eBay's chief technology officer. He previously served as a vice president at Twitter Inc. and spent four years as an angel investor and tech advisor. Ebay stock has edged up 0.8% in Monday premarket trading, and has rallied 43.3% in 2019. The S&P 500 index has gained 18.7% this year so far. Read: Ebay shares rise after earnings beat but Amazon looms large
13 hours ago
Shares of Micron Technology Inc. are up 2.7% in premarket trading Monday after Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, reflecting his growing optimism on memory stocks and his view that companies with excess inventory will be able to deplete their inventory more quickly than anticipated. "We believe that Micron is the best stock to express our view," he wrote. "Importantly, we believe that Micron's stock will trade more on memory pricing trends and intermediate term EPS expectations than FY20 earnings." Delaney is skeptical that Chinese companies will be able to enter the DRAM market in the next few years given their limited progress in the area thus far. He raised his price target Micron's stock to $56 from $40. Shares are up 43% so far this year, as the S&P 500 has gained 19%.
13 hours ago
Ross Stores Inc. said Monday that it has opened 22 Ross Dress for Less stores and six dd's Discounts locations across 10 states in June and July. The stores are located in newer Midwest markets like Illinois and Kentucky, and entry into the Ohio market with two stores. The openings keep the company on track for 100 new stores in 2019. Ross currently operates 1,772 locations in 39 states, Washington DC and Guam. Ross stock has rallied 28.1% in 2019 while the S&P 500 index is up 18.7% for the period.
13 hours ago
Shares of biotech Intec Pharma Ltd. plunged 80% in premarket trade Monday after the company said its late-stage trial of a drug meant to treat symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease did not result in meaningful improvement when compared with standard therapy.
"We are disappointed that the ACCORDANCE study didn't meet its target endpoints with statistical significance," Intec Chief Executive Jeffrey Meckler said in a statement.
The company had developed a special delivery system meant to release the drug slowly over eight to 12 hours, allowing it to be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract more steadily than current standard-of-care options. Intec's drug, dubbed the Accordion Pill-Carbidopa/Levodopa, contains carbidopa and levodopa in both their immediate and extended-release forms.
A Phase 3 trial showed that patients on the Accordion Pill did not show statistically-significant improvement when compared with patients taking Sinemet, an immediate-release form of carbidopa and levodopa commonly used to treat Parkinson's symptoms.
Intec's stock has fallen 60% in the year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 18.7%.
14 hours ago
Shares of Lennox International Inc. slumped 5.7% in premarket trading Monday, after the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) company reported second-quarter earnings that missed expectations and cut its full-year outlook, citing adverse weather conditions. Net income fell to $110.7 million, or $2.80 a share, from $137.6 million, or $3.35 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share rose 2% to $3.74, but was below the FactSet consensus of $4.12. Revenue fell 6% to $1.10 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $1.15 billion. Residential heating and cooling revenue fell 4% to $689 million, missing the FactSet consensus of $733 million, commercial heating and cooling revenue rose 4% to $261 million to beat expectations of $258 million and refrigeration revenue increased 2% to $149 million to top expectations of $148 million. For 2019, Lennox cut its guidance for adjusted EPS to $11.30 to $11.90 from $12.00 to $12.60 and for revenue growth to 2% to 5% from 3% to 7%. "Significantly cooler temperatures and higher precipitation across the United States adversely impacted the HVAC market in the second quarter, and especially in key Central regions where cooling degree days were down over 30% and precipitation was up over 60%," said Chief Executive Todd Bluedorn. The stock has rallied 27.4% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 16.4%.
14 hours ago
PetMed Express Inc. shares sank 12.5% in Monday premarket trading after the pet pharmacy company reported fiscal first quarter earnings and sales that missed consensus. Net income totaled $5.3 million, or 26 cents per share, down from $12.6 million, or 62 cents per share, last year. Sales of $80.0 million were down from $87.4 million in 2018. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 42 cents and sales of $85.8 million. Average order value fell to $86 from $90 last year. PetMed Chief Executive Menderes Akdag said in a statement that sales and gross margins were hurt by online competition and pricing pressure, which forced them to slash prices. Margins could get a boost from more direct purchasing relationships with manufacturers, he said, and in fiscal 2020, the company will be focused on greater advertising spend efficiency and e-commerce investment while remaining price competitive. PetMed, which declared a 27-cents-per-share quarterly dividend, said it would continue to pay regularly quarterly dividends, but said they would be "discretionary" in the future. PetMed Express stock has fallen 59.6% over the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 6.2% for the period.
14 hours ago
Shares of Taronis Technologies Inc. more than doubled on heavy volume in premarket trading Monday, after the clean technology company announced a purchase contract for up to 30 gasification units, valued at up to $165 million. Terms of the contract, to a Turkish gas consortium, include the purchase of 15 units over 18 months and an option to buy an additional 15 units. Each unit carries an upfront purchase price of $3.75 million, and will include a 10-year maintenance contract for an additional $1.75 million per unit. In comparison, Taronis had total sales revenue of $9.71 million in 2018. The stock was up 103% on volume of 5.6 million shares, to make it the most actively traded in the premarket. It has plunged 49% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.4%.
14 hours ago
Shares of DaVita Inc. rallied 4.2% in premarket trading Monday, after the dialysis services company raised its profit outlook, as it looks to update investors ahead of the expected modified "Dutch auction" to buy back up to $1.2 billion worth of its shares. The company said it now expects second-quarter operating income of $460 million to $465 million, which is above the FactSet consensus of $398 million. DaVita also expects second-quarter non-acquired treatment growth of 2.1% and revenue per treatment to increase by about $1.60 from the first quarter to $350. For 2019, the company raised its adjusted operating income guidance to $1.64 billion to $1.70 billion from $1.54 billion to $1.64 billion. Separately, the company said the auction for its shares will be at a price per share of "not less than $53.50 nor greater than $61.50." The stock closed Friday at $56.05. It has gained 9.7% over the past three months, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has advanced 6.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has tacked on 2.4%.