Stock Market Wrapup Nov. 19th
All three major indices ended significantly lower for the day, as a Citigroup (NYSE: C - News) downgrade fueled financial sector concerns and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW - News) disappointed investors with its outlook. The Dow was off -218 points at the bell to close at 12,958. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and S&P each lost more than -1.5% to end at 2,593 and 1,433, respectively. Oil traded higher on the day to close at $94.64 per barrel for December delivery. Treasury prices rose, while the price of gold fell to close at $778 an ounce. The dollar traded flat against the euro, and declined versus the yen.
On the earnings front, shares of Lowe's plunged -7.6% on the day after the company reported that profits fell -10% in the third quarter. For the period, net income was $643 million, or 43 cents per share, down from $716 million, or 46 cents per share, last year. Quarterly revenue rose to $11.6 billion, up 3% from $11.2 billion a year earlier. On average, analysts were expecting earnings of 41 cents per share on revenue of $11.78 billion. Looking forward, Lowe's adjusted its fiscal-year earnings forecast lower to a range of $1.83-$1.87 a share, down from previous guidance of $1.97-$2.01 per share given in September.
Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB - News) reported first-quarter earnings today of $270 million, or 70 cents per share, down from $291 million, or 72 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding last year's results from operations that have since been jettisoned, profit was up $1 million from $269 million reported a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter was $2.3 billion, up 6.7% from $2.15 billion in 2006. Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of 71 cents per share. Shares of Campbell's were off -0.9% in trading for the day.
In other corporate news, shares of Citigroup tumbled -5.9% after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the stock and predicted the company could write down an additional $15 billion over the next two quarters. The Goldman analyst also predicted that the nation's largest bank may be forced to cut its dividend in order to save money. Subscribers can read our take on Citigroup in today's edition.
Elsewhere, Xerox (NYSE: XRX - News) announced today that the company will pay its first quarterly cash dividend in nearly six years. According to the release, the company will pay a dividend of 4.25 cents per share on January 31st to shareholders of record on December 31st. Xerox also predicted the company will see double-digit earnings growth over the next few years. Shares of Xerox were up 1.6% for the session.
In M&A news, Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG - News) announced that it will acquire drug developer Pharmion (Nasdaq: PHRM - News) in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $2.9 billion. According to terms released, Celgene will pay $72 per share for Pharmion stock, including $25 per share in cash. The deal represents a 46% premium over Pharmion's closing price on Friday. After the deal closes, Pharmion shareholders will hold approximately 6% of Celgene's outstanding shares. Pharmion's stock surged on the news to close up 32.1% on the day, while shares of Celgene were down -1.4% at the bell.
By the BullMarket.com Staff
On the earnings front, shares of Lowe's plunged -7.6% on the day after the company reported that profits fell -10% in the third quarter. For the period, net income was $643 million, or 43 cents per share, down from $716 million, or 46 cents per share, last year. Quarterly revenue rose to $11.6 billion, up 3% from $11.2 billion a year earlier. On average, analysts were expecting earnings of 41 cents per share on revenue of $11.78 billion. Looking forward, Lowe's adjusted its fiscal-year earnings forecast lower to a range of $1.83-$1.87 a share, down from previous guidance of $1.97-$2.01 per share given in September.
Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB - News) reported first-quarter earnings today of $270 million, or 70 cents per share, down from $291 million, or 72 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding last year's results from operations that have since been jettisoned, profit was up $1 million from $269 million reported a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter was $2.3 billion, up 6.7% from $2.15 billion in 2006. Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of 71 cents per share. Shares of Campbell's were off -0.9% in trading for the day.
In other corporate news, shares of Citigroup tumbled -5.9% after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the stock and predicted the company could write down an additional $15 billion over the next two quarters. The Goldman analyst also predicted that the nation's largest bank may be forced to cut its dividend in order to save money. Subscribers can read our take on Citigroup in today's edition.
Elsewhere, Xerox (NYSE: XRX - News) announced today that the company will pay its first quarterly cash dividend in nearly six years. According to the release, the company will pay a dividend of 4.25 cents per share on January 31st to shareholders of record on December 31st. Xerox also predicted the company will see double-digit earnings growth over the next few years. Shares of Xerox were up 1.6% for the session.
In M&A news, Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG - News) announced that it will acquire drug developer Pharmion (Nasdaq: PHRM - News) in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $2.9 billion. According to terms released, Celgene will pay $72 per share for Pharmion stock, including $25 per share in cash. The deal represents a 46% premium over Pharmion's closing price on Friday. After the deal closes, Pharmion shareholders will hold approximately 6% of Celgene's outstanding shares. Pharmion's stock surged on the news to close up 32.1% on the day, while shares of Celgene were down -1.4% at the bell.
By the BullMarket.com Staff
posted by Stock Administrator @ 8:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home