US shares closed mixed on Thursday after an earnings-heavy session and a deceleration in New York manufacturing activity.
The S&P 500 market bellwether ended higher by 0.06% at 2280 and led by Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE:MJN) up 21.2% at $84.25 after UK’s Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (OTC:RBGPF) confirmed it is in talks to buy the baby foods maker. Reckitt’s ADRs closed up 4.5% at $90.40.
The Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.1% at 5636 while the Dow Jones Industrial AVerfae finished flat at 19,884.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares dipped 0.2% to $128.52 after the company borrowed $10bn in debt for general corporate purposes, catching the upbeat mood of investors in the wake of record sales record in its fourth quarter results released on Wednesday.
GoPro’s shares fell after hours by 13% to $9.55 when it reported fourth-quarter sales and a first-quarter outlook that missed investors’ expectations, even after slashing its guidance in November.
Revenues of $540.6mln were up 24 per cent on the prior year but fell short of Wall Street’s forecast of $573mln. For the first quarter, GoPro said sales would be around $200mln, below consensus of $268mln.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) disclosed on Thursday a weaker-than-expected 22% rise in quarterly sales, along with a disappointing revenue outlook, sending the e-commerce heavyweight’s shares down in after-hours trading.
Revenues hit $43.7bn in the fourth quarter, slightly lower than analysts had expected, and Amazon blamed foreign currency fluctuations for an unfavourable impact of $558m during the quarter.
Amazon shares were down 4% at $805.69 after hours.
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) shares climbed in after-hours trading on Thursday after the credit-card processing network unveiled a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profits.
The California-based company logged earnings of $2.1bn, or 86 cents a share, in the three-month period ending on December 31 — an increase of 7% from the previous year for both metrics. The EPS topped Wall Street expectations of 78 cents. Shares were up 2.9% at $84.70 after hours.
And one to excite the day – and month – ahead: Snapchat. Snap, the parent of disappearing image-messaging platform Snapchat, has for the first time made public its filing for an initial public offering, which is expected to be one of the biggest tech IPOs in recent years.
The company is aiming for a valuation of $20bn – $25bn and is looking to float its shares in March, reported the Financial Times newspaper.
If the top figures are realised, the tech IPO would easily eclipse the $16bn of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) back in 2012.
Early trading
US stocks were mixed on Thursday, as a heavy earnings calendar left its mark on a market with few things to get overly excited about but the S&P 500 managed to firm on confirmed talks by UK’s Reckitt Benckiser to buy Mead Johnson Nutrition.
A day after a non-event Federal Reserve rate meeting and in the wake of undiplomatic remarks by US President Donald Trump trained on Australia and Iran, markets were mostly soft to flat.
The market also had little to cheer about from the ISM New York gauge of manufacturing activity. The tally for December showed it fell to 57.7 from 63.8 in November. A figure above 50.0 indicates expansion.
The S&P 500 market bellwether was firm by 0.1% to 2281 and led by Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE:MJN) up 22.3% to $85.00, after the UK's Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB). within the hour said it is in advanced talks to buy the US baby formula food maker.
Reckitt, which makes products ranging from condoms to Lysol, said it plans to offer $90 for each Mead Johnson share, or about $16.6bn. That's a 30 percent premium from Mead Johnson's Wednesday closing stock price, a day before word of the deal began to be discussed publicly.
The S&P Midcap 400 was up 0.4% at 1689 and led by Cadence Design Sys (NASDAQ:CDNS), up 9.9% at $28.38 after it posted earnings results late on Wednesday. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $469 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.81 million.
The S&P Smallcap 600 was flat at 832.
Pre-Open
US stocks are set to open lower on Thursday, weighed down by a heavy earnings calendar and the latest “alternative diplomacy” tactics of President Donald Trump.
Trump described an agreement for the US to take in refugees detained by Australia as a “dumb deal”, which has upset the Aussies. He also sparred with Iran. In both cases he used his “instant news conference” methods: Twitter.
The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average are all indicated down 0.2%.
A heavy day in the earnings calendar will
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), the world’s largest oil and gas group with only exploration and production operations, reported a smaller loss than expected for the fourth quarter of 2016, and highlighted its potential to make profitable investments in its business at low oil prices, but projected only slow growth in production this year.
The underlying loss per share for the quarter, excluding some one-off items, was 26 cents, compared to a loss of 90 cents for the equivalent period of 2015. Analysts had on average forecast a loss of 40 cents.
The results contrast with the fourth quarter reports from ExxonMobil and Chevron, the two largest US oil and gas groups, which both released disappointing earnings for the fourth quarter of last year.
ConocoPhillips shares were unchanged at $48.50 pre-market.
Sales of an immunotherapy made by Merck (NYSE:MRK) jumped in the fourth quarter after the company was given the green light to use the medicine in some untreated lung cancer patients.
The company generated $483m of revenues from Keytruda in the final three months of 2016, an increase of 36% on the prior quarter and up 125% versus a year ago
Merck shares were also unchanged pre-market at $62.10.
Estée Lauder (NYSE:EL), the skincare and make-up company behind brands including MAC, Clinique and its eponymous brand on Thursday took the scissors to its sales and earnings forecasts for the fiscal 2017 year, citing dollar strength and the uncertainties created by recent geopolitical events.
The company said it now expects net sales to grow 4-5% this year, down from the 6-7% growth it was predicting just three months ago. Forecasts for its diluted net earnings per share have also been revised lower to between $3.29 and $3.33, down from its prior forecast of between $3.38 and $3.44.
The guidance cuts overshadowed Estée Lauder’s slightly better than expected fiscal second quarter results.
Estée Lauder shares were 1.5% lower at $78.75 pre-market.
CBS (NYSE:CBS) is turning the dial on one of its oldest businesses. The US broadcaster is combining its radio business with Entercom Communications (NYSE:ETM) in a merger that will create the country’s second-largest radio station owner by revenue.
The news comes nearly a year after CBS first announced plans to shed its radio holdings amid slow growth. In July the broadcaster filed to spin the radio unit off in an initial public offering
CBS shares were unchanged at $64.60. Entercom were up 13.1% at $$16.00 pre-market.
Shares in Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE:MJN) are poised to surge at the open after the infant formula maker said it's in talks to be acquired by the British conglomerate Reckitt Benckiser (RBGLY), which owns a range of consumer brands, including Lysol, Clearasil and Durex.
The two companies said they're in talks about doing a $16.7 billion deal, though nothing has been finalized.
Mead Johnson Nutrition shares were up 26.7% at $88.00 pre-market.
Meanwhile, shares in Macy's (NYSE:M) rose premarket based on rumours that the company may be open to being acquired. The New York Post said the firm's CEO "has recently become open to offers from potential friendly buyers."
Macy’s shares were up 3.4% at $30.20.