Friday, March 29, 2024
Homemarket insiderEarly Movers: KBH, MRK, MA, V, AIG, AMZN, VLKAY & more

Early Movers: KBH, MRK, MA, V, AIG, AMZN, VLKAY & more

Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

KB Home – The home builder beat estimates by five cents with quarterly profit of 51 cents per share. Revenue was slightly above forecasts amid double-digit sales and profit growth. KB Home saw average selling prices rise by 12 percent, with profit margins expanding as well.

Merck The drug maker discontinued development of certain experimental hepatitis C treatments, based on a review of study data as well as its evaluation of an evolving marketplace.

MasterCard, Visa – Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage of the two credit card companies with "overweight" ratings. The firm said MasterCard has the ability to growth faster than peers and to expand profit margins, while highlighting Visa's international opportunities.

AIG – Regulators are planning to remove the "systemically important" designation from the insurer, freeing it from additional oversight. That's according to a Bloomberg report, which said the Financial Stability Oversight Council has called a last-minute meeting for today to discuss the matter.

Amazon.com – Amazon's Whole Foods unit said it suffered a limited data breach involving payment card information. The breach involved restaurants and other venues within some Whole Foods stores and did not involve the overall payment system for groceries.

Volkswagen – Volkswagen added a new $3 billion provision for losses related to its diesel emissions scandal, on top of the roughly $24 billion it has already cost the automaker. Volkswagen said the additional set-aside relates to fixes for certain vehicles that are proving more complex and time-consuming than originally anticipated.

Apple – Apple said national security related requests for information from the government increased by more than four-fold during the first half of the year compared to a year ago. Apple got about 13,500 requests, compared to about 3,000 during the first half of 2016.

Twitter – Twitter has suspended approximately 200 accounts linked to Russia while it investigates efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. However, Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Twitter's response was inadequate.

Sony – Sony's PlayStation 4 can still drive profit growth, according to an analyst report at Bernstein. The firm said the PlayStation 4 has a number of drivers that previous versions of the videogame console did not have, largely related to the transition to digital downloads.

Alphabet – Alphabet's Google unit is building a tabletop smartscreen to compete with Amazon's Echo Show device, according to TechCrunch.

Tyson Foods – Tyson is cutting about 450 jobs as it integrates recently acquired sandwich company AdvancePierre Foods. The job cuts will occur in Chicago, Cincinnati, and at Tyson's headquarters in Arkansas. Tyson said it will save $200 million annually between 2018 and 2020 as a result.

Invesco – one of the biggest managers of exchange-traded funds – has finalized a deal to buy Guggenheim's ETF business for $1.2 billion in cash.

Wal-Mart – The retailer's Jet.com unit is planning to launch its own grocery line, according to the New York Post, featuring more than 60 private label food and household items.

RELATED ARTICLES
- Advertisment -

Most Popular