Top 10 News Items 7/16-7/20: Bernanke Points to Slower Than Expected Growth; A Wave of Tech Earnings; Marissa Mayer Named New Yahoo! CEO
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Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:
1. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress this week, warning of continued declines in US growth over the back half of this year. The Chairman said US real GDP rose 2 percent during the first quarter of 2012, and available indicators suggest slower growth in the second quarter. Bernanke also pointed to concerning growth in the labor market: after running at nearly 200,000 per month during the fourth and first quarters, the average increase in payroll employment shrank to 75,000 per month during the second quarter.
2. The second-quarter earnings season is now in full swing. This week the following Tech companies reported results: Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC).
3. Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) surprised investors by naming former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) exec and "employee number 20" Marissa Mayer as its new CEO. The stock finished up less than 1 percent amid the news. Mayer will be Yahoo!'s fifth CEO in just a year.
4. Shares of the popular Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) tumbled more than 20 percent on Friday following strong second-quarter earnings but a miss on the top line. The company said quarterly earnings totaled $2.56 per share, above the Street's consensus estimate of $2.56, on sales of $690.9 million, versus the consensus of $706.62 million. Comps rose 8 percent during the quarter. The news weighed on most stocks within the fast-casual segment.
5. VIVUS's (Nasdaq: VVUS) Qsymia received FDA approval as a weight-management drug this week. The drug will be on the market during the fourth quarter, ahead of Arena's (Nasdaq: ARNA) Belviq. Despite the very positive news, VIVUS shares sold off this week as the stock was up nearly 200 percent since the end of February. After hitting a 52-week high at $31.21 on Wednesday, shares of VIVUS sold off by about 23 percent following the Qsymia news.
6. Shares of Par Pharma (NYSE: PRX) rose nearly 37 percent on Monday following news of a $50/share cash bid by TPG.
7. Human Genomes Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI) shares traded slightly higher this week after the company announced a $14.25 per share cash bid from Glaxo Smith Kline (NYSE: GSK).
8. Two hot IPOs hit Wall Street this week: KAYAK (Nasdaq: KYAK) and Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq: PANW). KAYAK opened over $30 after pricing above the $22-$25 range at $26. Shares closed around $33.80. Palo Alto shares opened at $55.10 after pricing at $42, also above the expected range of $38-$40. The stock closed around $55.
9. Earnings for the Banking sector finished this week with reports from Citi (NYSE: C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Citi said Q2 EPS totaled $1, 11 cents better than the Street, on sales of $18.6 billion. Goldman saw EPS of $1.78 on sales of $6.63 billion.
10. Elsewhere on the earnings front: GE (NYSE: GE), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and J&J (NYSE: JNJ) reported. Next week, look for quarterly results from McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), AT&T (NYSE: T), EMC (NYSE: EMC), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Cat (NYSE: CAT), Pepsi (NYSE: PEP), Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA), Dunkin' Brands (Nasdaq: DNKN), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), and Merck (NYSE: MRK).
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1. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress this week, warning of continued declines in US growth over the back half of this year. The Chairman said US real GDP rose 2 percent during the first quarter of 2012, and available indicators suggest slower growth in the second quarter. Bernanke also pointed to concerning growth in the labor market: after running at nearly 200,000 per month during the fourth and first quarters, the average increase in payroll employment shrank to 75,000 per month during the second quarter.
2. The second-quarter earnings season is now in full swing. This week the following Tech companies reported results: Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC).
3. Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) surprised investors by naming former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) exec and "employee number 20" Marissa Mayer as its new CEO. The stock finished up less than 1 percent amid the news. Mayer will be Yahoo!'s fifth CEO in just a year.
4. Shares of the popular Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) tumbled more than 20 percent on Friday following strong second-quarter earnings but a miss on the top line. The company said quarterly earnings totaled $2.56 per share, above the Street's consensus estimate of $2.56, on sales of $690.9 million, versus the consensus of $706.62 million. Comps rose 8 percent during the quarter. The news weighed on most stocks within the fast-casual segment.
5. VIVUS's (Nasdaq: VVUS) Qsymia received FDA approval as a weight-management drug this week. The drug will be on the market during the fourth quarter, ahead of Arena's (Nasdaq: ARNA) Belviq. Despite the very positive news, VIVUS shares sold off this week as the stock was up nearly 200 percent since the end of February. After hitting a 52-week high at $31.21 on Wednesday, shares of VIVUS sold off by about 23 percent following the Qsymia news.
6. Shares of Par Pharma (NYSE: PRX) rose nearly 37 percent on Monday following news of a $50/share cash bid by TPG.
7. Human Genomes Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI) shares traded slightly higher this week after the company announced a $14.25 per share cash bid from Glaxo Smith Kline (NYSE: GSK).
8. Two hot IPOs hit Wall Street this week: KAYAK (Nasdaq: KYAK) and Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq: PANW). KAYAK opened over $30 after pricing above the $22-$25 range at $26. Shares closed around $33.80. Palo Alto shares opened at $55.10 after pricing at $42, also above the expected range of $38-$40. The stock closed around $55.
9. Earnings for the Banking sector finished this week with reports from Citi (NYSE: C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Citi said Q2 EPS totaled $1, 11 cents better than the Street, on sales of $18.6 billion. Goldman saw EPS of $1.78 on sales of $6.63 billion.
10. Elsewhere on the earnings front: GE (NYSE: GE), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and J&J (NYSE: JNJ) reported. Next week, look for quarterly results from McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), AT&T (NYSE: T), EMC (NYSE: EMC), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Cat (NYSE: CAT), Pepsi (NYSE: PEP), Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA), Dunkin' Brands (Nasdaq: DNKN), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), and Merck (NYSE: MRK).
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Ben S. Bernanke, Citi, StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items for the Week, Earnings
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