FBR Capital Remains Bullish as Bank of America's (BAC) 4Q was Weighted by U.K. Tax Charges

UBS Says Bank of America (BAC) Weakness is Due to Energy Exposure Concerns - Cuts PT to $18

January 20, 2016 9:06 AM EST

UBS maintained a Buy rating on Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and cut the price target to $18.00 (from $20.00), as shares underperform following 4Q earnings. UBS says that the weakness is due to concerns around the company's energy exposure, specifically its "higher risk" subsectors. Management remains confident that core expenses will run just under $13 billion per quarter in a... More

Symantec to get $1 billion less cash in sale of Veritas to Carlyle

January 19, 2016 9:22 PM EST

By Koh Gui Qing

(Reuters) - Antivirus software maker Symantec Corp (NASDAQ: SYMC) said on Tuesday it will receive $1 billion less in cash for its data storage unit Veritas from Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ: CG), cutting the price of the biggest leveraged buyout of 2015 after debt backing the deal failed to sell.

Citing unspecified "uncertainties" since the deal was struck in August, Symantec said that the purchase price was reduced to $7.4 billion "in a difficult environment" from the $8 billion it originally agreed to in August. Neither Symantec... More

Market Wrap: Netflix Smashes Q4 Expectations; Builder Confidence Firm in Jan.; Merger Tuesday

January 19, 2016 5:25 PM EST

Market wrap for January 19th

End of the Day: S&P 500 up 1.0 to 27.9; Dow Jones up 27.9 to 16,016.02; Nasdaq down 11.5 to 4,476.95

Market Brief: Markets popped higher Monday after data showed China's growth rate didn't slow more than expected last year. GDP for China was 6.9 percent for 2015 (6.8 percent for Q4), which is the slowest growth seen in the country for 25 years.

Large banks Bank of America and Morgan Stanley reported confidence Q4 results, helping to drive shares higher.

Netflix gained in late trading after... More

Bank of America (BAC) Beats in Q4, But Discount to TBV Increases as Oil Exposure Eyed

January 19, 2016 1:07 PM EST

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) opened higher this morning after posting a bottom-line beat in the fourth quarter. However, it has been all downhill since amid worries about oil-related losses at the bank.

The highlight for the quarter was EPS of $0.28, versus the consensus of $0.27. EPS adjusted for specials including charge on TruPS redemption, negative impact of UK tax law changes, FAS91, DVA, etc., was EPS closer to $0.33... More

Pre-Open Stock Movers 01/19: (RSE) (ZPIN) (SHOP) Higher; (EBIO) (TIF) (MKC) Lower (more...)

January 19, 2016 9:33 AM EST

Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIO) 64% LOWER; announced top-line results from the Phase 3 clinical trial of its lead drug candidate, isunakinra (EBI-005), for the treatment of severe allergic conjunctivitis. In this trial, there were no statistically significant differences between the isunakinra treated group and the vehicle control group on the primary endpoint of ocular itching or on any secondary endpoints. Isunakinra was generally well tolerated, with 94% of the patients completing the trial and there were no serious adverse events reported.

Rouse Properties, Inc. (NYSE:... More

S&P 500 ends unchanged; more carnage in oil stocks

January 19, 2016 7:30 AM EST

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) - Wall Street ended flat after a choppy session on Tuesday as falling oil prices led to more carnage in energy stocks and an "in line" economic report showed slower growth in China.

Declining U.S. crude pulled down materials stocks as well as the S&P energy sector , which slumped 2.17 percent.

Oil at 12-year lows is stoking fears on Wall Street of deeper losses for energy companies and the potential that some may fail to pay their debts. That has decimated oil stocks, helping push the S&P 500 down 8... More

Morgan Stanley beats forecasts, girds for more cost cuts

January 19, 2016 7:11 AM EST

By Richa Naidu, Sudarshan Varadhan and Olivia Oran

(Reuters) - For Morgan Stanley, belt-tightening is becoming a way of life.

The investment bank posted better-than-forecast fourth-quarter results largely thanks to greater cost cutting, including moves to slash 25 percent of its fixed income headcount to adapt to a protracted slump in bond trading.

Now Chief Executive James Gorman is focusing on ways to cut even more deeply, leaning on technology and increased outsourcing to cut another $1 billion in costs this year.

"Theyre looking at the environment and have determined that they cant get enough returns for... More

BofA earnings beat tempered by concern about weak oil prices

January 19, 2016 7:08 AM EST

By Sweta Singh

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) joined other lenders in expressing concern about weak oil prices after the No. 2 U.S. bank by assets reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by a drop in costs and revenue rises in most of its businesses.

U.S. banks, like their global counterparts, have had a rough year as falling oil prices and worries about slowing growth in China contributed to weakness in credit markets, pressuring revenue growth. The new year also started on a grim note as oil prices fell below $30... More

Bank of America (BAC) Tops Q4 EPS by 2c

January 19, 2016 6:50 AM EST

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported Q4 EPS of $0.28, $0.02 better than the analyst estimate of $0.26. Revenue for the quarter came in at $19.76 billion versus the consensus estimate of $19.86 billion.

Highlights:

Revenue, net of interest expense, (FTE basis) up 4% to $19.8B(A)Net interest... More