U.S. stocks were in the green on Thursday as investors are anticipating a rate cut from the Federal Reserve later this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.33% to 26,171, the S&P 500 index rose 0.66% to 2,906 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.01% to 7,863.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY, Financial) gained nearly 3% on Thursday after announcing second-quarter results. The company posted earnings of 34 cents per share on revenue of $2.72 billion. It beat earnings estimates, but fell $40 million short of revenue expectations.
Net sales fell more than 7% due to comparable sales decline of 6.7% on the back of lower store transactions. The gross profit declined almost 7% to $920.7 million, while the gross profit margin rose 20 basis points to 33.9%.
The company ended the quarter with cash and investments of $983.9 million, which reflects an increase of 13% from the same quarter a year ago. Moreover, the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 17 cents per share. It also repurchased approximately $16.5 million worth of its common stock.
Looking ahead to full-year 2019, the company expects net sales to be approximately $11.4 billion. It also projects net earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $2.08 to $2.13.
During the quarter ended June 30, Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) more than doubled his stake to 3,660,071 shares.Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) reduced his holding by 28% to 137,105 shares and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) curbed his position by 15% to 4,446,560 shares. Philippe Laffont sold out of the stock.
Gainers
- Nvidia Corp. (NVDA, Financial) +4.3%
- Hess Corp. (HES, Financial) +3.8%
- Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW, Financial) +3.7%
- PepsiCo Inc. (PEP, Financial) +3.6%
- Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO, Financial) +3.3%
Losers
- Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ, Financial) -5.4%
- Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL, Financial) -2.5%
- Robert Half International Inc. (RHI, Financial) -2.1%
- Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA, Financial) -2%
Global markets
The main European stock market indexes traded mostly in the red. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.63%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.30%, Germany's Dax declined 2.76% and Spain's IBEX 35 slid 0.11%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.01%, India’s BSE Sensex slid 0.52%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.26% and China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.92%.
Disclosure:The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.