Twitter scored gains thanks to analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who has just reviewed his advice to buy the stock and set target price at $39. The broker mentions the increased use of young people and the higher level of commitment. In addition, the social media network announced updates including speech bubbles.
KB Home suffered losses after releasing its fourth quarter results. Earnings were $97 million ($0.96 per share), compared with $84 million ($0.84 per share) a year earlier. Revenues amounted to $1.35 billion, against $1.40 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average expected a quarterly EPS of $0.93, for sales of $1.34 billion. The group delivered 3,389 units over the period (up slightly), for an average price of $395,200, down 5% year-on-year.
Ford announced plans to cut thousands of jobs in Europe. The Michigan automaker plans to restore its loss-making activities in the region and achieve an operating margin of 6%. The group employs 53,000 people in Europe. Steven Armstrong, vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, did not put a figure on the extent of job cuts, just stating that it would be thousands of jobs.
Costco Wholesale reports sales of $15.42 billion in the final month of 2018 (five weeks ending January 6, 2019), an increase of 7.8% year-over-year. Like-for-like, sales were up 6.1% (+7.5% in the US), while E-commerce sales climbed 13.6%.
Bed Bath & Beyond was on the rise after reporting its results for the third fiscal quarter. Profit came in at $24.4 million ($0.18 per share), compared with $61.3 million ($0.44 per share) a year earlier. Revenues amounted to $3.03 billion, against $2.95 billion a year earlier (-1.8% like-for-like). Analysts on average expected a quarterly EPS of $0.18, for revenues of $3 billion. The group is targeting earnings per share of approximately $2 in fiscal year 2018 and 2019, against a consensus of $1.99 and $1.56, respectively.
