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 Stifel analyst Scott Devitt upgraded Facebook Inc. shares to buy from hold on Thursday afternoon, citing the company's strong earnings results and valuation. "With the information available now, FB stock is too cheap to ignore despite its challenges," wrote Devitt, who moved to the sidelines on Facebook's stock back in January. Shares are up 0.8% in after-hours trading. Devitt is concerned about "platform fatigue" for the core Facebook product as well as the threat of regulatory action, but he and his team "respect the fact that Facebook owns the next three largest social/messaging platforms (ex-China), a hedge against potential negative long-term core usage trends." He believes that the monetization of messaging platforms WhatsApp and Messenger is "closer than ever" through products like WhatsApp for Business and inbox display ads on Messenger. Devitt raised his target to $202 from $175. Facebook shares closed up 9.1% in Thursday's session but are down 1.3% so far this year, compared with a 0.3% drop for the S&P 500 .
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Indexes made gains on strong corporate earnings reports, and Facebook and Chipotle Mexican Grill both jumped after beating earnings expectations.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday booked its best one-day gain in about two weeks and the broader market all saw gains of at least 1% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results and a retreat of government bond yields. The Dow closed up about 240 points, or 1%, at 24,322, marking its best daily rise since April 12, according to FactSet data. The blue-chip average's advance was largely aided by a rally in shares of Home Depot Inc. , up 4.7%, and Visa Inc. , rising by 4.8%. The pair combined to contribute about 97 points to the price-weighted Dow. The S&P 500 index , meanwhile, climbed 1% to 2,666, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced by 1.6% to 7,119. The daily gains for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were the best since April 17. A rally in shares of Facebook Inc. , up about 9.1% on the day, helped to set the stage for the broader market uptrend, propelling the large-capitalization technology stocks firm higher, with a popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the tech sector, Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF , rising by 1.9%. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield , which rattled markets at the psychologically significant level at 3%, saw yields retreat by the most in about three weeks. Higher rates mean higher borrowing costs for major corporations and a reassessment of equity valuations.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Shares of MoviePass majority owner Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. rose as much as 7.2% intraday Thursday, before pulling back to be up just 0.2% in afternoon trade, after the movie-theater subscription service appeared to give up on its one-movie-a-day offer. MoviePass said on its website that the $9.95-a-month offer includes four movies and an extended, free three-month iHeartRadio All-Access trial. The service said the offer would only be available to new subscribers, who will be billed for a three-month plan at signup, and then be billed quarterly. In March, MoviePass had dropped its monthly price for an annual subscription to $6.95, which allowed subscribers to attend one movie a day. Helios & Matheson's stock has plunged 60.1% in 2018, while the S&P 500 has eased 0.2%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Bloomberg
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. We will now report on the outcome of today's meeting of the Governing Council. Based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to
Draghi hails "solid" growth as ECB keeps policy on holdReuters
European stocks cling to gains as ECB's Draghi steps to center stageMarketWatch
10-year Treasury yield falls under 3%CNBC
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Shares of business-software company Intuit Inc. are up 3.8% in Thursday trading after the company said a day earlier that it saw a 6% bump in Turbo Tax Online units this season and a 4% bump in total Turbo Tax units. The company raised its full-year revenue outlook for the Consumer Group portion of the business to predicted growth of 12% to 13%, above the prior range of 7% to 9%. "We executed well this season and are excited that we are already seeing some of our investments pay off by accelerating our top line growth," Chief Financial Officer Michelle Clatterbuck said in a release. "As we've shared, this has been a year of increased investments in key areas including artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, Amazon Web Services migration, streamlined software development and enhanced brand and marketing effectiveness." Intuit shares are up 57% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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