In the latest stock market news, several companies are making headlines before the opening bell.
1. Costco Wholesale: Costco shares are up by 2.7% as the wholesale retailer announced quarterly numbers that surpassed analyst expectations. Additionally, the company declared a special dividend of $15 per share.
2. Lennar: Despite posting fourth-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street analyst expectations, the homebuilder saw a decrease of 2.4% in its stock. While new orders were higher than estimated, Lennar reported lower-than-expected gross margins on homebuilding.
3. Solar stocks: Several solar stocks experienced a rise following Jefferies’ initiation of coverage with buy ratings. This was driven by declining solar equipment costs and incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. Notably, First Solar’s shares jumped 3.5%, while Sunrun and Enphase Energy saw increases of 4.4% and 5.1% respectively.
4. Darden Restaurants: The Olive Garden owner witnessed a 1% decrease in its shares after announcing mixed quarterly results. Although Darden posted adjusted earnings of $1.84 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, its revenue of $2.73 billion fell slightly short of estimates.
5. Scholastic: Shares of the publisher and distributor of children’s books experienced a significant decline of about 12% as it reported a year-over-year drop in revenue. Scholastic also adjusted its full-year guidance.
6. Quanex Building Products: Despite beating expectations for fourth-quarter earnings, shares of the original equipment manufacturer slid by over 8%. Quanex reported adjusted earnings of 95 cents per share on revenue of $295.5 million, surpassing analyst estimates. However, the company did not provide any premature guidance and stated that it would revisit it next year alongside its first-quarter earnings report.
Source (CNBC)
