U.S. markets struggled a bit today, despite the S&P 500 touching a new record in the morning, as a drop in oil and continuing concerns with Greece and the eurozone weighed on markets. A somewhat positive weekly job claims report at 283,000, which was 10,000 less than expected, failed to stir the markets very much.
By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.24%, and the S&P 500 was down 0.11%, but the Nasdaq did manage a small gain of 0.34%. Several companies reported good earnings, among them Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX), T-Mobile US Inc (NYSE:TMUS) and Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE:TRN), which are three of today’s best stocks.
Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (ABX)
ABX stock was up 5% after the gold miner posted a fourth-quarter earnings decline of 57% to $174 million, or 15 cents a share, but easily bested the loss of 13 cents a share that the Street was curiously estimating.
CEO John L. Thorton said the company will cut its debt by at least $3 billion by year’s end, and sell both its Porgera mine in New Guinea and the Cowal mine in Australia. Thorton also noted that ABX has no plans to boost its copper assets, and wants to strictly focus on its gold mining business.
Over the past few years, ABX stock has withered from $37 to a recent low of $10, but has bounced back about 28% since mid-December.
T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS)
TMUS stock shot up 7% in the morning, but pulled back to finish almost 3% higher after posting a gain of 12 cents on net income of $101 million, compared with a loss of of $20 million and a 3-cent loss per share a year ago. The Zacks consensus estimate was for 9 cents per share.
Revenue of $8.15 billion was 19.4% higher than a year ago and ahead of the Zacks estimate of $7.9 billion. Recent discounts from T-Mobile have managed to lure a significant number of customers away from its rivals.
CEO John Legere also stirred up a little controversy by noting that T-Mobile has already surpassed Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) as the number three mobile carrier, and that he is not afraid of competition among mobile carriers. Legere objects to Sprint counting 1.7 million customers via resale partners who have been inactive “for at least six months.” He believes Sprint exaggerated the numbers to boost its own rating.
Trinity Industries Inc (TRN)
TRN stock also blasted up 7% after posting fourth-quarter earnings of 86 cents per share and full-year earnings of $4.19, along with quarterly revenue growth of 32% and annual growth of 41%. Wall Street was looking for 83 cents a share from the Dallas, Texas-based provider of railway cars and other transportation products.
TRN stock, which was $50 a share in September, was cut in half by mid-January, but has since bounced back, closing at $32.27 at the bell. Today’s strong showing and volume of 6.1 million shares makes a strong case that the stock may have better days ahead.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
