U.S. markets gave back some of Monday’s gains on the last day of 2015’s first quarter, and no particular reason was cited other than a little nervousness among traders about the strong dollar’s expected effect on Q2 earnings.
Economic news continued to be upbeat, as the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose from February’s revised reading of 98.8 to 101.3 in March. The Street’s expectations were for a 96.2 reading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.11%, the S&P 500 lost 0.88%, and the Nasdaq gave back 0.94%, but despite the concerns of the markets, a few companies managed to ride out the storm. J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP), Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) and Conn’s, Inc. (CONN) finished the month on positive news and were among Tuesday’s best stocks.
Here’s what happened:
J C Penney Company Inc (JCP)
JCP stock was more than 7% higher today after analysts at Piper Jaffray increased the price target on JCPenney to $14 from $13, and bumped up earnings estimates 1% to 3% higher.
Piper Jaffray also maintained an “overweight” rating on JCPenney, and said that it believes the release of Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Apple watch in April will boost mall traffic. However, whether the extra mall traffic will also find its way into JCP remains to be seen.
JCP stock has been trading sideways since last October.
Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR)
CHTR was moving 5% higher today on news that it would be purchasing a 73.7% stake in Bright House Networks, LLC for $10.4 billion. About 80% of the purchase will be CHTR stock, and the remainder in cash.
The deal will increase Charter’s presence in some larger states, such as California, Florida and Michigan. Bright House is the No. 6 cable company in the U.S., and has about 2.5 million cable subscribers.
CHTR stock is up more than 160% since 2013.
Conn’s, Inc. (CONN)
It was quite the roller coaster ride for CONN stock today. After reporting earnings that missed analyst estimates, the stock opened lower and was down as much as 7.5% in the morning. But after Conn’s said it was looking to sell its loan portfolio and will no longer sell certain electronics, video games and other unprofitable items, CONN stock did a complete about-face and bolted more than 6 % higher on the day.
Conn reported a fourth-quarter profit of 42 cents a share, down from 75 cents a year ago, and well below the analysts’ estimates of 64 cents. Conn has been losing money in its credit-financing business, as delinquencies and charge-offs have increased. By selling off this division, Wall Street analysts believe Conn’s will be a more profitable company going forward.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
