As we get ready to close the week, investors are hoping for a little salvation after another weak close. Thursday saw the S&P 500 slip by 0.02%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted meager gains of 0.05%.
Earnings season is continuing to push stocks around, with Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) and GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) in the Q1 crosshairs today. Meanwhile, Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is another stock to look out for — but thanks to a good piece of news last night.
Here’s what you need to know:
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI)
Video games have been selling well for Activision Blizzard, which had a quarter to remember.
The company posted non-GAAP earnings of 23 cents per share for its most recent quarter, almost doubling the Wall Street consensus estimate of 12 cents per share.
Revenues also smashed analyst projections, with the company’s sales coming in at $908 million versus an $812 million mark. Helping drive that result was the company’s digital sales segment, which equaled close to $800 million last quarter — up 48% year-over-year.
The outstanding performance of Call of Duty: Black Ops III was among the biggest catalysts for the beat.
ATVI stock looks to start Friday up 6% as a result.
GoPro Inc (GPRO)
The action camera maker had a decent quarter, for the most part, but that wasn’t any salve for GPRO investors.
Sales fell sharply year-over-year, with Q1 revenues declining 50%, though at $183.5 million, they were well above Wall Street estimates of $169 million. The loss was a bit more than analysts expected, however, with GPRO losing 63 cents per share versus a 60-cent projection.
Helping drive shares lower today was CEO Nick Woodman’s announcement that the release of its much-anticipated drone — Karma — will be pushed back.
GoPro also confirmed its outlook for the current fiscal year, amounting to $1.35 billion to $1.5 billion in full-year sales.
GPRO stock was off 8% in Friday’s premarket trading, accelerating from its Thursday after-market losses.
Herbalife Ltd. (HLF)
Herbalife shares were soaring Thursday afternoon on news that the Federal Trade Commission and HLF are in advanced talks to settle out of court and put to bed allegations that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. If the parties settle, the company will have to pay $200 million.
The FTC says the cash would be paid back to the victims of this scheme, as well as further relief for the void created by Herbalife in many families homes.
While the talks aren’t complete, “these discussions have progressed to an advanced stage, and the range of outcomes now includes litigation or settlement,” Herbalife CEO and Chairman Michael Johnson said.
HLF was skyrocketing some 14% in premarket trade.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
