Thursday saw the three major indices reach record highs for the first time since 1999. The S&P 500 gained 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.5%.
Earnings reports continued to drive the markets higher, and the announcements keep on rolling in. That’s behind the movement in Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA) and Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (NYSE:RT), while BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is getting a lift from an upgrade.
Here’s what you should know about these three stocks today:
Acacia Communications, Inc. (ACIA)
ACIA shares are surging in Friday morning trade amid its first report as a publicly traded company, and this one was a doozy.
The optical chip maker posted earnings of 77 cents per share, which was more than twice what it needed to beat expectations for 30 cents per share. Meanwhile, revenues doubled to $116 million to cruise past estimates of $85.8 million. Adjusted gross profit margins raced from 41.9% to 47%.
Meanwhile, Q3 revenues are expected to come in between $120 million and $128 million (estimate: $92 million), and earnings are forecast at 64 cents to 76 cents per share (estimate: 43 cents).
Acacia, whose solutions will power datacenter interconnection and ultra-long-haul transmission, will start today at nearly quadruple its initial public offering price of $23, when it went public back in May. ACIA shares have shot up by about 120% since the stock’s first daily close, and the stock should tack on another 20% to 25% today based on premarket action.
BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY)
BBRY shares were getting a lift on Friday thanks to an upgrade from Raymond James.
Raymond James analyst Steven Li bumped his price target from $8 to $10.50 — 30% above Thursday’s close — and upgraded the stock to “outperform.” Specifically, he likes what’s going on with BlackBerry’s software initiatives:
“Stop worrying about hardware-only positives from here on. We think the narrative shifts to BlackBerry software.”
He sees the division posting 15% organic growth and 30% margin for EBITDA.
The move continues an impressive snap-back for BBRY shares, which are up more than 35% from their late-May lows. However, with Friday’s move, shares will be bumping into former price resistance around the $8.20 area, which BBRY challenged several times in March before eventually falling into a multimonth slump.
Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (RT)
Lastly, RT shares were off on the company’s dismal fourth-quarter results.
The casual dining chain (which also owns Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants) posted a loss of 46 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a 10-cent profit, but that came in a penny shy of expectations. Meanwhile, Ruby Tuesday’s $279.3 million in revenue came up about $5.7 million shy of estimates. Those results were weighed by a 3.7% slide in comps.
In response, Ruby Tuesday will close 95 restaurants that are not performing up to par. Workers at these locations will be offered employment at nearby Ruby Tuesday locations, if possible.
RT stock was sinking by more than 6% in Friday’s premarket trade.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
