The Federal Reserve did exactly what everyone knew it was going to do, but despite telegraphing a rate hike for some time, the markets still reacted with a broad down day. The S&P 500 Index slipped 0.8% on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.5%.
As we head into Thursday’s trade, the spotlight has come off the Fed and onto Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ) and Pier 1 Imports Inc (NYSE:PIR) took center stage Wednesday.
Here’s what you should know going into today’s trade:
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO)
YHOO shares are off this morning after the company reported yet another years-ago breach.
Yahoo said yesterday that it had been notified of a breach involving the information of more than 1 billion users. The breach occurred in August 2013, with the information including “names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and passwords,” according to a Wall Street Journal report. YHOO believes this was a separate hack than the one from 2014 it reported earlier this year.
Once again, this thrusts Yahoo in a negative light, putting the company’s acquisition by Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in question. Verizon said in July that it would purchase Yahoo’s core business for $4.83 billion, but after the 2014 breach disclosure in October, the company made it clear it might pay less.
YHOO shares were off 3% in early Thursday trade.
Mondelez International Inc (MDLZ)
MDLZ shares were up soundly on Thursday amid rumors of a possible takeover.
Early reports said the international foods giant and Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) were in talks, though people familiar with the matter shot that down.
Mondelez actually was spun off from Kraft back in 2012, and despite enjoying a few years of gains, activist investor Bill Ackman had been agitating for the company to sell itself. Mondelez also tried to purchase Hershey Co (NYSE:HSY) earlier this year, but its bid was shot down.
MDLZ initially popped more than 10% on the first report, though its gains are waning as the rumor denials spread through the news. As of this writing, MDLZ was up just 3%.
Pier 1 Imports Inc (PIR)
PIR shares have just been shot out of a cannon.
Pier 1’s most recent earnings topped expectations, with the per-share figure of 22 cents coming in far better than analysts’ estimates for 13 cents, not to mention its own projections for a range of 9-15 cents. Revenues of $475.9 million were slightly down year-over-year, but managed to top expectations for $466.42 million
Comparable-store sales were 1.8% higher year-over-year. E-commerce sales were strong, coming in at $97.4 million, marking a 28% surge. Meanwhile, the company has been shrinking, operating 33 fewer stores compared to the previous year.
The company also said Terry London will be interim president and CEO effective Jan. 1, 2017. He will replace Alex W. Smith, who announced his resignation earlier this year.
PIR stock was set to open 30% higher on Thursday.
