3 Stocks to Watch on Thursday: Square Inc (SQ), Public Storage (PSA) and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK)

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It was a mixed day for U.S. equities yesterday as the dollar experienced an uptick ahead of the day’s action. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to reach still new heights.

stock market todayThursday’s trading is dominated by earnings reports, including those from Square Inc (NYSE:SQ), Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) and Cheapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK).

Here’s a look at how they did.

Square Inc (SQ)

SQ shares were up by double digits after posting strong fourth-quarter earnings after Wednesday’s bell.

Square posted a loss of $15.2 million, or 4 cents per share. That was much narrower than Wall Street’s projections for 9 cents per share, and far better than the year-ago’s 34-cent loss. Meanwhile, revenues of $451.9 million over the period were up 21% year-over-year, and just edged out expectations for a top line of $449.8 million. Gross payment volume rose a healthy 34% to $13.7 billion.

Square Capital — the company’s loan arm — and Caviar — its food ordering and delivery service — were both strong to close out the year.

For 2017, Square expects to rake in revenue in the range of $2.09 billion to $2.15 billion, which is in line with the $2.11 billion that Wall Street is calling for.

SQ stock was up a healthy 10% in Thursday’s early trade.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK)

Volatile CHK shares were up a bit on Thursday following its Q4 result.

Chesapeake lost $741 million (84 cents per share) for the fourth quarter, far narrower than laster year’s $3.36 per share. On an adjusted basis, profits of 7 cents per share matched Wall Street expectations. Revenues of $2.02 billion were down 24% YOY, however, and fell short of estimates by about $20 million.

Oil equivalent production also fell, by 13% to 53 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Debt has slightly ticked up year-over-year, from $9.7 billion to $10 billion.

The company kept its 2017 full-year outlook intact. Chesapeake expects production growth in a range of 3% declines to 2% gains. Meanwhile, the company will increase capital expenditures from $1.7 billion to a range of $1.9 billion to 2.5 billion.

CHK shares were up just less than 2% in Thursday’s early morning trade.

Public Storage (PSA)

PSA was trading flat after releasing its Q4 numbers after yesterday’s bell.

Public Storage earned $2.65 per share during its most recent period, which came in 1 cent per share ahead of the consensus estimate. Revenues of $651.43 million were well ahead of the $614.98 consenus mark. That also marked a 6.9% increase year-over-year.

Funds from operations came in at $2.27 per diluted common share, which was a 12.6% improvement over last year. For the full year, FFO came in at $9.70 per share, or 10.4% better year-over-year.

PSA’s movement on Thursday mimicked the stock’s general trend in 2017. Shares are up just 1% against a broadly higher market.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/02/3-stocks-to-watch-on-thursday-square-inc-sq-public-storage-psa-and-chesapeake-energy-corporation-chk/.

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