Technology stocks have had a rough week, but the stock market still managed to post meager gains overall on hump day. The S&P 500‘s Wednesday move was the same as the previous day, up 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to improve by 0.3% yesterday.
Another string of companies reported fiscal results for their most recent periods, including the likes of Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) and Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN). St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) will be moving, but for a much different reason.
Here’s why all three will be heavily watched this morning:
St. Jude Medical, Inc. (STJ)
Medical device maker St. Jude Medical is going to pop this morning, and it has Abbott Laboratories (ABT) to thank.
Abbott has just announced that it plans to buy STJ for $25 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, giving Abbott access to technology such as cardiac navigation/visualization product MediGuide and Assura defibrillators.
“St. Jude Medical shareholders will receive $46.75 in cash and 0.8708 shares of Abbott common stock, representing total consideration of approximately $85 per share,” according to an ABT press release.
That represents a roughly 37% premium to Wednesday’s closing price of $61.97 for STJ stock, though shares were up “just” 27% in Thursday’s premarket trade.
Marriott International Inc (MAR)
Hotel operator Marriott managed to get past Wall Street estimates for its most recent quarter. Q1 earnings came to 86 cents per share, topping expectations by a pair of pennies and growing substantially from last year’s 73 cents. Revenue was rosy as well, coming in at $3.77 billion versus the $3.68 billion expected by analysts, and good for 7.4% growth.
Driving Marriott’s success was a strong period in Asia, where the company is expanding. Its Asia-region hotels enjoyed a 4.3% improvement in occupancy.
Outlook was weak; Q2 earnings projections of 96 cents to $1 were just shy of the analysts’ consensus mark.
But that didn’t appear to be hindering shares — MAR stock looked set to rise a couple of percentage points at Thursday’s open.
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN)
Texas Instruments’ fiscal first-quarter results also came in ahead of expectations, though that might not help TXN shares today.
The company experienced success in its automotive and industrial segments, helping earnings reach 65 cents per share, topping the 62 cents per share Wall Street analysts expected. Revenues of $3.01 billion also barely beat consensus estimates of $2.98 billion.
Guidance for Q2 came to 67 to 77 cents in earnings per share, which covers estimates for 71 cents per share.
The personal electronics market was a weak spot for Texas Instruments last quarter, according to CEO Rich Templeton.
TXN stock was set to open about 1% lower on Thursday.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
