Bond prices experienced an increase as the market suffered an overall decline on Thursday. The S&P 500 was 0.2% weaker and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% by day’s end.
H & R Block Inc (NYSE:HRB) and Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) made some noise after Thursday’s bell, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) was on the verge of reversing some of yesterday’s gains.
Here is a look at what’s going on with these three stocks on Friday:
H & R Block Inc (HRB)
H&R Block was up in Friday’s premarket trading after reporting mixed quarterly results Thursday afternoon.
Earnings for the company came in at $3.13 per share, lower than the $3.15 EPS that analysts had expected. Its revenue for the quarter slipped 0.2% and amounted to $2.3 billion, exceeding the $2.28 billion projected by Wall Street.
HRB suffered from a 5.8% slide in assisted returns — the company’s core business.
H&R Block CEO Bill Cobb was none too pleased with the results, calling them “unacceptable” and saying the company is “developing aggressive plans for tax season 2017.”
Investors were a little more forgiving, bidding shares up 3% in Friday’s premarket trading.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (VRX)
VRX shares rebounded strongly on Thursday, up more than 6% amid reports that the company was trying to restructure a deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), as Valeant says it’s actually losing money via the pharmaceutical chain.
That came two days after a 15% plunge on lowered guidance — in part because of the aforementioned deal.
The roller coaster ride could continue today, though with a slightly shallower hill, as VRX shares are down a couple percent. The latest news? A report (via Reuters) that Valeant is ponying up $54 million to put to bed a legal matter involving its Salix unit. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Justice said Salix was involved in illegal kickbacks to doctors from 2009 to 2013 — before Valeant acquired the company in 2015.
Friday’s premarket data had VRX shares off 2%.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN)
Urban Outfitters issued an update on its fiscal second-quarter results late Thursday that is sending investors to the exit signs this morning.
URBN says that fiscal Q2 comps are off by mid-single digits so far in the quarter, while analysts were expecting a 1.1% increase. That would be a huge swing lower from its Q1 comps improvement of 1%, as well as a 4% bump in last year’s Q2.
Prior to Friday, URBN shares already were off nearly 20% from their early April peak above $34. If Friday’s premarket numbers hold, Urban Outfitters’ stock will crash through its 200-day MA for the second time since May.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
