Stocks rose Wednesday after the ADP private payroll report showed non-government employers added 179,000 new jobs last month. That report comes in advance of the July jobs report due out from the Labor Department Friday before the open of U.S. markets.
The S&P 500 gained 0.31% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.23%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.43%.
On a decent day for stocks, Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT), Oclaro, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCLR) and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) delivered noteworthy performances.
Fitbit Inc (FIT)
Shares of Fitbit Inc, the maker of wearable fitness devices, soared 13.5% on more than quadruple the average daily volume after the company delivered better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
FIT said earned 12 cents a share during the second quarter. Analysts expected FIT to earn 11 cents a share. FIT stock posted revenue of $586.53 million. Wall Street expected FIT to report sales of $577.75 million.
FIT “sold 5.7 million devices in the quarter, with a 46 percent revenue increase year over year. The U.S. brought in the bulk of revenue at 76 percent for the quarter, Fitbit said,” reports CNBC.
Oclaro, Inc. (OCLR)
Oclaro, Inc. surged 12.3% on more than triple the usual turnover after the maker of fiber-optic components and gear topped Wall Street estimates when it reported its fiscal fourth-quarter results. OCLR reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of 11 cents a share compared with a year earlier loss of 13 cents. On an adjusted basis, OCLR lost 6 cents per share in the year earlier quarter.
OCLR said sales rose to $125 million from $82 million. Analysts expected OCLR to earn 6 cents a share on sales of $120 million.
MKM Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on OCLR while boosting its price target on the stock to $8 from $7. Needham also reiterated a “buy” rating on OCLR while lifting its price target on the stock to $8 from $7.50.
Twitter Inc (TWTR)
Shares of social media firm Twitter Inc jumped 7.3% on more than double the average daily volume on renewed speculation that the company is a takeover target. TWTR shares ran higher following a rumor that former Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer and Saudi investor Prince Al-waleed Bin-Talal were mulling a partnership to acquire TWTR.
However, citing a conversation with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Robert Peck, CNBC reported that a deal for TWTR is not likely and that TWTR CEO Jack Dorsey probably does not want to sell his company.
Shares of TWTR are down 24% year-to-date.
At the time of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.
