3 Stocks to Watch Thursday: Twitter Inc (TWTR), Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) and Metlife Inc (MET)

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Wednesday was a strong day for U.S. markets, as oil gained 2.3% and financial stocks surged 1.5%. The S&P 500 Index improved by 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% higher and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5%.

3 Stocks to Watch Thursday: Twitter Inc (TWTR), Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) and Metlife Inc (MET)Thursday is shaping up to be an exciting day, too, though “exciting” might not be the word Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shareholders would use to describe it. Also making waves are Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET) and Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM).

Here’s a look at what’s moving these stocks:

Twitter Inc (TWTR)

Goodnight, Twitter!

TWTR stock is off by double digits in Thursday’s early trade as potential bidders are dropping like flies.

First was the report that Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) had no interest. Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) — which reportedly is interested in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) — fell off the horse soon after. Not that many people thought Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was going to bid, but Recode knocked down that hope, just in case.

All that’s left, it appears, is Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), which is up 2% on the news. Considering that just a day ago, Mizuho said a Twitter buyout could wipe out 25% of CRM’s value, it would appear Wall Street is either optimistic that Salesforce will drop out, or that at least the price of TWTR won’t be bid into the sky by other buyers.

Twitter was hoping to wrap up all offers by their earnings call on Oct. 27 — a sign that the company might be worried about weak Q3 results.

TWTR shares had rocketed some 35% higher ever since late September, when the latest round of rumors including Salesforce, Alphabet and Disney started to surface. Longtime investor Chris Sacca was among those hoping that a sale would bring some much-needed “fresh blood.”

However, Twitter stock is now off 17%, with the chance of that transformation rapidly dying.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM)

Yum! Brands was slipping on Thursday, too, after it missed quarterly earnings estimates.

The parent of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC earned $1.09 per share on an adjusted basis, missing the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet by a penny. Revenues of $3.32 billion also were worse than the $3.49 billion anticipated by Wall Street.

Global (ex-China) Pizza Hut same-store sales were off 1%, but were worse in the U.S., where they slid 2%. Comps for KFC were up 4% year-over-year, and Taco Bell’s same-store sales were up 3%.

Yum Brands also is a few weeks away from spinning off its Chinese business, Yum China.

YUM stock was off 2% on Thursday morning.

Metlife Inc (MET)

MET stock is up this morning after announcing plans to spin off its life insurance business.

The holding company announced that it has issued a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to do so for regulatory purposes.

Its life insurance business comprises about one-fifth of Metlife’s most recent annual earnings. Regulatory factors and economic conditions will determine the eventual fate of the new company.

An initial public offering is one possibility that may be on the table for the company’s life insurance capabilities. This business amounts to $240 billion in total assets.

MET shares were up about 3% before Thursday’s bell.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/10/3-stocks-to-watch-thursday-twitter-inc-twtr-yum-brands-inc-yum-and-metlife-inc-met/.

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