U.S. stock markets roared ahead Tuesday on a day of light trading that saw tech stocks post a 1.5% bid. The S&P 500 Index gained 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average grew 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.4%.
Several companies are making headlines as we head into mid-week trade. Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) and Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) are on the move Wednesday following their recent quarterly results, while Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is still being haunted by a boogeyman of its own making.
Here’s what you need to know:
Intuit Inc. (INTU)
INTU shares are slipping this morning despite an impressive quarter from the maker of TurboTax.
In its fourth quarter, Intuit reported a profit of 20 cents per share, topping analysts’ expectations by 3 cents. That profit was 150% higher than the year-ago period.
Revenues also were strong at $842 million, which were better by 11.7% year-over-year. The figure also was well ahead of Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $804.6 million, per Thomson Reuters.
Guidance appears to be the driving force behind INTU bears. For its fiscal Q1, the tax services software provider expects earnings in a range of 3 to 5 cents per share — well below analysts’ outlook for 11 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Intuit appointed Michelle Clatterbuck as the new Chief Financial Officer of the company, replacing Neil Williams in January 2018. Clatterbuck is the company’s current senior vice president of finance for its consumer tax group.
INTU stock is off fractionally this morning.
Wells Fargo & Co (WFC)
WFC shareholders need to get ready for more bad news in the coming weeks.
CEO Timothy Sloan said that the financial institution is still dealing with blowback from its consumer sales scandal, sparked by the admission that the bank had created millions of fraudulent accounts in customers’ names.
Wells Fargo has already shelled out more than $5 million in settlements. However, within a few weeks, the bank will unveil the results of a third-party investigation into the fiasco, and Sloan said, “The results of our reviews will generate news headlines.”
He continued, “But even as we face this renewed coverage, the best thing we can do is stay focused on fixing problems, making things right for customers, and building a better, stronger Wells Fargo.”
The company also could end up facing hundreds of millions of dollars in additional fines for its misbehavior, which led to the ouster of former CEO John Stumpf earlier this year.
“This analysis examined account usage patterns and is constructed to err on the side of the customer in determining which accounts are included as potentially unauthorized,” Sloan said Tuesday.
He implores the company to stay focused on its customers and keeping all operations running smoothly and compliant with banking laws.
WFC stock is off fractionally this morning.
Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM)
CRM stock is also on the decline following its latest quarterly earnings.
The cloud company posted earnings of 33 cents per share, ahead of analysts’ estimates of 32 cents per share, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Non-GAAP earnings were 24 cents per share.
Revenue came in at $2.56 billion for Salesforce, topping expectations of $2.51 billion. The figure was 26% higher than the year-ago period.
“We have $15 billion in on and off the balance sheet deferred revenue,” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in an interview with CNBC. “That is the predictor of our future revenue growth. That’s revenue that we have signed but not yet recognized.”
For its third quarter, the company expects earnings to reach 36 to 37 cents per share, with the midpoint coming in ahead of analysts’ guidance of 36 cents per share. Revenue forecasts are encouraging too, with CRM projecting a top line between $2.64 billion to $2.65 billion, ahead of Wall Street’s forecast of $2.61 billion.
CRM shares are off about 2% this morning.
