Aug. 1, 2012, 6:01 p.m. EDT

Updates, advisories and surprises

Stories You Might Like

• The Real Crash is dead ahead as 2008 is forgotten
• True Religion, Avon drop; Costco, RadioShack up
• Financial stocks drop, led by NASDAQ OMX Group

0 Comments

 

 

Share

NEW

Portfolio Relevance

LEARN MORE

By MarketWatch

Transocean swings to $304 million loss

(5:44 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Transocean Ltd. RIG +2.07% , the world's largest offshore drilling company, reported late Wednesday it had swung to a second-quarter loss of $304 million, or 86 cents a share, from a profit of $124 million, or 39 cents a share, a year ago. The company pinned most of the loss on $750 million set aside to cover losses stemming from the 2010 loss of its Deepwater Horizon rig at BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Revenue for the quarter rose 14% to $2.58 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had predicted the Zug, Switzerland-based company would earn 44 cents a share. The stock has gained about 25% this year so far.

Prudential Financial profit up 182%

(4:38 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Prudential Financial, Inc. PRU -1.45%reported after the close Wednesday a second-quarter profit of $2.2 billion, or $4.64 a share, up from $779 million, or $1.58 a share, a year ago. Revenue for the three months ended June 30 increased about 13% to $11.41 billion from $10.1 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the Newark, N.J.-based financial service provider to earn $1.54 a share. In after-hours trade, the stock fell 1.6% to $46.80 a share. Ahead of the report, share price was down over 18% over the past 12 months.

First Solar soars on results, brighter outlook

(4:29 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- First Solar Inc. FSLR +20.14% shares soared as much as 16% in after-hours trade Wednesday after the company reported its second-quarter profit rose to $111 million, or $1.27 a share, from $61.1 million, or 70 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue for the solar power company rose 79% to $957.3 million from $532.8 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had, on average, predicted the Tempe, Ariz.-based company would earn 97 cents a share on $841.3 million in revenue. First Solar also raised its 2012 full-year earnings outlook to $4.20 to $4.70 a share from its earlier forecast of $4.00 to $4.50 and lifted its sales forecast to between $3.6 billion and $3.9 billion. Its previous sales range had been $3.5 billion to $3.8 billion. First Solar had fallen 87% over the past 12 months prior to the report.

Green Mountain cuts 2012 outlook

(4:20 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Green Mountain Coffee RoastersGMCR +12.17% late Wednesday cut its fiscal 2012 financial targets for the second time since May while announcing a plan to buyback $500 million of stock. Green Mountain projects 2012 earnings of $2.21 to $2.26 a share, down from $2.40 to $2.50 a share. The Keurig coffee brewer maker also trimmed its sales outlook and shaved its capital expenditures plan. Profit for Green Mountain's fiscal third-quarter rose 30% to $73.3 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with $56.3 million, or 37 cents a share, in the same 2011 period. Revenue climbed 21% to $869.2 million. Gross margin fell to 34.9% from 36.8% due to a slowdown in demand and obsolete K-Cup coffee packs. Green Mountain shares fell 6% to $16.75 in after-hours trade. Shares are down 60% since Jan. 1.

Yelp reports 67% sales increase

(4:19 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Yelp Inc. YELP -5.71% shares rose 11% in after-hours trading Wednesday following the company's better-than-expected second quarter results. Yelp reported a loss of $2 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of $32.7 million, compared with a loss of $1.2 million, or 8 cents a share, on $19.6 million in sales in the same period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast the online consumer reviews and information company to lose 6 cents a share on $30.7 million in revenue for the quarter.

ServiceNow reports $8.7 million loss

(4:11 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- ServiceNow Inc. NOW +2.63% reported on Wednesday a fiscal second-quarter loss of $8.7 million, or 32 cents a share, on revenue of $56.8 million. During the same period a year ago, the cloud-based enterprise software company earned $2 million, or 2 cents a share, on $29.4 million in revenue. Excluding one-time items, ServiceNow would have lost $3.1 million, or 12 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast ServiceNow to lose 7 cents a share on $53.2 million in revenue.

Cray shares down almost 10% late

(3:50 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Cray Inc. CRAY -8.53% shares on Wednesday fell by as much as 10% to $11.17 in late trading. A short-sale restriction was triggered in trading of Cray's stock on the Nasdaq OMX earlier in the session. On Tuesday, the supercomputer company reported that it swung to a second-quarter profit from a loss in the same period a year ago.

Humana shares gain back some lost ground

(11:33 AM ET) LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Shares of health insurer Humana Inc.HUM +3.75% gained back some lost ground on Wednesday, a day after the Louisville, Ky.-based company fell more than 12% as it lowered its full-year outlook. Humana shares were up more than 3% in recent action to $63.83.

Page 1Page 2