Stock market news live updates: Stocks jump as GameStock craters, retail rally unwinds

Investor's Business Daily
Nine Investors Instantly Make $16 Billion On GameStop Stock 'Squeeze'
Here's a game many would like to play how to make a billion bucks in a month? And nine investors just pulled it off with GameStop stock.
1d ago
Barrons.com
Exxon’s Earnings Were Messy, But There’s Good Dividend News
In addition to posting hopeful guidance for 2021, Exxon is adding a new independent director to the board.
19m ago
LA Times
Kroger says it must close two Long Beach stores due to hazard pay ordinance
As local governments look to enact hazard pay rules for grocery workers, businesses are pushing back, saying the extra pay is too costly to sustain. Kroger on Monday blamed its decision to close a Ralphs supermarket and a Food 4 Less in Long Beach on a hazard pay measure.
13h ago
Yahoo Finance
Robinhood's future is 'toast,' says 'Wolf of Wall Street' Jordan Belfort
Jordan Belfort, convicted felon and author of 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' has a warning for big money hedge funds and retail investors following the GameStop phenomenom.
36m ago
Yahoo Finance
BABA earnings and revenue beat expectations
Alibaba (BABA) Group announced its 3rd quarter results for the period ending December 31st. The e-commerce giant reported a revenue increase of 37% year over year and beat on earnings estimates.
1h ago
Investor's Business Daily
Pfizer Stock Inches Up Despite Light Fourth-Quarter Earnings
Pfizer stock edged higher on Tuesday after the pharmaceutical company reported adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share on $11.68 billion in sales for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.
1h ago
TipRanks
3 ‘Strong Buy’ Stocks With 8% Dividend Yield
Let’s talk portfolio defense. After last week’s social flash mob market manipulation, that’s a topic that should not be ignored. Now, this is not to say that the markets are collapsing. After 2% losses to close out last week’s Friday session, this week’s trading kicked off with a positive tone, as the S&P 500 rose 1.5% and the Nasdaq climbed 2.5%. The underlying bullish factors – a more stable political scene, steadily progressing COVID vaccination programs – are still in play, even if they are not quite as strong as investors had hoped. While increased volatility could stay with us for a while, it’s time to consider defensive stocks. And that will bring us to dividends. By providing a steady income stream, no matter what the market conditions, a reliable dividend stock provides a pad for your investment portfolio when the share stop appreciating. With this in mind, we’ve used the TipRanks database to pull up three dividend stocks yielding 8%. That’s not all they offer, however. Each of these stocks has scored enough praise from the Street to earn a “Strong Buy” consensus rating. New Residential Investment (NRZ) We’ll start by looking into the REIT sector, real estate investment trusts. These companies have long been known for dividends that are both high-yield and reliable – as a result of company compliance with tax rules, that require REITs to return a certain percentage of profits directly to shareholders. NRZ, a mid-size company with a market cap of $3.9 billion, holds a diverse portfolio of residential mortgages, original loans, and mortgage loan servicing rights. The company is based in New York City. NRZ holds a $20 billion investment portfolio, which has yielded $3.4 billion in dividends since the company’s inception. The portfolio has proven resilient in the face of the corona crisis, and after a difficult first quarter last year, NRZ saw rising gains in Q2 and Q3. The third quarter, the last reported, showed GAAP income of $77 million, or 19 cents per share. While down year-over-year, this EPS was a strong turnaround from the 21-cent loss reported in the prior quarter. The rising income has put NRZ in a position to increase the dividend. The Q3 payment was 15 cents per common share; the Q4 dividend was bumped up to 20 cents per common share. At this rate, the dividend annualizes to 80 cents and yields an impressive 8.5%. In another move to return profits to investors, the company announced in November that it had approved $100 million in stock repurchases. BTIG analyst Eric Hagen is impressed with New Residential – especially by the company’s sound balance sheet and liquidity. “[We] like the opportunity to potentially build some capital through retained earnings while maintaining a competitive payout. We think the dividend increase highlights the strengthening liquidity position the company sees itself having right now… we expect NRZ has been able to release capital as it's sourced roughly $1 billion of securitized debt for its MSR portfolio through two separate deals since September,” Hagen opined. In line with his comments, Hagen rates NRZ a Buy, and his $11 price target implies an upside of 17% for the year ahead. (To watch Hagen’s track record, click here) It’s not often that the analysts all agree on a stock, so when it does happen, take note. NRZ’s Strong Buy consensus rating is based on a unanimous 7 Buys. The stock’s $11.25 average price target suggests ~20% upside from the current share price of $9.44. (See NRZ stock analysis on TipRanks) Saratoga Investment Corporation (SAR) With the next stock, we move to the investment management sector. Saratoga specializes in mid-market debt, appreciation, and equity investments, and holds over $546 million in assets under management. Saratoga’s portfolio is wide ranging, and includes industrials, software, waste disposal, and home security, among others. Saratoga saw a slow – but steady – rebound from the corona crisis. The company’s revenues fell in 1Q20, and have been slowly increasing since. The fiscal Q3 report, released early in January, showed $14.3 million at the top line. In pre-tax adjusted terms, Saratoga’s net investment income of 50 cents per share beat the 47-cent forecast by 6%. They say that slow and steady wins the race, and Saratoga has shown investors a generally steady hand over the past year. The stock has rebounded 163% from its post-corona crash low last March. And the dividend, which the company cut back in CYQ2, has been raised twice since then. The current dividend, at 42 cents per common share, was declared last month for payment on February 10. The annualized payment of $1.68 gives a yield of 8.1%. Analyst Mickey Schleien, of Ladenburg Thalmann, takes a bullish view of Saratoga, writing, “We believe SAR's portfolio is relatively defensive with a focus on software, IT services, education services, and the CLO... SAR's CLO continues to be current and performing, and the company is seeking to refinance/upsize it which we believe could provide upside to our forecast." The analyst continued, "Our model anticipates SAR employing cash and SBA debentures to fund net portfolio growth. We believe the Board will continue to increase the dividend considering the portfolio's performance, the existence of undistributed taxable income, and the economic benefit of the Covid-19 vaccination program.” To this end, Schleien rates SAR a Buy along with a $25 price target. This figure implies a 20% upside from current levels. (To watch Schleien’s track record, click here) Wall Street’s analysts agree with Schleien on this stock – the 3 other reviews on record are Buys, and the analyst consensus rating is a Strong Buy. Saratoga’s shares are trading for $20.87, and carry an average price target of $25.50, suggesting an upside of 22% for the next 12 months. (See SAR stock analysis on TipRanks) Hercules Capital (HTGC) Last but not least is Hercules Capital, a venture capital company. Hercules offers financing support to small, early-stage client companies with scientific bent; Hercules’ clients are in life sciences, technology, and financial SaaS. Since getting started in 2003, Hercules has invested over $11 billion in more than 500 companies. The quality of Hercules’ portfolio is clear from the company’s recent performance. The stock has bounced back fully from the corona crisis of last winter, rebounding 140% from its low point reached last April. Earnings have also recovered; for the first nine months of 2020, HTGC posted net investment income of $115 million, or 11% higher than the same period of 2019. For dividend investors, the key point here is that the net investment income covered the distribution – in fact, it totaled 106% of the base distribution payout. The company was confident enough to boost the distribution with a 2-cent supplemental payment. The combined payout gives a $1.28 annualized payment per common share, and a yield of 8.7%. In another sign of confidence, Hercules completed a $100 million investment grade bond offering in November, raising capital for debt pay-downs, new investments, and corporate purposes. The bonds were offered in two tranches, each of $50 million, and the notes are due in March of 2026. Covering the stock for Piper Sandler, analyst Crispin Love sees plenty to love in HTGC. “We continue to believe that HTGC's focus on fast growing technology and life sciences companies sets the company up well in the current environment. In addition, Hercules is not dependent on a COVID recovery as it does not have investments in "at-risk" sectors. Hercules also has a strong liquidity position, which should allow the company to act quickly when it finds attractive investment opportunities,” Love commented. All of the above convinced Love to rate HTGC an Outperform (i.e. Buy). In addition to the call, he set a $16 price target, suggesting 9% upside potential. (To watch Love’s track record, click here) Recent share appreciation has pushed Hercules’ stock right up to the average price target of $15.21, leaving just ~4% upside from the trading price of $14.67. Wall Street doesn’t seem to mind, however, as the analyst consensus rating is a unanimous Strong Buy, based on 6 recent Buy-side reviews. (See HTGC stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
23h ago
Investor's Business Daily
DraftKings Stock Surges After Cathie Wood's ARK Invest Buys DKNG Shares, Is It A Buy Right Now?
DraftKings is one of the top IPO stocks to watch, as gambling legalization gains steam. Here is what the fundamentals and technical analysis say about buying DKNG stock now.
6m ago
Investor's Business Daily
Artificial Intelligence Stocks To Buy And Watch Amid Rising AI Competition
When looking for the best artificial intelligence stocks to buy, identify companies using AI technology to improve products or gain a strategic edge, such as Microsoft, Netflix and Nvidia.
1h ago
Bloomberg
Exxon Defends Dividend After First Annual Loss in Decades
(Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. pledged to safeguard its mammoth dividend after posting its first annual loss in at least 40 years, a show of defiance by an oil driller besieged by activist investors, lawmakers and climate-change campaigners.Exxon assured investors of its financial health in a world of $50-a-barrel oil and promised that if crude were to dip to $45 it would sacrifice spending in the name of dividends. The Western world’s largest oil explorer has so far avoided the sort of payout cuts adopted by rivals Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc.The dividend pledge comes on the heels of a $19.3-billion writedown of U.S. natural gas and other assets, and the lowest production since the 1999 Mobil Corp. merger. Cash flow from operations -- a key gauge of corporate strength -- shrank by almost 9% during the final three months of 2020 to $4 billion.Investors looked past all that and boosted the stock by 2% to $45.82 at 9:33 a.m. in New York. Exxon’s $15 billion-a-year payout has a 7.56% yield and is third-highest in the S&P 500 Index.“The focus will remain on cash-flow generation and while it wasn’t great in the quarter, Exxon did provide guidance on covering the dividend with oil at $50 a barrel,” Giacomo Romeo, a London-based analyst at Jefferies International Ltd., said in a telephone interview.Excluding the historic impairment, Exxon returned to profit in the fourth quarter, earning 3 cents per share, and ending a run of three consecutive quarterly losses. That compares with the Bloomberg Consensus estimate for a 2-cent profit.Exxon is emerging from the wreckage of 2020 facing the worst crisis in its modern history. In addition to growing criticism of its environmental record, financial performance has deteriorated. Exxon hasn’t increased payouts since early 2019.“We remain focused on increasing long-term value for our shareholders,” Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said in a statement. “The past year presented the most challenging market conditions ExxonMobil has ever experienced.”Such was the pressure exerted by last year’s price collapse that Woods held preliminary talks with his counterpart at Chevron Corp. about a megamerger, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.Before Tuesday’s reassurances, some investors had been worrying the oil titan might resort to a cut to shore up its cash position. As recently as October, the company was still pledging to increase payouts, but that changed a month later when management dropped the word “growing” from its discussion of dividends.To read about Exxon’s newest director, click here.Exxon isn’t alone in facing serious challenges even as commodities are on a tear. Chevron disappointed investors at the end of last weak with a surprise loss grounded on weaker-than-expected refining margins. Earlier Tuesday, BP Plc squeezed out a small profit that was a fraction of what the explorer earned in pre-pandemic days. ConocoPhillips posted a third consecutive loss.As he begins his fifth year as CEO, Woods is taking an axe to capital spending and operating costs, all but abandoning his circa 2018 blueprint for expanding output while drilling and construction costs were low. Exxon announced 14,000 job cuts, delayed megaprojects from the Permian Basin to Mozambique, and has pledged to keep a tight rein on spending through the middle of this decade.To explore into Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG insights and data, click here.The cutbacks helped turn Wall Street analysts more positive on the stock, especially with oil prices rebounding this year, but investors are still nursing deep losses after a 41% plunge in 2020 and years of underperformance compared with peers.Exxon announced plans on Monday to set up a new business called ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions that will spend $3 billion on low-emission technologies through 2025. The slate of projects included several previously announced initiatives.What Bloomberg Intelligence SaysExxon Mobil’s investment pullback may not be enough to protect the $15 billion dividend; it can likely maintain a dividend through 2021, but at the expense of long-term returns. A countercyclical investment strategy has been reduced to a near standstill, but the company is still churning through cash.-- Fernando Valle and Brett Gibbs, BI analystsRead the report here.Last week, activist investor Engine No. 1 formally took up the cause for a change in strategy, nominating four directors to the board ahead of Exxon’s annual meeting in May. The investor, which has the support of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, is calling on Exxon to invest more in clean energy, commit to reducing emissions and improve returns on capital.Meanwhile, the company is in talks with investor D.E. Shaw & Co. that may lead to additional director nominations in the weeks ahead, according to people familiar with the matter. On Tuesday, Exxon appointed former Petronas CEO Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin to its board and said it’s talking to other director candidates.(Updates share price in fourth paragraph, adds analyst’s comment in fifth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
35m ago
BBC
GameStop: Real Wolf of Wall Street warns 'you could lose it all'
Jordan Belfort says amateurs should "take their chips off the table" as shares in the retailer tumble.
6m ago
Barrons.com
Pfizer Just Reported Earnings. Here’s the One Number to Notice.
The pharmaceutical company expects around $15 billion of revenue from sales of its Covid-19 vaccine this year, while Wall Street had anticipated $12.7 billion.
2h ago
Bloomberg
Reddit Traders Declare ‘BioWar’ as Shorted Biotechs Soar
(Bloomberg) -- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. blew past a five-year high as Reddit investors rallied around a call to start a “#BioWar” on the bears behind a heavily-shorted biotech that develops rare disease drugs.The stock, which recently ended development of an experimental therapy for Covid-19, rallied to close 39% higher on Monday after a poster on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum called it “the most undervalued stock in the market” while another said a brewing #BioWar was “about sticking it to the shorts in a massive way.”Biotechs with little to no revenue have long been the focus of short bets on Wall Street and could emerge as a new focal point for small-time investors railing against elite hedge funds. But the battleground is an already crowded arena with hedge funds positioned on both sides.Indeed, BioCryst is a short target with about 17% of float, or $259 million, sold short, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners. But it’s also a hedge fund pick held by the likes of Citadel, the well-known biotech outfit Baker Bros. Advisors LP, and activist investor Alex Denner’s Sarissa Capital Management.Before Monday’s rally, shares of BioCryst had already shrugged off the scuttling of a Covid-19 trial supported by the National Institutes of Health. The company is expected to generate less than $31 million in revenue for all of 2020.Novavax Inc., another heavily-shorted biotech, has also garnered interest across chat forums, which could benefit funds like RA Capital Management and Perceptive Advisors, which hold stakes in the company. The stock has more than doubled in the past few trading days, albeit on late-stage positive results for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The short position on Novavax stands at $1.5 billion, according to S3.Throughout the pandemic, biotechs racing to find the next Covid-19 treatment or vaccine have captured the imagination of retail investors. Dynavax Technologies Corp. added another $436 million in market value on Monday on news it had both initiated a mid-stage Covid vaccine study with one partner and that the U.K. had exercised an option to order more inoculations from another Dynavax partner using the company’s adjuvant.Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. also soared Monday after Twitter users jumped on a filing over BlackRock Inc.’s stake in the company. One tweet said BlackRock had doubled its position, although Bloomberg data show the stake is virtually unchanged.Meanwhile, the motivations behind Monday’s 131% rally in Healthier Choices Management Corp. powered by Reddit was unclear as Twitter users said it was an opportunity to send hedge funds “on the run.” Short interest in the sub-penny stock, which makes vaping products and operates health food stores in Florida, appears non-existent however. The micro-cap’s largest holders were its management team.(Updates to add Covid-19 stock plays as well as Healthier Choices trading details)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
17h ago
MarketWatch
UPS addresses 'elephant in the room,' as Amazon accounted for more than $11 billion in 2020 revenue
United Parcel Service Inc. surged 3.7% in morning trading, enough to pace the Dow Jones Transportation Average's gainers, after the package delivery giant reported earlier better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. In the post-earnings conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Carol Tomé said, "So let's just address the elephant in the room, which is out largest customer." Out of 19 million customer, Tomé said Amazon.com Inc. was the largest, with the ecommerce giant's share of total revenue rising to 13.3% in 2020 from 11.6% in 2019. With UPS reported total 2020 revenue of $84.63 billion, that indicates Amazon accounted for $11.26 billion in 2020 revenue, up from $8.59 billion a year ago. UPS shares have gained 1.6% over the past three months, while Amazon's stock has advanced 13.9%, the Dow transports have tacked on 10.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 13.4%.
36m ago
Investor's Business Daily
Is Moderna Stock A Buy As CEO Says World Will Live With Covid 'Forever'?
Moderna has emerged as a strong competitor after getting authorization for a coronavirus vaccine. But Moderna stock remains on a wild ride. Is Moderna stock a buy now?
3h ago
TheStreet.com
Inovio Soars as Reddit Crowd Takes Notice, BlackRock Boosts Stake
Inovio Pharmaceuticals soared Tuesday as retail investors rallied on the online messaging platform Reddit and took aim at the drug industry. Shares of the Plymouth Meeting, Penn., company were climbing 12% to $19 in premarket trading. Inovio also got a boost after New York money manager BlackRock increased its stake in the company.
6h ago
Benzinga
Analyst Raises General Electric Target Following FCF Deep Dive
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) shares traded slightly higher on Monday after one Wall Street analyst performed a deep dive into the company’s free cash flow outlook. The GE Analyst: Bank of America analyst Andrew Obin reiterated his Buy rating for GE and raised his price target from $13 to $14. See also: Buy Bank of America Stock The GE Thesis: Last week, GE shares jumped after the company reported a better-than-expected $4.37 billion in fourth-quarter industrial free cash flow and guided for between $2.5 billion and $4.5 billion in industrial FCF in 2021. On Monday, Obin said GE’s 3% year-over-year drop in orders in the fourth quarter was also a pleasant surprise given orders dropped 28% in the previous quarter. The $3.5 billion midpoint of GE’s 2021 industrial FCF guidance was also slightly above Bank of America’s target of $3.3 billion. Obin said investors don’t seem to fully appreciate GE’s multi-year effort to reduce factoring, which was a $3.2 billion outflow in 2020. That process is now coming to an end and Obin said investors can expect working capital levels to begin to normalize. Related Link: ,000, 5 Years Later: How Much Would General Electric Stock Be Worth? Obin understands the caution toward GE given the uncertain economic outlook and the company’s rough recent track record, but he believes the company is being overly cautious with its 2021 Aviation revenue guidance. In the meantime, Obin says GE has plenty of financial flexibility in the near-term, and could actually benefit from rising interest rates. Rising rates would help reduce GE’s $25.5 billion in pension liabilities and GE Capital’s $21.3 billion in long-term care liabilities. “Higher discount rates would lower the value of these long-lived liabilities,” Obin said. Benzinga’s Take: GE appears to have stopped the bleeding by aggressively addressing its liquidity and balance sheet issues, and it has implemented a long-term turnaround plan. However, Obin is forecasting just 62 cents in 2023 earnings per share, suggesting GE is already trading at 17.2 times 2023 earnings even if the company hits Obins growth targets over the next two years. Photo credit: Momoneymoproblemz, via Wikimedia Commons Latest Ratings for GE DateFirmActionFromTo Jan 2021Morgan StanleyMaintainsOverweight Dec 2020DZ BankUpgradesSellHold Dec 2020Morgan StanleyMaintainsOverweight View More Analyst Ratings for GE View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from Benzinga,000, 5 Years Later: How Much Would General Electric Stock Be Worth?© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
22h ago
Yahoo Finance
Tesla challenger Faraday Future wants to go from 0 to $20B in sales by selling lots of $180K electric cars
Electric vehicle maker Faraday Future has big goals for the next five years, CEO Carsten Breitfeld explains to Yahoo Finance.
21h ago
MarketWatch
Immunovant stock loses half its value after pausing dosing in trial of thyroid eye disease treatment
Shares of Immunovant Inc. plunged 49.8% to pace all premarket losers Tuesday, after the biopharmaceutical company said it has paused dosing in its phase 2b trial for IMVT-1401, a treatment for thyroid eye disease (TED). The company said it voluntarily decided to pause dosing, "out of an abundance of caution," after it became aware of a physiological signal consisting of elevated total cholesterol, as cholesterol levels were not measured in prior trials. The company said it is pausing dosing in order to inform patients, investigators and regulators, as well as to modify the monitoring program. "After discussion and agreement with regulators regarding protocol modifications, the company intends to continue to pursue development of IMVT-1401," the company said in a statement. The stock, which is on track to open at the lowest price seen during regular-session hours since May 27, 2020, has lost 2.9% over the past three months through Monday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has run up 24.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 14.0%.
2h ago
Benzinga
If You Like Tesla, Check Out These 3 Companies
If you invested in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) one year ago, you would be up by roughly 600%. The growth in electric vehicles isn’t limited to this one stock: with the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF (NYSE: DRIV) being up roughly 75%. Here are three more companies to look into if you’re enjoying your position in Tesla: Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) is often touted as the “Tesla of China.” The company operates in China’s premium electric vehicle market. It designs and jointly manufactures, and sells smart and connected premium electric vehicles, driving innovations in next-generation technologies in connectivity, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence. Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is the world's largest lithium producer. The outlook for lithium demand is predicated upon increased demand for electric vehicle batteries. Lithium is used in electric vehicle batteries and many other electric-based solutions. As the demand for clean energy solutions increases, Albemarle’s lithium demand could increase as well. General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) makes electric vehicles, but isn’t considered an electric vehicle company just yet. Although the automotive giant’s electric vehicle lineup may not be seen as being on par with Tesla's right now, the company has many resources and talent at its disposal to gain a strong footing in the EV industry. In fact, the company has committed to offering only electric vehicles by 2035. As more and more companies continue to shift to electric vehicles, it might be harder for Tesla to maintain its current status once EV options are more plentiful. See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaPete Najarian Sees Unusual Options Activity In Walgreens16 Stocks Moving In Thursday's After-Hours Session© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
1d ago

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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks open higher, heading toward back-to-back sessions of gains

8:12 a.m. ET: U.S. crude oil prices briefly touch $55 per barrel for the first time in a year

7:14 a.m. ET Tuesday: Stock futures extend gains ahead of the opening bell

6:11 p.m. ET Monday: Stock futures point higher

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