Stocks rose Wednesday as investors gauged whether the recent Wall Street rally fueled by bets on interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve would continue into the end of the year. The
was headed for its sixth-straight record close.
reported weaker-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings and reduced its fiscal-year sales forecast.
said it expects a “low-single-digit percentage decline” in sales for fiscal 2024, compared with a previous outlook that called for “approximately flat” sales growth. The company still expects to earn between $17 and $18.50 a share in fiscal 2024, the same guidance provided in September. Shares of the shipping giant were falling 11%. Rival
was down 1.1%.
was rising 3% following a report that said its Google unit plans to reorganize a large part of its advertising sales unit. Alphabet shares were on pace for their highest close since April 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.25 a share, topping Wall Street forecasts of $1.16, but the maker of Cheerios cereal said it expects organic sales in fiscal 2024 to be down 1% to flat from a year earlier, compared with previous guidance of growth of 3% to 4%. The stock declined 2.4%.
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was up 9% after the maker of lawn mowers posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat analysts’ estimates.
was down 5.5%. The professional services company agreed to acquire NFPa middle market property and casualty broker, for about $13.4 billion in cash and stock.
Shares of home-improvement retailer
were downgraded to Hold from Buy at
Stifel
.
The price target was raised to $240 from $235. Lowe’s shares fell 0.6% to $224.18.
was down 1% to $15.66. Shares of Paramount, an entertainment company with a movie studio, television channels, and streaming services, were upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at
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and the price target was raised to $18 from $15.
U.S.-listed shares of
rose 0.3%. Chief Executive Eddie Wu will take over as CEO of Taobao and Tmall Group, the company’s domestic e-commerce arm, in the latest shake-up at the Chinese tech company.
Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com
