The markets started lower today following the jobs report which showed that the economy added fewer jobs than analysts expected. After lunch the buyers had enough and pushed the market to highs where they closed. The Dow 30 gained 79 (0.45%), the S&P 500 added 6 (0.32%), and the Nasdaq 100 closed up 19 (0.40%)
Recent IPO, Square (SQ ) was lower today by a whopping 21.76%. Following the earnings announcement that showed the company missed on profits in the first quarter, Wedbush Securities downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral. The company also posted a one-time charge of about $50 million in legal fees paid to Honeywell (HON ). This weighed on results with the company posting a loss of $0.14 per share, larger than the Street's estimate of a loss of $0.09.
GoPro (GPRO ) dissapointed the street again today causing a 2.33% decline. The digital camera maker posted mixed first-quarter earnings results. The company beat analysts' forecasts for revenue, reporting $183.5 million, but posted a bigger loss than expected of $0.63 per share. Despite a beat on the top line, GoPro's revenue is about half of what it earned one year ago. The company also announced a delay in their much anticipated drone, which is now scheduled to be ready for the holidays.
One company that didn't disappoint investors today was Yelp (YELP ).The business review site soared 23.72% today as they topped Wall Street expectations in the first quarter. Yelp reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.08 on revenue of $158.6 million. The better than expected results come on the heels of hedge fund manager David Einhorn revealing earlier this week that he had invested in the company.
Herbalife (HLF ) added 9.05% today as the company reported better-than-expected earnings results and said that its nearing a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. If a settlement is reached, Herbalife said in a statement quoted by Bloomberg that its best estimate of a payment is $200 million. The one time penalty would be for admitting it operates as a pyramid scheme.
Lastly, J.C. Penney (JCP ) -suffered a 7.56% decline today as the New York Post reported that the retailer is taking emergency measures to stay afloat, including slashing its payroll and freezing overtime. The company reports its first-quarter earnings on May 13.
