The U.S. labor market added 209,000 new jobs in July, more than the 180,000 expected by economists. In the past two months, nearly 450,000 new jobs have been added. As a result, the unemployment rate reached a 16-year low of 4.3%. Further, wages were also better than expected, rising 0.3% over the previous month and 2.5% over last year.
Meanwhile, the U.S. stock market indexes opened higher on Friday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 40 points to 22,066.29. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained five points to 2,476.656 and futures for the Nasdaq 100 index jumped 3.7 points to 6,343.58. The10-year yield climbed 2.258% and the short-term 2-year yield rose to 1.367%.
In this scenario, some stocks are having big moves today.
GoPro Inc.'s (GPRO, Financial) stock has rallied 15.5% after the company reported a second-quarter loss of nine cents on revenue of $296.53 million, beating earnings estimates by 16 cents per share and revenue expectations by $26.97 million.
Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman said "strong demand combined with our cost management and margin initiatives contributed to GoPro's EBITDA positive performance in the second quarter."
He said the Hero 6 and Fusion cameras are scheduled to launch later this year.
Guidance is strong for next quarter, with management expecting revenue between $290 million and $300 million, the gross margin between 36% and 37% and operating expenses between $131 million and $133 million. For the full year, the company expects GAAP operating expenses below $570 million and non-GAAP operating expenses below $495 million.
Weight Watchers International Inc. (WTW, Financial) shares were up almost 16% in morning trading on the back of the company reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its second quarter. EPS of 67 cents beat expectations by 16 cents while revenue of $341.7 million beat estimates by $12.15 million and is up 10.3% year over year ($600 million in the second quarter of 2016).
Chief Financial Officer Nick Hotchkin said the company delivered another strong quarter with "revenue growth in constant currency in every geographic segment, driven by compelling marketing programs in our major markets."
"We expect strong growth in revenues and operating income in the second half of this year," Hotchkin said.
For fiscal 2017, Weight Watchers now expects earnings between $1.57 and $1.67 per fully diluted share.
Viacom Inc. (VIAB, Financial) is losing ground by 12% as the company reported third-quarter EPS of $1.17 on revenue of $3.36 billion. Sales increased 8% year over year,or $257 million, to $3.36 billion due to growth across the filmed entertainment and media networks segments. Revenue missed estimates by $50 million, but earnings exceeded expectations by 11 cents per share.
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded higher. The FTSE 100, French CAC 40 and the IBEX 35 gained 0.85%, 0.46% and 0.33% while the German DAX lost ground.
In Asia, markets closed mixed. Japan’s Nikkei and India’s BSE Sensex Index closed in red territory, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite Index were in green.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
