The U.S. stock market traded in the red on Friday, with energy shares being sold off.
Shares of Foot Locker Inc. (FL, Financial) jumped on Friday trading after the company posted first-quarter earnings of $1.45 on revenue of $2.03 billion, which was 1.5% higher than the comparable period. The company beat revenue expectations by $70 million and by 20 cents in earnings.
Further, the gross margin rate decreased to 32.9% from 34% a year ago, while the SG&A expense rate increased to 19% from 18.5% in the first quarter of 2017.
Richard Johnson, chairman and CEO, said, "This led to first quarter results which were above our expectations. With the strength of our strategic vendor partnerships and our central position in youth culture, we continue to believe that we are poised to inflect to positive comparable-store sales growth as we progress through the year."
During the trimester, the company opened 11 new stores, remodeled or relocated 43 stores, and closed 37 stores.
Looking ahead, the company expects 2018 full-year earnings per share to be between $2.95 and $3.25, and for the first quarter it expects earnings per share between 15 and 20 cents.
Gainers
• American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL, Financial)
• Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV, Financial)
• Lennar Corp. (LEN, Financial)
• Kellogg Co. (K, Financial)
Losers
• Hess Corp. (HES, Financial)
• ConocoPhillips (COP, Financial)
• Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in the red.The U.K.'s FTSE gained 0.01% and Germany's Dax jumped 0.30% but France's CAC retreated 0.25%, and Spain's Ibex plummeted 2.12%.
In Asia, markets closed mixed. Japan's Nikkei closed up0.06%, China's Shanghai sank 0.42%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.56% while India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.76%.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
