U.S. markets
U.S. stocks were up on Tuesday morning, with tech stocks leading the way. The Dow gained 0.98% to 32,109, the S&P 500 Index rose 2.82% to 3,898 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.76% at 13,084.
Gainers
- Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG, Financial) +5.9%
- Twitter Inc. (TWTR, Financial) +5.4%
- AES Corp. (AES, Financial) +5.1%
- Nextera Energy Inc. (NEE, Financial) +5%
- Zoetis Inc. (ZTS, Financial) +4.6%
Losers
- Nov Inc. (NOV, Financial) -4.1%
- Walt Disney Co. (DIS, Financial) -2.9%
- Halliburton Co. (HAL, Financial) -2.8%
- Lumen Technologies Inc. (LUMN, Financial) -2.8%
- Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY, Financial) -2.6%
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in the green. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 swelled 0.50%, Germany's Dax rose 0.40%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.37% and Spain's Ibex 35 was up 0.62%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.99%, India's BSE Sensex rose 1.16%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.81% and China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.82%.
Del Taco Restaurants releases earnings report
Shares of Del Taco Restaurants Inc. (TACO, Financial) jumped more than 2.3% on Tuesday morning, to change hands at $11.22 each, after the company posted its fiscal fourth-quarter results. Revenue declined 0.2% year over year to $156.72 million, beating analysts' estimates by $0.63 million. The company posted a gain of 20 cents per share, beating expectations by 6 cents.
President and CEO John D. Cappasola Jr. had the following to say:
"We delivered a solid fourth quarter performance in terms of comparable restaurant sales growth, restaurant contribution margin and adjusted EBITDA performance. Our great food, great value, and great experiences drove overall satisfaction scores to record levels, while the success of our Crispy Chicken menu and seasonal Tamale promotion enabled us to grow system-wide comparable restaurant sales while navigating through the clear headwinds affecting our industry. The hard work of our restaurant teams and support center staff helped us manage our margins and profitability despite the many challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic."
Company-operated restaurant sales reached $141.7 million for the quarter, down 2.2% from the prior year due to fewer company-operated restaurants open as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Further, the adjusted Ebitda was $18.4 million compared to $20.5 million in the year-ago quarter.
Th adjusted net income was $7.5 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $6.7 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, last year.
Moreover, Del Taco repurchased 496,356 shares of common stock at an average price of $8.49 per share, totaling $4.2 million during the fourth quarter.
Looking to fiscal 2021, the company expects the restaurant contribution margin to be higher than the16.1% achieved during fiscal 2020.
Del Taco shares have advanced 25.2% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 5.7%.
At the end of December, Keeley Asset Management Corp (Trades, Portfolio) reduced its position by 10% to 796,5020 shares.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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