The U.S. created 156,000 new jobs the past month, slightly short of estimates. Analysts had predicted a gain of between 170,000 to 180,000 new jobs, but the real number was 156,000. The unemployment rate was practically unchanged at 4.4%. Meanwhile, the U.S. stock market opened higher with the three main indexes in the green.
Shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW, Financial)Â were up almost 9% in morning trading on the back of the company reporting better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter. EPS of 61 cents beat expectations by 6 cents and revenue of $431.8 million beat by $19.88 million and is up 24.9% year over year.
Moreover, shares of Nutanix Inc. (NTNX, Financial) jumped more than 9% as the company posted fourth-quarter loss of 33 cents on revenue of $226.1 million, beating profit estimates by 5 cents and revenue estimates by $8.05 million.
On the other hand, DryShips Inc. (DRYS) shares slumped in Wednesday's after-hours trading and was still falling Friday when it lost almost 6% in morning trading. The reason is the company's financial results for its fiscal second quarter. The company reported revenue of $16.38 million, an increase of 4% year over year from $15.75 million over the same period last year. The bottom line was hurt with a net loss of $15.6 million, even higher than the net loss of $9.1 million a year earlier. Further, the company has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to offerings made by the company between June 2016 and July 2017.
Gainers
- Ford Motor Co. (F, Financial).
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, Financial).
- Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX).
- Gap Inc. (GPS, Financial).
- Invesco Ltd. (IVZ).
- Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS, Financial).
- Avery Dennison Corp. (AVY).
- Carmax Inc. (KMX).
- Newell Brands Inc. (NWL).
- Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN, Financial).
Losers
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE, Financial).
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY, Financial).
- Roper Technologies Inc. (ROP, Financial).
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded higher. The FTSE 100, German DAX, French CAC 40 and the IBEX 35 advanced approximately 0.8%.
In Asia, markets closed in green territory. China’s Shanghai Composite and Japan’s Nikkei Index closed up as did India’s BSE Sensex. Only Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded lower.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
