U.S. stocks are set to open in green territory with the main indexes edging higher after solid economic growth data was reported. The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.3%.
Shares of Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN, Financial) jumped in premarket trading on the back of the company posting its financial results for the fourth quarter. While revenue declined 9.9% to $465.692 million, its earnings advanced to 20 cents per share, beating expectations by seven cents.
Looking ahead, the company reiterated its fiscal 2018 guidance. Revenue growth will be between 2% and 4%, ranging from $2.03 billion to $2.08 billion. Adjusted earnings are expected to be between $1.06 and $1.15 per share, in line with the $1.11 expected by analysts. For the next quarter, the company projects revenue will be in the range of $486 million to $500 million and earnings will be between 19 cents and 22 cents per share.
Chairman and CEO Paul Ricci said he pleased with how the company ended the year, despite a cyber attack in June.
“Absent the incident, we completed an excellent year operationally, strategically and financially. Notwithstanding the malware incident, we performed well against several key metrics," he said.
Gainers
- Macy's Inc. (M, Financial)
- Target Corp. (TGT)
- Nordstrom Inc. (JWN, Financial)
- Hologic Inc. (HOLX)
- Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR)
Losers
- Autodesk Inc. (ADSK, Financial)
- Micron Technology Inc. (MU)
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT, Financial)
- PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL)
- Netflix Inc. (NFLX, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded mostly higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.90%, but Spain's IBEX 35 climbed 1.22%, Germany's DAX jumped 0.02% and France's CAC 40 closed up 0.14%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.49% and China's SSE Composite inched up 0.13%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.19% and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.05%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
