U.S. stock markets traded high in Monday pre-market, with the Chicago PMI at 57.6 in April, lower than economists' expectations of 59.3. The increase is slight considering that the index fell to 57.4 in March from 61.9 in February.
Shares of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (CTB, Financial) plunged in premarket trading today after the company posted earnings per share of 16 cents in the first quarter on revenue of $601.5 million, which was 6.5% lower than the comparable period. The company fell short on revenue expectations by $39.70 million.
Further, the operating profit was $26 million, or 4.4% of net sales, which is a decrease of $32 million from the prior year.
“Cooper’s first quarter U.S. volume performance was generally aligned with USTMA trends, which were weaker than expected due to slow consumer sell-out within the industry that continued from 2017," said Brad Hughes, president and CEO. "The decrease in our first quarter operating profit, adjusted for one-time items, was more than explained by weaker volume and higher manufacturing costs as we made production adjustments to keep our inventories in line with current market conditions."
Looking ahead, the company expects for the second quarter a similar operating profit margin performance to the first quarter. Further, it expects industry demand to improve in the back half of the year. Operating profit margin should be in a 9-11% range for the second half of 2018.
Gainers
• McDonald's Corp. (MCD, Financial)
• Mattel Inc. (MAT, Financial)
• Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA, Financial)
• Walmart Inc. (WMT, Financial)
Losers
• Celgene Corp. (CELG, Financial)
• Allergan Plc (AGN, Financial)
• Dover Corp. (DOV, Financial)
• Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded higher. The U.K.'s FTSE gained 0.20%, France's CAC jumped 0.57%, Spain's Ibex rose 0.56% and Germany's Dax inched up 0.24%
In Asia, markets closed in the green. India’s BSE Sensex closed up 0.55%, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.66%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.74% and China´s Shanghai jumped 0.23%.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
