U.S. stock markets were trading mixed on Wednesday morning, ahead of positive data on the labor market. The past month, companies added 219,000 new employees to their payrolls.
Shares of Qumu Corp. (QUMU, Financial) rose more than 10% after the company posted second-quarter earnings. The company recorded a loss per share of 16 cents on revenue of $7.63 million. The company beat earnings estimates by 10 cents and revenue by $1.88 million.
Vern Hanzlik, Qumu’s president and CEO, said: "During the second quarter of 2018 we not only brought revenue into line, but also created a strong balance sheet by monetizing our investment in BriefCam.” He added: “Now we are focused on carrying that momentum through the second half of 2018, as our software-as-a-service video solutions gain traction within the enterprise."
Gross margin for the trimester was 68.5%, compared to 65.6% for the second quarter 2017. Gross margin for the six months ended June 30 was 63.7%, compared to 63.6% for the comparable period of 2017. The increase was due to better perpetual license revenue in the quarter.
Gainers
• Humana Inc. (HUM, Financial)
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, Financial)
• Ecolab Inc. (ECL, Financial)
Losers
• Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM, Financial)
• Devon Energy Corp. (DVN, Financial)
• Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC, Financial)
• Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in the red. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 retreated 1.24%, France's CAC 40 slid 0.23%, Germany's Dax fell 0.53% and Spain's Ibex 35 swelled 0.70%.
In Asia, markets closed mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.86%, India’s BSE Sensex lost 0.23%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.85% and China's Shanghai Composite retreated 1.80%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
