U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday morning with investors leaving behind the U.S.-China trade war. Yesterday, President Donald Trump said he will impose new tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.6% and the S&P 500 rose almost 20 points to 2,906.
Shares of AutoZone Inc. (AZO, Financial) fell 3% on Tuesday morning after the company posted adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $18.54 per share on $3.56 billion in revenue, reflecting 1.4% year-over-year growth. The company beat earnings estimates by 66 cents, but fell $30 million short of revenue expectations.
The gross profit, as a percentage of sales, was 53.6% (versus 52.8% the same period last year). For the fiscal year ended in August, sales were $11.2 billion, a 3.1% growth, with gross profit of 53.2% (versus 52.7% in the prior-year quarter).
The company repurchased 974,000 shares of its common stock for $665 million, at an average price of $683 per share.
During the quarter, the company opened 78 new stores in the U.S., 28 stores in Mexico and four in Brazil, bringing the total to 5,618 stores in the U.S., the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 564 stores in Mexico and 20 stores in Brazil.
Gainers
- Micron Technology Inc. (MU, Financial)
- Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO, Financial)
- Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY, Financial)
- Hess Corp. (HES, Financial)
- Macy's Inc. (M, Financial)
Losers
- General Mills Inc. (GIS, Financial)”‹
- FedEx Corp. (FDX, Financial)
- BorgWarner Inc. (BWA, Financial)
- Carmax Inc. (KMX, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded mostly higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.03%, France's CAC 40 jumped 0.24%, Germany's Dax advanced 0.51% and Spain's IBEX 35 rose 0.46%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.41%, India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.78%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.56% and China's Shanghai Composite jumped 1.82%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
