U.S. stocks were in negative territory on Thursday, with the Dow Jones falling more than 400 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.74% to 24,591, the S&P 500 index fell 1.77% to 2,652, and the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 1.47% to 7,053.
Shares of The Children's Place Inc. (PLCE, Financial) fell about 12% on Thursday, after the company posted third-quarter earnings of $3.07 per share, on revenue of $522.5 million, reflecting 6.6% year-over-year growth. The company fell short of earnings expectations by 2 cents, while it beat revenues estimations by $11.31 million.
The gross profit reached $204.4 million, higher than the $202.4 million in the third quarter of 2017. The operating income was $64.6 million, compared to $64.1 million in the same trimester of 2017.
In the trimester, the company returned cash to shareholders. It repurchased shares worth approximately $26 million and paid a quarterly dividend of approximately $8 million, or 50 cents per share.
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the company expects total net sales between $547 million and $552 million. For the year, it projects total net sales be in the range of $1.955 to $1.96 billion and 24 cents per share in earnings, with an adjusted operating margin of 7.7% to 7.8%.
Gainers
• L Brands Inc.”‹ (LB, Financial)
• Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW, Financial)
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE, Financial)
• Perrigo Company PLC (PRGO, Financial)
Losers
• Fluor Corp. (FLR, Financial)
• Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO, Financial)
• Concho Resources Inc. (CXO, Financial)
• Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 2.56%, France's CAC 40 slid 2.79%, Germany's Dax dipped 2.94% and Spain's Ibex 35 retreated 2.41%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.91%, India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.59%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 2.47% and China's Shanghai Composite dipped 1.68%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
