U.S. stocks were in negative territory on Thursday on renewed concerns regarding the trade conflict between the U.S. and China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.87% to 25,170, the S&P 500 index fell 0.94% to 2,707 and the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.18% to 7,288.
Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (PM, Financial) jumped more than 1.5% on Thursday after the company announced fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 results. It reported quarterly revenue of $7.5 billion, reflecting a 9.5% year-over-year decline but beating expectations by $110 million. Earnings were $1.25 per share, beating estimates by 8 cents.
For full-year 2018, the cigarette shipment volume decreased 2.8% to 740.3 billion units. On the other hand, heated tobacco unit shipment volumes were up 14.2% to 41.4 billion units. The International market share rose 0.5 points to 28.4%, excluding China and the United States. Further, operating income of $11.4 billion declined 1.8%.
During the quarter, the cigarette shipment volume of 190.2 billion units declined 3.1%. The heated tobacco unit shipment volume decreased 22.6% to 12.2 billion unit. The operating income of $2.7 billion fell 19.1%
Looking ahead to full fiscal 2019, the company expects diluted earnings per share to be $5.37 or more.
Gainers
- Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG, Financial)
- Sealed Air Corp (SEE, Financial)
- Masco Corp (MAS)
- Cardinal Health Inc (CAH)
- Electronic Arts Inc (EA, Financial)
Losers
- Alliance Data Systems Corp (ADS, Financial)
- Snap-On Inc (SNA, Financial)
- Biogen Inc (BIIB, Financial)
- Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC, Financial)
- National Oilwell Varco Inc (NOV, Financial)
Global narkets
The main European stock markets traded lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1.11%, France's CAC 40 dipped 1.84%, Germany's Dax tumbled 2.67% and Spain's IBEX 35 slid 1.79%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.59%, India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.01%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.21% and China's Shanghai Composite climbed 1.30%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
