U.S. stocks were in the green on Thursday, with investors more positive on the U.S.-China trade dispute. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.54% to 26,761, the S&P 500 index advanced 1.27% to 2,975 and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.52% to 8,097.
Shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW, Financial) gained more than 4% after announcing fourth-quarter results on Wednesday. The company posted earnings of $1.47 per share on $805.8 million in revenue, reflecting 22.4% growth from the prior-year quarter. The company beat earnings estimates by 5 cents and revenue expectations by $2.24 million.
"We had a strong fourth quarter, surpassing a billion dollars in billings within the quarter for the first time, and achieving approximately 180% year-over-year growth in our newer Prisma and Cortex offerings," Chairman and CEO Nikesh Arora said. "This year we acquired and released important new technologies and built a robust go-to-market framework for driving their success in the market.”
Subscription and support revenue increased 29.4% to $500.1 million, and product revenue rose 12.3% to $305.7 million. Billings grew 22% to $1.1 billion.
Looking ahead to full-year 2020, the company expects adjusted profit ranging from $5 to $5.10 per share versus estimates of $6.25 per share.
During the quarter ended June 30,Ă‚ Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)' Renaissance Technologies boosted its stake by 13% to 5,074,350 shares and PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) increased its position by 61% to 205,550 shares. On the other hand, Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) reduced their holdings by 2.2% and 52% to 1,359,732 and 15,632 shares.Ă‚ Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) sold out of the stock.
Gainers
- Nordstrom Inc. (JWN, Financial) +7.3%
- Tapestry Inc. (TPR, Financial) +7.4%
- Mosaic Co. (MOS, Financial) +6.6%
- Capri Holdings Ltd. (CPRI, Financial) +6.6%
- Gap Inc. (GPS, Financial) +6.5%
Losers
- Newmont Goldcorp Corp. (NEM, Financial) -3.5%”‹
- WEC Energy Group Inc. (WEC, Financial) -2.7%
- American Tower Corp. (AMT, Financial) -2.5%
- Concho Resources Inc. (CXO, Financial) -1.7%
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded mostly in the green. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.55%, France's CAC 40 gained 1.11%, Germany's Dax rose 0.85% and Spain's IBEX 35 advanced 1.54%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 2.12%, India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.22%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.03% and China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.96%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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