Mid-Day Market Update: Stamps.com Surges On Earnings Beat; Aerohive Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 22,014.84 while the NASDAQ declined 0.25 percent to 6,346.80. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21 percent to 2,472.27.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.37 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) TEVA, down 20 percent, and Psychemedics Corp. PMD, down 19 percent.

Top Headline

Kellogg Company K reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Kellogg reported Q2 earnings of $0.98 per share, on sales of $3.187 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.92 on revenue of $3.16 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Stamps.com Inc. STMP shares shot up 31 percent to $197.73 as the company posted upbeat Q2 results and raised its FY17 outlook.

Shares of Ubiquiti Networks Inc UBNT got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $65.06 as the company reported strong preliminary results for its fourth quarter.

IntriCon Corporation IIN shares were also up, gaining 26 percent to $8.90. IntriCon reported Q2 net income of $0.08 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $0.23 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

CPI Card Group Inc PMTS shares dropped 32 percent to $1.73 following weak quarterly results. Barrington Research downgraded CPI Card Group from Market Perform to Underperform.

Shares of Aerohive Networks Inc HIVE were down 30 percent to $3.22. Aerohive Networks reported a Q2 loss of $3.9 million on revenue of $42.3 million, and disclosed that it has extended its $10 million buyback plan.

CRH Medical Corp CRHM was down, falling around 28 percent to $2.67 after the company disclosed financial and operating results for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2017.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.54 percent to $49.86 while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,275.20.

Silver traded down 0.41 percent Thursday to $16.665, while copper fell 0.03 percent to $2.8835.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.15 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.25 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.95 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.16 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.59 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.83 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims dropped 5,000 to 240,000 in the latest week, the Labor Department reported. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 242,000 last week.

The Markit services PMI rose to 54.70 in July, versus previous reading of 54.20. Economists estimated a reading of 54.20.

U.S. factory orders rose 3.00 percent for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 2.90 percent growth.

The ISM non-manufacturing index dropped to 53.90 for July, versus prior reading of 57.40. Economists projected a reading of 57.00.

Domestic supplies of natural gas increased 20 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 28, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a gain of 21 billion cubic feet.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.