Mid-Afternoon Market Update: YY Rises After Q4 Results; Atlas Financial Shares Fall

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.12 percent to 25,851.46 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.21 percent to 7,593.70. The S&P gained 0.04 percent to 2,793.80.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday afternoon, the communication services shares rose 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included YY Inc. YY up 14 percent, and HUYA Inc. HUYA up 15 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 0.5 percent.

Top Headline

Target Corporation TGT reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

Target said it earned $1.53 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $22.98 billion versus expectations of $1.52 per share and $22.96 billion.

Target said it expects FY19 EPS of $5.75 to $6.05 versus the $5.61 consensus estimate.

Equities Trading UP

Document Security Systems, Inc. DSS shares got a boost, shooting up 66 percent to $1.7301 after the company signed an exclusive master distributor agreement with Advanced Cyber Security to distribute EdnpointLockV software.

Shares of YY Inc. YY shot up 14 percent to $82.01 after reporting strong Q4 results.

Ctrip.Com International Ltd CTRP shares were also up, gaining 23 percent to $42.90 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Atlas Financial Holdings, Inc. AFH shares dropped 57 percent to $2.9110 after the company in its earnings report indicated a need to increase reserve estimates for unpaid losses. Atlas Financial posted a Q4 loss of $4.47 per share on total revenue of $52.1 million.

Shares of Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ADMS were down 31 percent to $8.42 after the company reportedly suspended 2019 revenue guidance amid expected near-term unevenness in prescription growth and challenges related to plan switches. Adamas Pharmaceuticals reported total fourth-quarter revenues of $13.315 million compared to $568,000 in the year-ago quarter. The net loss per share narrowed from $1.27 to $1.06, while the consensus estimate had called for a loss of $1.34 per share. Multiple analysts downgraded the stock.

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. BNED was down, falling around 29 percent to $4.84 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results. The company also extended its $500 million credit facility for five years.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1 percent to $56.54 while gold traded down 0.2 percent to $1,285.60.

Silver traded up 0.3 percent Tuesday to $15.145, while copper rose 1 percent to $2.9365.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.15 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.02 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.01 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.24 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.21 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.69 percent.

Economics

The final reading of IHS Markit services PMI fell to 56 in February versus prior reading of 56.2. Economists estimated a reading of 56.2.

New-home sales rose 3.7 percent at an annual rate of 621,000 in December. However, economists were expecting a 600,000 rate.

The ISM's non-manufacturing index rose to 59.70 for February, versus prior reading of 56.70. Economists projected a reading of 57.30.

The U.S. federal government posted a budget surplus of $9 billion for December, the Treasury Department reported. However, analysts were projecting a surplus of $25 billion.