UPS doesn’t deliver, Herbalife slides on earnings, Darden spikes on CEO firing
Put your tray tables up and seat backs in an upright position, it's time for Trending Tickers, the stocks that you're tracking as measured by Yahoo finance ticker searches:
United Parcel Service (UPS): The shipping and logistics company sliding today after reporting earnings this morning. The shipper reported second quarter profit of $1.21 per share, missing street estimates by four cents. Of more concern was the cut to its outlook, which the company attributes to additional spending to help handle heavy demand during the upcoming holidays. Normally such investments are ongoing and literally the cost of doing business for a company like UPS. To help defray costs and boost revenue UPS said it will be matching FedEx's (FDX) move and start charging different prices depending on package size.
Herbalife (HLF): In a reprieve for embattled hedgie Bill Ackman, Herbalife shares are sliding today after earnings. Herbalife reported earnings of $1.55 a share ex-items, missing estimates by 2 cents. The multi-level marketing company also projected revenue growth at 8.5 percent to 10.5 percent, cutting it's previous outlook of 10 percent to 12 percent it predicted back in April. This is Herbalife's first earnings miss since 2008 and it happened despite the company spending some $580 million buying back almost 10% of its outstanding shares. Herbalife has spent $41 million defending itself against Ackman who, for his part, claims to have spent $50 million building a case against the company. The lesson? In the craps game of life lawyers are the rake.
Darden Restaurants (DRI): The Olive Garden operator and one-time owner of Red Lobster climbing higher after announcing CEO and Chairman Clarence Otis plans to step down. Otis's departure is a win for activist investors like Starboard Capital, which had been advocating for change and was deeply unhappy with Darden's sale of Red Lobster. Can the neverending bread basket and new change of leadership turn around Darden's fortunes? We'll see...
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