All three major US stock indexes were down slightly in late-morning trading Thursday, as the post-election stock rally appears to have cooled for the moment.
In company news, Walt Disney (DIS) reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings Thursday of $1.14 per diluted share, up from $0.82 a year earlier and above the Capital IQ consensus analyst estimate of $1.11. Fiscal Q4 revenue was $22.57 billion, up from $21.24 billion in the year-ago period and above the Capital IQ consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. The company said it expects fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS to grow in the high single digits compared to fiscal 2024. Disney also guided for double-digit adjusted EPS growth in fiscal 2026 and 2027. Disney shares were up 7% around midday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday that it issued a consent order to Ford Motor (F) that includes the second-largest civil penalty in NHTSA history of $165 million. The action comes after an investigation found that Ford failed to recall vehicles with defective rearview cameras in a timely manner and that it failed to provide accurate and complete information on recalls, as required by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Ford shares were up 1%.
Meta Platforms (META) was fined 797.72 million euros ($842.1 million) by the European Commission for allegedly violating European Union antitrust rules by tying Facebook Marketplace to Facebook and by imposing "unfair" trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers, the commission said Wednesday. Meta shares were fractionally down.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) said Thursday it has entered into a cooperation agreement with shareholder Ancora Holdings Group to add an independent director to the company's board. The new director will focus on enhancing the board's gender diversity and executive experience and will bring the board's membership to 14. In return, Ancora will withdraw its nomination of four director candidates for the 2025 annual meeting of shareholders and will support the board's recommendations, Norfolk Southern said. Shares of the company were down 1.8%.
ASML (ASML) said Thursday it expects sales in 2030 in a range of 44 billion euros ($46.23 billion) to 60 billion euros, with a gross margin of about 56% to 60%. Growing demand for AI will help boost global chip sales to over $1 trillion by 2030, representing an annual growth rate for the semiconductor market of about 9% between 2025 and 2030, ASML said. Shares of the company were up 5.5%.
Apple (AAPL) is facing a lawsuit from a consumer group in the UK that seeks 3 billion British pounds ($3.16 billion) in damages for the company allegedly abusing its market dominance by failing to offer iPhone and iPad users alternative cloud storage providers. Apple shares were up 0.8%.
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) said Thursday it will invest more than $1 billion over the next two years to upgrade its 42 North American theme parks. The investments will include new rides, attractions, dining upgrades and technology enhancements at parks in the Carolinas, Washington, California, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, New Jersey, Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere, the company said. Six Flags shares were up 1.7%.
Price: 110.04, Change: +7.32, Percent Change: +7.13
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