Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know
NEW YORK (
) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Tuesday, April 30:
1.
--
were little changed Tuesday as the markets paused ahead of consumer sentiment and home price reports and a number of corporate earnings releases.
2.
-- The
in the U.S. Tuesday includes the Case-Shiller 20-city Index for February at 9 a.m. EDT, Chicago PMI for April at 9:45 a.m., and consumer confidence for April at 10 a.m.
3.
--
on Monday closed with gains after a report showed an improvement in home contract signings, a positive sign on national housing demand and economic momentum.
The
added 0.7% to close at 1,593.60.
4.
--
Best Buy
(BBY)
, the electronics retailer, is exiting Europe by agreeing to sell its 50% stake in a joint venture with Europe's
Carphone Warehouse
back to Carphone Warehouse for about $775 million.
bought 50% of the mobile-phone company's European retail operations for about $2.1 billion in 2008 as it looked to expand across Europe. But the venture proved costly, and Best Buy had to abandon plans to build megastores on the continent.
5.
-- Drug giant
Pfizer
(PFE)
said first-quarter net income rose 53% but adjusted earnings fell to 54 cents a share from 57 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue fell 9% to $13.5 billion.
Analysts were expecting
to report earnings of 55 cents a share on revenue of $13.99 billion.
6.
-- British oil company
BP
(BP)
posted underlying replacement cost net profit of $4.22 billion in the first quarter, down from $4.65 billion a year earlier. But the first-quarter numbers topped analysts' estimates.
7.
-- Swiss banking giant
UBS
(UBS)
posted first-quarter net profit of $1 billion, a swing from a $2 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2012 thanks to strong investment banking and wealth management.
8.
--
Herbalife
(HLF)
on Monday posted earnings that beat Wall Street's first-quarter estimates and raised earnings guidance.
The
reported revenue of $1.1 billion, a 17% increase over the prior year's quarter, topping analysts' estimates of $1.07 billion. Herbalife also enjoyed volume growth of 13% from the same period last year.
Excluding items, Herbalife earned $1.27 a share, up from 88 cents a share in the prior year's quarter. Analysts were looking for earnings of $1.07 a share.
9.
--
Aetna
(AET)
said first-quarter net income fell 4% but the earnings still topped expectations, and the health insurer also raised its forecast for 2013.
10.
-- Japan's
SoftBank
won't be improving its $20.1 billion bid for 70% of
Sprint
(S)
despite
Dish Network's
(DISH)
counter-offer to buy the wireless company.
Softbank founder Masayoshi Son told
Reuters
there is no need to raise its bid for Sprint because "we believe our offer is above theirs."
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel
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Joseph Woelfel
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.
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