Consumer stocks were mixed Wednesday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) increasing 0.9% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) falling 1%.
In corporate news, Macy's (M) raised its full-year outlook on Wednesday as the department store operator's fiscal Q1 earnings unexpectedly increased on an annual basis. Its shares were still down 0.9%.
Pershing Square Looks to Sell Stake in Universal Music Group, Bloomberg Reports
Decisive Dividend (DE.V), up 3.7% on last look, is acquiring Belgium-based specialty hearth manufacturer Be Fire for $19.9 million, the company said on Wednesday.Decisive will also include pay up to an additional $10.7 million contingent on Be Fire achieving certain earnings targets over the next three years, of which the first $2.2 million will be paid with 242,027 Decisive shares.The acquisition adds to the health vertical, where the company has generated strong returns historically, and also facilitates Decisive's entry into France and Belgium, diversifying its revenue streams away from its North American market focus and add Euro denominated cash flows.The acquisition is expected to be financially accretive to Decisive from a sales, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA per share basis, a statement said.Decisive Dividend shares were last seen up $0.34 to $9.59 on the TSX Venture Exchange.Price: $9.59, Change: $+0.34, Percent Change: +3.68%
FedEx's (FDX) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings could fall short of Wall Street's expectations as margin pressures continue to outweigh "stable" sales trends, Morgan Stanley said in a note e-mailed Wednesday.The parcel delivery giant is expected to report earnings of $5.58 a share for the quarter, below the Street's views for $5.92, according to Morgan Stanley. The brokerage projects quarterly earnings before interest and taxes at $1.92 billion, also lagging the $2 billion modeled by analysts."We expect FedEx (fourth-quarter) EBIT and EPS to come in modestly below consensus, as margin pressures continue to outweigh stable revenue trends," Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients.FedEx is scheduled to report results June 23. The company completed the spin-off of its freight business recently. FedEx Freight (FDXF) now trades as an independent company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FDXF."Following the June 1 separation, we expect both FedEx Express and FedEx Freight to deliver (fourth-quarter) results that are modestly ahead on revenue, but below (consensus) EBIT, reinforcing our view that pricing stabilization may not be translating into the degree of margin recovery implied by expectations," Morgan Stanley said.The express segment's EBIT and margins remained pressured in the quarter despite a sequential improvement due to persistent cost headwinds, according to the note.The freight business' operational trends "appear to be stabilizing following a difficult" third quarter, the firm said. However, "weaker-than-expected pricing and continued volume pressure are expected to weigh on earnings," Morgan Stanley wrote.Investors are not expected to not have "full standalone visibility" into the parcel and freight businesses until late October, as disclosures roll out in phases, according to the note."As both businesses begin operating independently, we believe investors will increasingly focus on the sustainability of normalized margin profiles, particularly as the gap between revenue performance and earnings conversion remains a key concern across both segments," Morgan Stanley said.Price: $326.70, Change: $-2.31, Percent Change: -0.70%