Berkshire Hathaway joins the $1 trillion club

28 minutes ago

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) rose in intraday trading on Wednesday, pushing the industrial conglomerate’s market capitalization above the $1 trillion mark for the first time.

The holding company of Wall Street legend Warren Buffett is only the eighth US company and the ninth worldwide to achieve this feat. And it is only the second company outside the technology or consumer goods sector to break the one trillion dollar mark. The first was the state-controlled oil company Saudi Aramco from Saudi Arabia.

Berkshire ended Tuesday with a market capitalization of around $995 billion. To close above $1 trillion, the stock must gain around 0.5 percent on Wednesday.

However, due to the company’s dual-class structure, it is difficult to predict exactly what price Berkshire’s stock will have to close at on Wednesday to cement its place in the $1 trillion club.

Read more here.

–Colin Laidley

Abercrombie falls after company warns about retail environment

1 hour 31 minutes ago

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) shares plunged on Wednesday after the clothing retailer’s CEO expressed concerns about the economic downturn’s impact on the retail market.

CEO Fran Horowitz said in the company’s second-quarter financial report: “We continue to operate in an increasingly uncertain environment.”

The comment marred an otherwise strong report in which Abercrombie reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.50 and revenue rose 21 percent to a record $1.13 billion in the second quarter. Comparable store sales rose 18 percent. All three were better than analysts expected.

The company raised its full-year revenue growth forecast from 10% to 12-13%.

The stock lost 17% in recent trading, but is still up more than 50% since the beginning of the year.

–Bill McColl

Nordstrom increases sales

2 hrs 53 mins ago

Nordstrom (JWN) shares jumped Wednesday, a day after the retailer reported better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Nordstrom reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 96 cents on revenue of $3.89 billion, beating consensus expectations of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. The company also reported a nearly 9% year-over-year increase in sales at its Nordstrom Rack discount chain.

The department store operator also said its comparable store sales would be in the range of flat to 2 percent growth starting in fiscal 2023, compared to its previous forecast of a 1 percent decline to 2 percent growth.

Nordstrom shares rose 5% in recent trading.

–Nisha Gopalan

Super Micro crashes as company delays annual report

4 hrs 15 mins ago

Shares of Super Micro Computer (SMCI) lost nearly a quarter of their value in early trading Wednesday after the company announced it would postpone the filing of its annual 10-K form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The news comes a day after short seller Hindenburg Research disclosed a short position in the server maker and published a report accusing the company of, among other things, accounting anomalies.

“SMCI is unable to file its annual report within the required time period without undue burden or expense,” Super Micro said in a press release Wednesday morning. “SMCI’s management requires additional time to complete its evaluation of the design and operating effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting as of June 30, 2024.”

Super Micro Computer, a maker of server technology and data center hardware, is a big beneficiary of the AI ​​boom. As a partner of Nvidia (NVDA), Super Micro has shared in some of the gains of the market’s AI darling.

After a sharp rise in the first few months of 2024, Super Micro shares have weakened amid concerns that more expensive next-generation AI chips could squeeze profit margins. The company earlier this month reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of analyst estimates and announced a 10-for-1 stock split.

Super Micro shares recently fell 24 percent, hitting their lowest level since January. Shares fell 40 percent in August.

Read our technical analysis article published late Tuesday here.

Futures point to lower opening of major indices

6 hrs 9 mins ago

Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 percent.

The S&P 500 futures also lost 0.1%.

The Nasdaq-100 futures also lost 0.1 percent.