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The conglomerate reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $2.07 per share on revenues of $8.86 billion. Southwest Airlines — The airline company's shares slipped 3.4% following a wider-than-expected loss for the first quarter. The pharmaceutical company posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.46, while analysts had estimated $2.51, according to StreetAccount. United Rentals — Shares fell 5.7% after the company's first-quarter earnings came in below expectations. CBRE — Shares of the real estate group soared 8.8% after CBRE's first-quarter earnings announcement buoyed investor sentiment.

☆ Citi says it's time to reconsider ESG, naming 3 stocks that could soar by 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

ESG investing underperformed the broader market in 2022, but strategists at Citi think the segment could be about to rebound. Last year, the MSCI Europe Socially Responsible Investing index declined by 13.4% compared to the 8.9% fall in the broader MSCI Europe index. But Citi said ESG stocks — or those which take environmental, social, and governance factors into account — have historically shown resilience, with profit growth outpacing the broader market during earnings slowdowns. In line with this renewed focus, Citi has identified a number of stocks that it expects to rebound this year. To identify ESG stocks with "resilient" earnings per share, Citi screened the Stoxx Europe 600 index for large-cap stocks meeting several proprietary criteria, including ranking in the top 50 percentile of Truvalue Labs ESG index.

☆ FIS’s Worldpay Spinoff Is Jumbled by Tough Outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Telis Demos | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The plan seeks to help Worldpay make necessary investments or acquisitions. Fidelity National Information Services is splitting into two parts. Both have their challenges. FIS said Monday that it plans to do a tax-free spinoff of its merchant-solutions business, which facilitates payments for sellers such as retailers, within the next 12 months. The move would unwind a previous merger to create two companies: Worldpay for payments; and FIS, which provides banks and capital-markets firms with software and other services.

☆ Morgan Stanley says this fintech stock is due for a rebound after back-to-back years of losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Fidelity National Information Services could be in for a big jump going forward, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst James Faucette upgraded the fintech stock to overweight from equal weight and upped his price target by $6 to $79. Fidelity National Information Services advanced nearly 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday. Faucette said the market has priced in "too draconian" of a multiple for the merchant business in recent years. The move comes as venture capital investment falls across the board, which Faucette thinks could help Fidelity National Information Services.

☆ Fintech giant’s bad wedding leads to happy divorce
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Many mergers fail, but executives are rarely humble enough to admit it. They have a point – FIS paid $3 billion more for Worldpay than the combined companies’ market value today. These are worlds apart from the staid financial institutions which patronize FIS’s core software business. As a stand-alone company the payments firm could also borrow more to fuel future purchases without imperiling its former parent’s credit rating. FIS also announced a $17.6 billion writedown on the value of the business and lowered its profit guidance for 2023.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Palantir, Coca-Cola, Marriott and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Here are the stocks making notable moves before the opening bell on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Palantir — Shares of the software company surged 18% in extended trading after Palantir reported it made a profit in the fourth quarter, the first GAAP profit in the company's history. Marriott — The hotel stock rose nearly 2% in premarket trading after Marriott beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter. Cadence Design Systems — The electronics design stock rose 5% premarket after Cadence beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter, according to StreetAccount. Amkor Technology — The semiconductor stock fell about 3% premarket after Amkor's fourth quarter earnings per share came in at 67 cents, three cents below estimates, according to StreetAccount.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Coinbase, Walmart, Roku, Nvidia, Amazon & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: KeyBanc reiterates Apple as overweight KeyBanc said Apple has "significant" growth potential. Evercore ISI downgrades XPO to in line from outperform Evercore said it sees an unfavorable risk/reward for the logistics company. Evercore ISI downgrades First Solar to in line from outperform Evercore said it sees a slowing solar market. Bank of America reiterates Burlington as buy Bank of America said the discount retailer is well positioned for a margin recovery. Bank of America reiterates Roku as underperform Bank of America said it's bearish heading into Roku earnings on Wednesday.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Fidelity, Ralph Lauren, Caterpillar and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The company's stock price has soared by more than 44% so far this year. Caterpillar — Shares of the machinery company fell more than 1% after Baird downgraded Caterpillar to neutral from outperform. The call follows an upbeat earnings report on Thursday. Cadence Design Systems — Shares were up 1.7% in premarket trading ahead of the company's scheduled fourth-quarter earnings release on Monday. Cadence expects to report revenue in the range of $870 million to $890 million.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Zillow, Microsoft, Meta, Fidelity National and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft — The technology corporation's shares rose more than 3% on Monday, pushing its market cap over $2 trillion once again, after Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating for the stock. Ralph Lauren — Shares of the apparel giant rose almost 4% after Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. Meta — The Facebook parent's stock rose nearly 3% after the Financial Times reported it is planning another round of layoffs. Five Below — The discount retailer's stock rose 2.9% after Roth MKM upgraded it to buy from hold, noting it sees attractive growth ahead. Late last week, Reuters reported that Tesla must open its supercharging network to competitors in order to qualify for U.S. subsidies.

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Banking and payments processing conglomerate Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS.N) took a $17.6 billion write-down on its merchant business as it unveiled plans on Monday to spin it off, undoing a $43 billion acquisition that went sour. FIS built its merchant business, which processes transactions for companies, on the back of its $43 billion purchase of WorldPay four years ago. "The pace of disruption in payments is rapidly accelerating, requiring increased investment in growth and a different capital allocation strategy for our merchant solutions business," FIS Chairman Jeffrey Goldstein said in a statement. Charles Drucker, the former CEO of Worldpay, will lead the merchants business after it is spun out, FIS said. Merchant solutions makes up about 30% of FIS' revenue, while its banking solutions arm constitutes about 46%, and capital market solutions the remainder.

FIS plans to pursue a tax-free spin-off of its merchant business, which processes payments for companies, the sources said. The spin-off will take many months to be completed, and FIS will also entertain any acquisition offers for the unit during this period, the sources added. Much of FIS's merchant business consists of Worldpay, which it bought for $43 billion in 2019. The sources cautioned that no transaction is certain and asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations. Merchant solutions makes up about 30% of the company's revenue, while its banking solutions arm constitutes about 46%, and capital market solutions the remainder.

With a majority of S & P 500 companies having posted their quarterly results, investors' focus will turn toward inflation and the consumer price index reading in the upcoming week. The three major indexes are on pace to end the week down, with the S & P 500 poised to post its worst performance since December. Sharp declines for Alphabet , which is off by more than 9% this week, dragged the tech-heavy index. January's consumer price index With the latest Powell speech in the books, investors are now looking ahead to the consumer price index for insight into the pace of inflation. "Retail sales and CPI is really driven by the consumer, and a lot of eyes are on how the consumer doing," Bruno said.

☆ This week's best performers include Tesla and this bank stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Financial stocks and some beaten-up technology stocks staged a rally this week even as the major averages headed for a week of losses. Financial stocks were a major bright spot in the market this week, with SVB Financial Group reigning as the top performer. About half of Wall Street analysts say shares are a buy, although the consensus price target suggests limited upside for shares near term. That included shares of Signature Bank and M & T Bank, which rose 4.8% and 4.5%, respectively, after posting earnings results. The average price target suggest shares stand to gain nearly 64% after they shed 65% in 2022.

☆ Don’t Write Off Low-Key Payments Giant FIS
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Telis Demos | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fidelity National Information Services might not be a household name, but investors might want to get to know it this year. The company’s software and services are part of many everyday financial activities, like checking your bank-account balance or paying with a card at big merchants. Known as FIS, its shares performed relatively steadily as the pandemic began. But changes in the payments landscape in recent years have caused growth and margins to come under pressure in the company’s merchant-payments business, helping to make the stock a laggard to many peers in 2022.

☆ Fidelity National agrees review, adds director after D.E. Shaw pressure
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Fidelity National Information Services (FIS.N) said on Thursday that it will undertake a strategic review and add a new director to its board after pressure from hedge fund D.E. Ferris and the board will lead the review which will evaluate the company's business structures and portfolio of assets as well as focus on cutting costs and improving margins. Ferris had been FIS president where she led the integration of Worldpay and steered the company's global business strategy. FIS said on Thursday it had now appointed Jeffrey Goldstein, currently lead independent director, as independent chairman instead. Shaw's calls for a strategic review that could help boost the share price, the company said.

☆ Baupost’s Seth Klarman slashes Amazon and Alphabet stakes, picks up a car dealership stock
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Baupost's Seth Klarman cut his holdings in Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet dramatically last quarter, while picking up a few stocks in the volatile market, a new filing showed. The longtime value investor reduced his stakes in Alphabet and Amazon by nearly 60% each, according to Baupost's latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Klarman also exited his position in Intel last quarter. Alphabet and Intel had been among Baupost's top 10 holdings at the end of the second quarter. Technology stocks have borne the brunt of this year's market sell-off as rising rates dented the appeal of growth-oriented names.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Under Armour, Robinhood, Peloton, Lincoln National and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The real estate tech company reported earnings of 38 cents per share on revenue of $483 million. Robinhood — Shares of the trading app soared 9.7% after the company reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as well as revenue that topped analyst forecasts. Lincoln National — Shares dropped 33% after Lincoln National missed earnings per share expectations in its third quarter, despite surprising to the upside on its sales forecast. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.13, in line with Wall Street expectations. Otherwise, the company reported a strong third-quarter earnings report, beating on the top and bottom lines.

The Banco Sabadell logo can be seen behind leaves on top of a building outside Madrid, Spain, April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Andrea Comas/File PhotoLONDON/MADRID, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Spanish bank Sabadell (SABE.MC) has received indicative bids from France's Worldline (WLN.PA), Italy's Nexi (NEXII.MI) and U.S. firm Fiserv (FISV.O) for its payments arm, with a deal valued at up to 400 million euros ($393.64 million), three sources said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSabadell, Worldline, Nexi and Fiserv declined to comment. In Spain, Sabadell has a strong presence on the payments front and accounts for close to 16.3% of the country's overall revenue generated at the point of sale (POS). Its payments arm, which is mainly focused on consumer lending, has core earnings of about 25-30 million euros, one of the sources said.

☆ Wall Street's favorite stable stocks include a health care name that can rally nearly 60%
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

With this in mind, CNBC Pro set out to find Wall Street's favorite stable stocks. If a stock has a beta of less than 1, it tends to be less volatile than the broader market. Health care names Bio-Rad Laboratories and Zoetis have the highest potential upside of any stock on the list, FactSet data shows. The tech giant has a five-year beta of 0.94 and has buy ratings from 82% of analysts covering it. The video game maker has a five-year beta of 0.76 and has buy ratings from 55% of analysts covering it.

☆ Wells Fargo downgrades two fintech stocks, says Powell's 'pain' commentary spells trouble for the sector
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the central bank's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, could put a damper on some fintech stocks going forward, according to Wells Fargo. The downgrades from Wells Fargo comes as markets anticipate a more hawkish Federal Reserve ahead with another big hike expected when the central bank convenes later this month. The central bank's continued aggressive approach to taming inflation means rates could stay higher for longer, which will impact profitability for fintech stocks, Cantwell noted. He said that the bank anticipates a 140 basis-point headwind to revenue growth over the next 12 months across its coverage. Wells Fargo trimmed its price target on Fidelity National to $88 a share, which implies a 3% downside from Wednesday's close.

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