U.S. futures were poised to open slightly lower Thursday as the Federal Reserve's meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo., gets underway today, and once again, interest rates will be a hot topic. Crude oil was also in decline. Both West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude Oil were down, continuing a recent pullback.
Meanwhile, all European markets were showing losses with several hours until markets close. The Asian markets finished mixed, with only the Hang Seng showing small gains.
Sears Holdings (SHLD) shares were dropping by more than 3% before the bell after delivering another quarterly loss. The retailer posted a net loss of $395 million in the second quarter. When adjusted for significant items, the net loss amounts to a loss of $2.03 per share. That compares to a loss of $2.40 per share during the same period a year ago. Revenue of $5.7 billion fell by $548 million compared to a year earlier. The decrease in revenue was driven by a 5.2% decline in comparable-store sales. Kmart and Sears Domestic comparable-store sales declined 3.3% and 7%, respectively, this quarter.
"We continue to face a challenging competitive environment and while we continue to focus on our overall profitability, including managing expenses," CEO Edward Lampert said in a statement.
Shares of Tiffany & Co. (TIF) were rising by more than 3% during early trading after beating second-quarter profit forecasts. The luxury jeweler posted earnings of $0.84 per share, which topped Wall Street's expectations of $0.71 per share. But revenue of $931.6 million for the period missed analysts' predictions of $933.3 million. Tiffany's maintained its full-year earnings outlook of $3.83 per share. CEO Frederic Cumenal said in a statement that the global environment continues to reflect "well known challenges that we believe have had broad effects on spending by local customers, as well as foreign tourists, especially from China."
Meanwhile, Dollar General (DG) shares were down by 7% after posting top- and bottom-line misses. Earnings of $1.08 per shares on revenue of $5.39 billion for the second quarter were below Wall Street's forecast of $1.09 on revenue of $5.49 billion. "For the second half of the year, we have action plans across both merchandising and store operations intended to drive same-store sales while maintaining strict expense control discipline," said CEO Todd Vasos in a statement.
Likewise, shares of Dollar Tree (DLTR) were also dropping quickly, down by more than 6%, after its quarterly sales missed estimates. Earnings of $0.72 per share were relatively in-line with Wall Street's expectations. But revenue of $5 billion missed analysts' forecasts of $5.09 billion.
Finally, Mylan (MYL) shares continue to be in the spotlight. The stock was rising by more than 3% in premarket trading after the drugmaker said it would reduce the out-of-pocket cost of its emergency allergy treatment, EpiPen. Mylan announced Thursday that it will expand its patient assistance program and offer $300 savings cards for its EpiPen 2-Pak. The company acquired EpiPen in 2007; since then the price of an EpiPen has jumped to $600 from $100 in 2008.
