Oil prices rose to $38 a barrel despite no oil production cuts and surging inventory causing the stock market to boom.
The Dow Jones industrial average popped 165 points to 17,160, the S&P 500 climbed 19 points to 2,008 and the Nasdaq rose 44 points to trade at 4,706. The S&P Retail ETF increased by 36 cents to sell at $45.28.
Ulta Beauty stock was moving higher by more than 14 percent to $187.33 after the cosmetics retailer delivered earnings yesterday after the market closed. Ulta Beauty posted robust sales and earnings for the fourth-quarter and year-end period as gross margins grew and same-store and e-commerce sales showed double-digit gains. For the quarter ended Jan. 30, net sales jumped 21.1 percent to $1.27 billion from $1.04 billion in the same period last year as net income rose 23.6 percent to $107.8 million, or $1.69 per share, from $87.3 million, or $1.35 per share. Earnings were ahead of analysts’ estimates.
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Zumiez Inc. stock was plunging more than 9 percent in early trading to $19.80 after the specialty retailer delivered earnings following the market close on Thursday. Zumiez reported revenue of $242.4 million in the recently ended quarter, down 6.2 percent from a year earlier. Analysts expected revenue of $241.1 million. Same-store sales were off 9.5 percent in the quarter, driven by declines in accessories, men’s, juniors and footwear. That compares with an 8.3 percent increase in the year-ago period. Executives on a conference call late Thursday said comparable sales are likely to be softer in the first half of the year before rising in the back half as they await new trends to help lift sales.
Hibbett Sports Inc. managed to beat analyst earnings estimates for the fourth quarter and the stock rose more than 3 percent to $37.51. Net income for the quarter was $17.4 million, or 76 cents a diluted share, a drop from last year’s $19.9 million, or 79 cents, a year ago. The FactSet estimate was for 73 cents per share. That helped pushed the stock up more than 4 percent to $38 in early trading. Sales for the three months ending Jan. 30 increased 2.7 percent to $245.7 million from $239.3 million a year earlier, but it was shy of the FactSet estimate of $247 million. Comparable store sales decreased 0.6 percent.
Avon Products Inc. stock is getting a lift after a Bulgarian man was charged in a securities hoax with the stock rising more than 3 percent to $4.36. Nedko Nedev was arrested in Bulgaria and will be extradited to the U.S. to face a trial regarding a newly unsealed indictment according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office. Nedev pretended to have a takeover offer for Avon in May 2015 that caused the stock price to explode more than 400 percent and enabling hundreds of millions of dollars in market manipulation.