One of the things that attending Nvidia's (NVDA - Get Report) annual developer conference drives home is the extent to which Nvidia is now a software company as much as it is a graphics chip developer. And from the perspective of the head of Nvidia's server GPU business, this end-to-end approach to product development -- one that encompasses developing GPUs and hardware, creating software tools and libraries that work with those GPUs and working with third-party developers on software that can effectively leverage those GPUs and tools/libraries -- has become a vital competitive strength.READ MORE...

Nike’s domestic business apparently continues to feel pressure from rival companies like Under Armour, Adidas and Vans. Growth in international sales fared better.Sales grew +14% in Asia Pacific and Latin America. According to Nike, its revenue from Converse shoes declined -2% year-over-year to $463 million, largely due to softening sales in the U.S. and Europe. Nevertheless, the company’s total adjusted earnings of 68 cents per share surpassed analysts’ estimates of 65 cents per share (based on Refinitiv data).

Tiffany stock lost nearly -5% in pre-market Friday, after the luxury jewelry company reported tepid holiday sales. The company’s fiscal fourth-quarter net revenue came in at $1.321 billion, missing analysts’ expectation of $1.332 billion (based on Refinitiv survey).They were down -1% in Asia-Pacific, up +3% in  Japan, and declined -3% in Europe. For fiscal full-year 2019, Tiffany expects its global net sales to increase by a low-single-digit percentage, with lower tourism spending to probably depress net earnings during the first half of the year.

Zuora shares slumped -12.9% during pre-market Friday, after the company reported weaker-than-expected guidance on first fiscal quarter revenue. The company, which provides enterprise software for businesses to manage subscription-based billings, has predicted revenue of $65 million to $66 million for its first fiscal  quarter, falling short of Wall Street expectation of $66 million. Zuora expects to incur a loss of -12 cents to -13 cents a share for the quarter, which is in line with what analysts are expecting. Zuora’s expectation for the full fiscal-year revenue ranges between $293 million and $297.5 million, compared to the Street forecast of $294.2 million.The company’s projection of -40 cents to -44 cents loss a share for the year matches analysts’ expectations. The company’s actual results for the fourth quarter were more favourable, with its adjusted loss of -11 cents a share meeting analysts’ estimates, and its revenue of $64.1 million exceeding expectations of $6

Last month, during PepsiCo's (NASDAQ:PEP) fourth-quarter 2018 earnings conference call, and again at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference on Feb. 20, new PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta expressed his vision for the beverage and snacks conglomerate.Any shareholders looking for a swift restructuring of core segments, or a major upcoming business transaction, were left with decisively extinguished hopes. Read More...

High-stakes meetings continue on the Fox lots after the $71B Disney/Fox deal, as CEO Lachlan Murdoch assembled the employees of new Fox (FOX +2.8%, FOXA +3.3%) for a town-hall gathering. Read More...

Oil prices eased from 2019 peaks on Friday as economic growth concerns weighed on sentiment, pausing a three-month rally driven by OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela. Read More...

The nation’s homebuilders are feeling generally positive about the market. A monthly sentiment measure held steady at 62 from February to March, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.The index stood at 70 in March 2018.  “Builders report the market is stabilizing following the slowdown at the end of 2018, and they anticipate a solid spring home buying season,” said NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, a homebuilder and developer from Torrington, Connecticut.

Biogen Inc. and partner Eisai Co. Ltd are ending two late-stage trials of their experimental Alzheimer’s disease drug 'aducanumab,' a major setback in the quest to find a treatment for the disease and a blow to Biogen, which lost more than $18 billion of its value. The decision was based on a so-called futility analysis of aducanumab data by an independent monitoring committee that determined the trials had little hope of succeeding.

Important U.S. industries have responded with consternation to the increasing risk of a trade war with China, dubbing it an unwinnable situation. Read more...

According to the company, this broadband service would cost its customers just $50/month and would initially be available for 50,000 select mobile customers. This move is also being telegraphed as rationale for the Sprint acquisition, as the company fights against big cable giants like AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ).In response, CEO of T-Mobile, John Legere, said that the new company would be a stronger competitor to giants like Verizon Communications and AT&T. He even promised not to raise prices for three years if the deal was approved. According to the company, the pilot program would be available by invitation only and only in the areas where T-Mobile’s LTE 4G network has capacity to deliver high-speed internet access.

After several months of beta testing, the e-commerce giant Amazon has finally decided to enter the $129 billion digital advertising market - presently dominated by Google and Facebook Inc. - by selling video spots on its smartphone shopping app. The brief video spot on the shopping app seems to be quite a handy choice by Amazon, in comparison to scrolling through Facebook or watching videos on Google’s YouTube.It gives advertisers a valuable spot, since people searching for products on the app have a higher propensity to buy over the options provided by FB and Google. Amazon had initially restrained itself from selling advertising space on its site for fear of disrupting the shopping experience, but selling video ads through its shopping app seems to work just fine for the company.

Conagra Brands Inc. shares jumped more than +11% Thursday, as the packaged food company reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter. For the three months ended February 24, Conagra generated earnings of 51 cents per share, beating analysts’ estimates of 49 cents per share.What helped boost earnings was an increase in Conagra's product prices as the company sought to offset higher transportation and commodity costs. The company's revenue surged +35.7% year-over-year to $2.71 billion in the quarter.

Levi's made a strong debut on the NYSE after the shares surged nearly 32%, following the jeans maker's return to the stock market after more than three decades. Pricing its shares above expectations at $17 apiece, just above the expected target range of $14 to $16, Levi’s initial public offering seems to be well-received by the investors who demonstrated a strong willingness to own a part of the jeans giant. Valuing the company at about $6.6 billion for the IPO, it helped the company raise ~$623 million through the sale of 36.7 million shares on the 1st day of IPO. According to the company, a lion's share of the proceeds - nearly $462.5 million - would go to existing shareholders including descendants of the company’s founder Levi Strauss.It plans to use the rest for general corporate purposes including potential acquisitions. The success of the IPO seems to come at the right time, as retail companies across the globe have faced difficult times over the last few years.

Tesla Inc. sued Zoox Inc., a Silicon Valley startup that’s a rival in the race for fully autonomous cars, and four of Elon Musk’s former employees, accusing them of stealing confidential information. Read More...

Pinterest has hired Walmart CTO Jeremy King as its head of engineering ahead of the company’s upcoming IPO. Read More...

Ford (NYSE: F) names Tim Stone, who has worked at Amazon and Snap, to succeed Bob Shanks as CFO on June 1. Read More...

Micron Technology beat fiscal second quarter earnings expectations, leading to a +6.9% jump in its stock price on Thursday. The semiconductor company raked in adjusted non-GAAP earnings of $1.71 per share, surpassing analysts’ estimates by 4 cents (based on Refinitiv IBES data).Also, Micron seems hopeful that demand would  begin to pick up by its fourth quarter.        

A federal court in San Francisco has ruled that Bayer AG's product Roundup was a "substantial factor" in person's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.That's according to the Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco jury's preliminary verdict comes after a California state court awarded $289 million in damages to a school groundskeeper in August 2018.

mortgage applications for buying or refinancing a home climbed to a two-month high last week, as home borrowing costs fell to their lowest in over a year, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed. The industry group’s seasonally adjusted index on mortgage activity moved up 1.6% to 390.0 in the week ended March 15.This was the highest reading since 400.6 in the week of Jan. 18. Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $484,350 or less decreased to 4.55%, the lowest since the Feb. 2, 2018 week.