Plunging oil prices weigh on market

Little movement of health stocks after House bill passage.

Oil prices and energy companies plunged Thursday, but other stocks didn’t move much as investors waited for more signs about the state of the economy.

Household goods makers and health care companies rose following some solid company earnings reports. Most other parts of the mar- ket made little gains, but energy companies took sharp losses as the price of crude oil fell almost 5 percent. That was its biggest one-day loss in about two months.

“We may be seeing signs that global production is strong, and whenever mar- kets see a decline in oil prices they worry it’s actually an indication of weak demand,” said Kate Warne, an invest- ment strategist for Edward Jones.

Warne said oil prices have slipped recently because of an accumulation of concerns about rising energy produc- tion in the U.S. and slower economic growth in both the U.S. and China.

Health care stocks didn’t react much to the narrow passage in the House of Representatives of a bill intended to roll back much of former President Barack Obama’s health care law.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where its fate is less certain.

Broader market measures did tick higher after the bill was passed, however, as investors hoped the Republican-controlled Congress may be in a better posi- tion to compromise on business-friendly polices such as tax cuts.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.39 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,389.52. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 6.43 points to 20,951.47. The Nasdaq com- posite added 2.79 points to 6,075.34.

U.S. benchmark crude futures shed another $2.30, or 4.8 percent, to $45.52 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for inter- national oils, fell $2.41, or 4.7 percent, to $48.38 a barrel in London. Oil has fallen to its lowest price since November as investors wonder if the OPEC cartel will extend an agreement to cut production and support prices. OPEC nations will discuss that deal later this month.

Exxon Mobil skidded $1.06, or 1.3 percent, to $81.64 and EOG Resources lost $3.16, or 3.4 percent, to $88.60. Chesapeake Energy tumbled 41 cents, or 7.4 per- cent, to $5.13.

Other parts of the market were quiet. The government will release its monthly jobs report Friday morning, and Warne said the April report may get an outsize level of attention because the previous jobs report was disappointing and the economy didn’t grow much in the first quarter.

“A strong jobs report for April would suggest that first quarter’s weakness was tran- sitory,” she said.

Church & Dwight, which makes Arm & Hammer bak- ing soda, Trojan condoms and OxiClean cleaners, raised its profit estimate after its first-quarter results were better than analysts anticipated. Its stock rose $2.10, or 4.3 percent, to $50.85. Frosted Flakes and Pop Tarts maker Kellogg posted a larger profit than expected and its stock gained $1.46, or 2.1 percent, to $70.40.

The House of Representatives passed a revised bill that would roll back much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

As currently written, the American Health Care Act would rework subsidies for private insurance, limit federal spending on Medicaid for low-income people, and cut taxes on upper-income individuals used to finance Obama’s overhaul. Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 5 cents per share. USA Compression Partners also reported revenue of $66 million for the quarter.

USA Compression Partners said it projects net income for the full year of between $15.8 million and $30.8 million.

USA Compression Partners is one of the largest gas-compression service providers in the nation. The company’s equipment is used in key gas production areas, including the Eagle Ford and Barnett shale fields in Texas.

Founded in 1998, USA Compression Partners went public in January 2013, when it raised $198 million in an initial public offering of stock.

It has since issued several secondary stock offer- ings, netting $138 million with a May 2014 offering and netting about $74 mil- lion with an offering in Sep- tember 2015.

U SA Compression Partners’ sha res closed Thursday up 42 cen t s, or 2.6 percent, at $16.41. The new money brings the total raised by the company to $13.7 million.

The company is initially targeting the elective health care space, such as medical spas and dermatology and plastic surgery clinics. It has signed customers nationwide and in Canada.

EZCorp

Austin-based payday lend- ing and pawnshop chain EZCorp Inc. saw its balance sheet swing into the black, as it reported net income of $8 million, or 15 cents per share, for its fiscal second quarter.

The company reported a loss in the same period a year earlier. EZCorp also reported revenue of $189.6 million in the quarter.

EZCorp has gone through a number of transitions in the past two years, including management changes and being forced to restate some of its financial reports.

“It is pleasing to see the continuing trend of strong

“All they have to do is hand us a digital customer list with ways to contact customers by email or other digital handles, and we provide the ser- vice,” Fabbio said.

If, for example, a medical spa wants to offer a Botox special to customers over age 45, eRelevance deter- mines which customers to target and runs a campaign that can include email, text messaging, Facebook ads profit growth after the strate- gic changes that were imple- mented over a year ago. We have devoted a lot of man- agement attention and effort in focusing on the needs and experience of our customers,” Stuart Grimshaw, EZCorp’s CEO, said in a written statement. “We have improved our balance sheet and liquidity position, which provides strategic flexibil- ity to continue our invest- ment in the customer expe- rience and expansion of the pawn loan portfolio to drive increased profit.”

EZcorp’s shares closed Thursday up 15 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $8.80. The company’s share prices has and other online methods to reach them.

“Maybe you have a busy m om who might n ot be checking her email, but a text might catch her attention,” Fabbio said. “Or later when she gets on Facebook, she might notice an ad. We’re literally digitally surrounding people.”

The service on average costs about $1,000 a month, and includes to to three cam-

Q2 Holdings

Austin-based software maker Q2 Holdings reported a loss of $7 million in its first quarter.

The company, which sells online banking software, said the loss amounted to 17 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for stock option expense and amortization costs, came to 3 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 7 cents per share.

Q2 Holdings reported revenue of $44.5 million in the period, which also beat Wall Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $44.3 million.

For the current quarter ending in July, Q2 Holdings said it expects revenue in the range of $46.9 million to $47.5 million. The company said it expects full-year revenue in the range of $192.3 million to $194.3 million.

Q2 Holdings shares closed Thursday down 80 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $38.20. The company’s have risen more than 30 percent since the beginning of the year. paigns per month.

The company will use the money to accelerate sales and marketing and to further build out its marketing services platform. Plans call for the 58-person company to reach about 85 employees this year.