ON THE MONEY
Lululemon lowers outlook after strong holiday sales
Yogawear maker Lululemon Athletica’s annual earnings forecast was downward and dogged by slowing sales.
The company on Thursday projected full-year profit that trailed analysts’ estimates, raising concern the retailer won’t be able to maintain sales growth after a strong holiday season.
But Lululemon hares closed up nearly 5% after investors were reassured that the outlook did not reflect underlying obstacles to growth.
Toyota seeks to upgrade image, vehicles
Toyota is retooling its image and hoping to put its recall issues in the past.
The world’s leading automaker is looking to cast off a reputation for making reliable, but often dull, cars in a wide-ranging review of its designs, technologies, factories and supply.
Under its ongoing Toyota New Global Architecture initiative, the automaker said Thursday it will standardize vehicle engineering from sedans and sports cars to SUVs and trucks, and redesign cars by lowering the hood and center of gravity for better styling and handling.
SanDisk shares fall 18% after slashing outlook
SanDisk’s closing price on Thursday will be a bad memory for investors.
The flash-memory maker cut its revenue outlook for the year and current quarter, citing lower-than-expected sales of enterprise products and soft pricing in some areas of its business.
Shares sank 18% to a new 52-week low of $66.20.
Weekly jobless claims at a 5-week low
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected to the lowest level since mid-February and was better than economists’ expectations, pointing to a healthy and expanding labor market.
Claims dropped 9,000 to 282,000 for the week ended March 21, the Labor Department said.
GameStop forecast and profit fall short
GameStop forecast a weaker-than-expected profit for the full year, as demand for the new PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles fail to make up for falling sales of earlier versions.
Shares of the world’s largest retailer of video game products, which also reported a quarterly profit that missed estimates, fell 5% in extended trading.
Demand for Microsoft Corp’s Xbox One and Sony Corp’s PlayStation 4 consoles cooled off in recent months after the holiday shopping season. Both consoles were launched in November 2013.