US Market struggles as trade war fear linger | Calamatta Cuschieri

Boeing dropped more than 2 percent, contributing the most to the Dow's decline as Blue Apron shares jumped 5.6 percent 

Spotify's stock will start trading on April 3 and the company will provide full-year financial guidance on March 26
Spotify's stock will start trading on April 3 and the company will provide full-year financial guidance on March 26

The Dow Jones industrial average rose on Thursday, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite closed lower as investors assessed the possibility of a trade war. The 30-stock index rose 115.54 points to close at 24,873.66, with UnitedHealth contributing the most to the gains. Earlier in the session, the Dow rose nearly 300 points. Boeing, which has struggled throughout the week, fell 0.1 percent in choppy trade Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent to 2,747.33, with losses in materials offsetting a 0.3 percent gain in industrials.

The Nasdaq composite pulled back 0.2 percent to 7,481.74.

The White House is thinking about implementing tariffs on at least $30 billion of Chinese imports as part of a package of anti-China measures, as analyst reported. Investors worry that other countries could retaliate by implementing their own tariffs on U.S made goods and sparking a trade war. This would hurt companies who do business overseas, especially large multinationals.

Spotify expects to go public via direct listing on 3 April

Spotify's stock will start trading on April 3 and the company will provide full-year financial guidance on March 26, executives said on Thursday.

Spotify's revelations come ahead of its non-traditional public listing. The streaming music leader company, based in Stockholm, is expected to forgo IPO traditions like underwriters, and a lock-up period when it lists on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker name SPOT.

As the company said “Any investor who wants to buy Spotify shares will be able to do so on the exchange. There’s no underwriting syndicate, there’s no limited float, no IPO allocations, and no preferential treatment for any investor. Unlike a traditional IPO, it’s a completely level playing field.”

Spotify had an operating loss of $461.3 million last year and revenue of $4.99 billion. It has 71 million paying subscribers and more than 159 million monthly active listeners (MAUs) as of December 2017. According to the company, shares have traded as high as $132.50 on private markets.

Blue Apron is coming out of its box and onto grocery store shelves

The meal kit company, well-known for its fresh ingredients and recipes for making home cooking accessible, is set to bring its meals to supermarkets this year, as announced by the company.

The Blue Apron spokeswoman said, "This offering is part of our strategy to leverage the strength of our brand and the quality of our product to expand to new channels and new consumer segments, and make our brand more accessible to home across the country”.

In order to acquire new customers, the company started testing the waters in offering specialised programs and diets as a way to lure customers. In January, it started selling a Whole30 meal plan. The 30-day diet plan, which was available through Feb. 26, focused on "whole" foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables and eliminated items like sugar, alcohol, grains, soy and dairy.

In addition, it has introduced meals that could be made within 30 minutes, meals that require less cleanup and brought back customers' favorite recipes.

Currently, Blue Apron’s offerings consist of weekly deliveries of two to four recipes for as many as four people.

Recently, the company has been pressured by a growing number of competitors in the meal kit industry as well as the grocery space like Walmart and Amazon which are planning to bring meal kits to supermarkets.

The shares jumped as much as 5.6 percent to $2.28 after the news was reported.

 

Disclaimer

This article was issued by Linda De Luca, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website