Mid-Day Market Update: iRobot Falls On Downbeat Sales; Speedway Motorsports Shares Climb

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.06 percent to 26641.30 while the NASDAQ declined 0.03 percent to 8118.54. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.07 percent to 2,931.59.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, the real estate shares rose 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust PEI up 5 percent, and Rafael Holdings, Inc. RFL up 5 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 1.4 percent.

Top Headline

Boeing Co BA reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Boeing said it earned $3.16 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $22.917 billion, which represents a miss on the top and bottom lines.

Boeing's management said it can no longer offer 2019 guidance due to the "uncertainty of the timing and conditions" relating to the 737 Max fleet after the plane was involved in two fatal crashes. The company plans on issuing new guidance "at a future date." In addition, the company will pause its ongoing stock buyback program due to uncertainty related to the 737 Max.

Boeing said it's "making steady progress" towards a final certification for a software update to be used in 737 Max planes. The company has already completed 135 test and production flights of the software update.

Equities Trading UP

Speedway Motorsports, Inc. TRK shares got a boost, shooting up 33 percent to $18.55 after the company said Wednesday that it received a non-binding, take-private buyout offer from Sonic Financial for $18 per share cash.

Shares of Entegra Financial Corp. ENFC shot up 25 percent to $29.48 after First-Citizens Bank & Trust reported plans to buy Entegra Financial for $30.18 per share in cash.

Midatech Pharma Plc MTP shares were also up, gaining 24 percent to $2.78 after the company reported FY18 gross revenue of £1.94 million up 96 percent year over year. The company also issued upbeat FY19 guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

iRobot Corporation IRBT shares dropped 21 percent to $103.54. iRobot upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company raised 2019 earnings guidance.

Shares of K12 Inc. LRN were down 14 percent to $31.19 after the company reported Q3 results.

RPC, Inc. RES was down, falling around 16 percent to $10.80 after the company reported Q1 results and cut its dividend.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8 percent to $65.77 while gold traded up 0.4 percent to $1,277.90.

Silver traded up 0.9 percent Wednesday to $14.92, while copper rose 0.5 percent to $2.914.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.09 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.74 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.79 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.63 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.28 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.68 percent.

Economics

U.S. crude-oil inventories rose 5.479 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration reported. U.S. gasoline supplies slipped 2.129 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined 662,000 barrels last week.