European Economics Preview: France Consumer Confidence Data Due

Consumer confidence survey data from France is due on Wednesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 1.00 am ET, Statistics Finland releases producer prices for January. Prices had decreased 0.8 percent on year in December.

At 2.00 am ET, Norway’s unemployment data is due. The jobless rate is forecast to remain at unchanged at 4 percent in December.

At 2.45 am ET, France’s Insee is scheduled to issue consumer confidence survey results. The sentiment index is expected to fall to 103 in February from 104 in January.

At 3.00 am ET, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office releases average gross wages for December. Gross wages had increased 13.9 percent on a yearly basis in November.

At 4.00 am ET, IHS Markit is set to issue Austria’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ survey results for February. In the meantime, Italy’s non-EU foreign trade data is due for January.

The TJX Companies, Inc. Q4 Income Advances

The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) released a profit for its fourth quarter that increased from the same period last year.

The company’s profit totaled $984.79 million, or $0.81 per share. This compares with $841.54 million, or $0.68 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.77 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 9.7% to $12.21 billion from $11.13 billion last year.

The TJX Companies, Inc. earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q4): $984.79 Mln. vs. $841.54 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): $0.81 vs. $0.68 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.77
-Revenue (Q4): $12.21 Bln vs. $11.13 Bln last year.

-Guidance:
Next quarter EPS guidance: $0.59 to $0.60

Myomo (MYO) Jumps On Payer Network Agreement

Myomo Inc. (MYO), a wearable medical robotics company, has signed a nationwide payer agreement with HOMELINK, an expert in orthotic and prosthetic reimbursement.

The agreement will enable Myomo to process out-of-network claims for its MyoPro powered orthosis with the 1,200 payers in HOMELINK’s network.

The Company’s MyoPro product line offers expanded mobility for those suffering from neurological disorders and upper limb paralysis.

Earlier in the month, the Statutory Health Insurance in Germany approved MyoPro for patients on a case by case basis.

Myomo expects revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019 to be in a range of $1.4 million to $1.5 million compared to $607,000 in the prior quarter and $890,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018.

For the full year 2019, revenue is expected to be in the range of $3.7 million to $3.8 million compared to $2.4 million in 2018.

Myomo is scheduled to report its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019, in the first week of next month.

The Company, which ended December 31, 2019, with cash of approximately $4.5 million, priced an underwritten public offering on February 11, 2020. The total gross proceeds from the offering are expected to be about $15.0 million.

The Company implemented a one-for-thirty reverse split of its common stock on January 31, 2020. As of this writing, the stock is up 42.31% at $7.77.

Stock Alert: TJX Companies Rises 7%

Shares of TJX Companies Inc. (TJX) are rising more than 7 percent in the morning trade on Wednesday at $64.02, near to its 52-week high, after the off-price retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, raised its quarterly dividend, and announced a share buyback.

The stock has traded in a range of $49.05 to $64.95 in the past 52 weeks.

Wednesday, TJX Companies said its profit for the fourth quarter rose to $984.79 million or $0.81 per share from $841.54 million or $0.68 per share in the year-ago period.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.77 per share. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter grew 9.7 percent to $12.21 billion from $11.13 billion last year. TJX also said it plans to repurchase about $1.75 billion to $2.25 billion of its common stock during the fiscal year ending January 30, 2021.

The board has approved repurchase up to an additional $1.5 billion of TJX common stock from time to time. TJX also said it plans to increase the regular quarterly dividend on its common stock to be declared in March 2020 and payable in June 2020 by 13 percent to $0.26 per share.

Former Amazon Manager Claims the Company Racially Profiles Job Seekers

A former Amazon.com Inc. manager says she was fired after she complained to higher-ups that her supervisor told her to scan the social media accounts of prospective hires to determine their race and gender.

In a wrongful termination suit filed Monday in Alameda Superior Court in Oakland, Lisa McCarrick, a former regional loss prevention manager in California, said she knew Amazon had been criticized publicly for its lack of diversity in the workplace.

McCarrick “reasonably believed that scouring social media accounts for the purpose of ascertaining race and ethnicity was unlawful,” according to the lawsuit.

The 38-year-old California woman said she was fired in November, two months after submitting the complaint, despite having earned positive job evaluations during her 16-month tenure at the company. During the termination meeting, she said she was told that her direct supervisor had admitted to using social media accounts to determine race and ethnicity.

McCarrick also claims she was paid less than her male counterparts for essentially doing the same job.

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.