Juniper Networks’ Q4 profit falls as costs rise

Juniper Networks Inc. JNPR, -0.45% reported lower earnings in the fiscal fourth quarter as costs and expenses climbed.

The networking and cybersecurity provider’s quarterly net income was $168.4 million, or 49 cents a share, compared with $192.2 million, or 55 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings were 58 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of 57 cents a share.

Costs rose 4% from a year earlier while expenses increased 5.2%.

Revenue rose 2.3% from a year ago to $1.21 billion. Analysts were looking for $1.19 billion.

Write to Kimberly Chin at [email protected]

Whirlpool beats Q4 expectations, calls 2020 outlook ‘solid’

Shares of Whirlpool Corp. WHR, -0.80% rose a little over 1% in the extended session Monday after the appliances maker beat Wall Street expectations for its fourth quarter and said all regions were profitable, despite weakness in China. Whirlpool also called its outlook for 2020 "solid." Whirlpool said it earned $288 million, or $4.52 a share, in the quarter, compared with $170 million, or $2.64 a share, in the prior-year period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $4.91 a share, compared with $4.75 a share a year ago. Sales fell 5% to $5.4 billion, compared with $5.7 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Whirlpool to report adjusted earnings of $4.27 a share on sales of $5.5 billion. The company forecast per-share GAAP earnings between $14.80 and $15.80 and adjusted earnings between $16 to $17 for the year. The analysts surveyed by FactSet expect adjusted EPS of $16.34 in 2020. "The underlying drivers of our global business are favorable, including demand for our innovative products and a moderation of inflationary cost pressures. We exited the year with solid momentum and we are confident in our guidance for 2020 and our ability to execute on our long-term strategy," Whirlpool Chief Executive Marc Bitzer said in a statement.

Laureate Education to cut costs and explore the sale of several business units

Laureate Education Inc. s: [laur] said late Monday it had already begun to explore spinning off several non-U.S. business units and was considering the potential for "strategic alternatives" for its other businesses as well. Laureate stock was halted in the extended session. In a statement the company said it had retained Goldman Sachs as an investment banker to lead the process. "Laureate is taking action from a position of strength, having improved our operations company-wide through significant cost and efficiency initiatives," Chief Executive Eilif Serck-Hanssen said in a statement. "At the same time, we believe that the public market undervalues our portfolio of assets compared to the values that could be realized for those assets in the private market or through other transactions." Laureate stock closed up 0.3% in Monday trading as the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.57% fell 1.6%.

Martin Shkreli Sued Over Alleged Antitrust Violation in Drug Pricing

Convicted “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli was sued by federal officials and the state of New York for allegedly violating antitrust law when he jacked up the price of a crucial drug by 4,000% overnight in 2015.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The complaint names Vyera Pharmaceuticals LLC along with co-owners Shkreli and Kevin Mulleady.

The allegations are separate from what landed Shkreli behind bars, though the drug at the center of the case is the same. He’s in prison serving a seven-year sentence for defrauding investors in hedge funds he ran by lying to them about his track record and performance as well as a fraud scheme involving Retrophin Inc., a company he founded.

The FTC and New York claim Shkreli acquired a life-saving drug called Daraprim, and then raised the price and used a complex web of contractual restrictions to block generic versions.

The defendants “acquired the U.S. rights to Daraprim from the only existing supplier and immediately raised the price from $17.50 to $750 per tablet,” according to the complaint. “This massive price hike delivered immediate benefits to defendants.”

US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall Street slammed on China virus fears

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks suffered their worst day in over three months on Monday as China extended the Lunar New Year holiday due to a virus outbreak, fueling worries about the economic impact of containment efforts in the world’s second largest economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 455.63 points, or 1.57%, to 28,534.1, the S&P 500 lost 52.02 points, or 1.58%, to 3,243.45 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 175.60 points, or 1.89%, to 9,139.31. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Sandra Maler )

Nasdaq short interest up 0.2% in mid January

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Short interest on the Nasdaq rose 0.2% in mid January, the exchange said on Monday.

As of Jan. 15, short interest had risen to about 9.260 billion shares, compared with 9.239 billion shares as of Dec. 31.

Investors who sell securities “short” borrow shares and then sell them, expecting the stock to fall so they can buy the shares back at the lower price, return them to the lender and pocket the difference.

Shorting can also be part of a hedging strategy. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Innovative Artists Signs Agreement With the WGA

Innovative Artists has joined the list of agencies that have signed a deal with the Writers Guild of America.

“We are proud to support our literary agents and the talented writers they represent,” Innovative Artists Owner and President Scott Harris, along with the agency’s Executive Committee, said in a statement to Deadline. “We are grateful for our clients’ loyalty and are excited to resume working for them. As advocates and representatives, we always seek to put our artists’ interests first and foremost, and to that end, we have heard the concerns and positions of our writers and look forward to continuing to provide the level of personalized and passionate service that they have always valued and enjoyed.”

Innovative Artists is the latest full-service agency and Association of Talent Agents member to reach a deal with the WGA and resume its representation of writers. It joins Gersh, APA,Abrams Artists, Buchwald, literary boutiques the Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston agency and the Kaplan Stahler Agency; and Pantheon. Non-ATA member Verve, also lit-focused, was the first mid-size agency to reach an agreement with the WGA last May.