Stock To Watch: USANA Shares Fall

Shares of USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (USNA), a direct selling company that makes nutritional, personal care, and weight management products, fell 10% on Monday before closing at $66.82. The stock is nearly 40% down in the past one year.

USANA’s sales were badly hit in China by the negative media coverage on health products and direct selling industries after the government conducted a 100-day review of these industries in January last year. A 100-day follow-up review was started in September. Following this, USANA had updated its full-year 2019 outlook in October.

For the full-year, net sales are expected to be in the range of $1.030 billion to $1.045 billion and EPS to be between $3.90 and $4.05. Analysts see earnings of $3.99 on revenues of $1.04 billion.

Fourth-quarter and full-year earnings results are expected to be announced on February 5.

In the third quarter ended September 30, 2019, net sales had decreased 12.2% year-on-year to $260.6 million. EPS also fell to $1.09 from $1.24 in the corresponding quarter last year. The company’s total number of active customers at the end of the third quarter was down at 558,000, from 615,000 in the prior-year period.

Watch | Volvo’s XC40: first SUV based on the Compact Modular Architecture

Volvo’s XC40 is the first SUV based on the Compact Modular Architecture platform

The all-new XC40 is Volvo’s newest compact SUV that’s funky, stylish and feature-rich. This is the first SUV based on the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform, shared with its parent company Geely Auto. It still shares the engine, gearbox, infotainment, safety kit and some other bits with cars like the XC90, S90 and XC60 based on SPA (Scalable Product Architecture), so the lines blur. The XC40 is longer, wider and taller than the Audi Q3, and has a longer wheelbase too, but it is shorter than the BMW X1 in terms of length and wheelbase.

Watch | Jaguar Land Rover India rolls out new Jaguar XE

Jaguar XE is available in S and SE derivative and is offered with 184 KW Ingenium Turbocharged Petrol powertrain

Jaguar Land Rover India, has introduced the new version of Jaguar XE at a price starting ₹44.98 lakh ex-showroom India. Available in the S and SE derivative, the vehicle is offered with 184 KW Ingenium Turbocharged Petrol powertrain and 132 KW Ingenium Turbocharged Diesel powertrain options. The new Jaguar XE is an illustration of how enhancements in its design, technology and driving dynamics can rewrite the rules.

Airbus reaches agreement over corruption probe

Airbus SE (AIR.FR) said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement in principle with French, U.K. and U.S. authorities in regard to investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption.

The European plane maker said the agreements are also made in the context of compliance with the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations and are subject to the approval of the French court, the U.K. court and the U.S. court and regulator.

For legal reasons, Airbus said it isn’t allowed to make any comment on the details of its discussions with the authorities, which are the French Parquet National Financier, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office and the U.S. authorities.

Write to Giulia Petroni at [email protected]

Israel’s Netanyahu Says He Has Withdrawn Immunity Request

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he has withdrawn his request for immunity from prosecution on corruption charges.

Netanyahu said in a Facebook post that he had informed Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein that he is withdrawing the request because the process had not been fair. He didn’t appear to have a parliamentary majority for the request.

The Knesset plenum had been scheduled Tuesday to decide whether to form a committee that would discuss whether to grant Netanyahu immunity.

Swedish steelmaker SSAB swings to bigger-than-expected loss

STOCKHOLM — Swedish steelmaker SSAB AB said Tuesday that it swung to a fourth-quarter net loss as a weaker market saw stock adjustments in Europe, while strikes in Finland and lower prices in its Americas operation all weighed on the result.

The company SSAB.A, -3.19% posted a net loss of 1.24 billion Swedish kronor ($129.4 million) from a profit of SEK695 million a year earlier on sales of SEK16.97 billion, down from SEK19.25 billion a year earlier.

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a net loss of SEK458 million on sales of SEK16.8 billion.

“Stock adjustments by customers on the European market are assessed to be over and our order intake improved towards the end of the quarter,” said Chief Executive Martin Lindqvist.

“This is expected to lead to increased shipments during the first quarter of 2020.”

In North America, demand for heavy plate is expected to be stable during the first quarter of 2020. In Europe, underlying demand is expected to increase, while global demand for high-strength steels is expected to increase.

Shipments by SSAB Americas are expected to increase compared with the fourth quarter while volumes in SSAB Europe and SSAB Special Steels are also expected to increase from the fourth quarter.

Realized prices are seen unchanged in SSAB Americas, and somewhat lower in SSAB Europe and SSAB Special Steels during the first quarter.

The company maintained its full-year dividend at SEK1.50.

Profit falls at Shin-Etsu Chemical

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. (4063.TO) said Tuesday its third-quarter net profit fell 1.8% from a year earlier due to weaker plastic sales despite steady earnings from its semiconductor silicon business.

Net profit for the quarter ended December was 81.8 billion yen ($751.1 million), compared with Y83.3 billion a year earlier, said Shin-Etsu, the world’s biggest supplier of semiconductor silicon and polyvinyl chloride. That beat expectations for net profit of Y78.05 billion, according to a FactSet poll of analysts.

Operating profit fell 18% in the third quarter for its polyvinyl chloride resins and chlor-alkali business, while operating profit from its semiconductor silicon business increased 0.8%.

Third-quarter revenue decreased 6.7% from a year earlier to Y387.4 billion. That fell short of the FactSet estimate for Y399.36 billion.

Shin-Etsu Chemical kept its revenue and net-profit forecasts unchanged for the full year ending March. It expects revenue to drop 2.8% and net profit to increase 1.6%.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [email protected]