House Judiciary Committee sets Dec. 4 impeachment hearing

Is censuring President Trump a better option than impeachment for Democrats?

The ‘Outnumbered’ panel debates the optics of the impeachment inquiry heading into the 2020 election.

The House Judiciary Committee is set to take over the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump next week, scheduling a Dec. 4 hearing on the question of "high crimes and misdemeanors" set out in the Constitution.

The hearing will feature legal experts who will examine the constitutional grounds for impeachment, according to Democratic aides who discussed the schedule on condition of anonymity before any announcement.

The Judiciary hearing will come as the House intelligence committee is expected to submit a report compiling evidence of the committee's probe on President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine. The intelligence panel held two weeks of impeachment hearings this month examining Trump's repeated requests for Ukraine to investigate Democrats as the U.S. withheld military aid to the Eastern European country.

Spice maker McCormick raises dividend

McCormick and Co. Inc. MKC, +1.39% said late Tuesday its board has authorized a dividend increase to 62 cents a share from 57 cents a share. The dividend is payable Jan. 13 to shareholders of record Dec. 31. Shares of McCormick fell 0.1% in the extended session Tuesday after ending the regular trading day up 1.4%.

LA Talent Taps Jeremy Apody As Director Of Youth Talent

EXCLUSIVE: LA Talent is continuing its expansion with the recent hire of Jeremy Apody as Director of Youth Talent. In his new role, Apody and his  team will be covering commercial, branding and theatrical work.

Apody moves to LA Talent from Buchwald where he helped launch the agency’s Emerging Talent Commercial & Branding Division. He previously spent 14 years at Abrams Artists Agency where he headed a highly successful youth commercial department, having taken over the division in 2007.  Apody will be bringing to LA Talent many of his longtime commercial clients such as Chloe Coleman (Big Little Lies) Christian Isaiah (Shameless) and Lauren Donzis (No Good Nick) while developing a new theatrical roster.

LA Talent has been actively growing its agency over the past two years with the launch of its theatrical department headed by Natalie Kollar and expanding its reach to include New York based talent. Established by Heinz Holba in 1987, LA Talent is the sister company to LA Models and New York Model Management.

VMware earnings beat amid acquisitions of Pivotal, Carbon Black

VMware Inc. VMW, -2.27% shares gained in extended trading Tuesday after the software company reported better earnings than expected while swallowing former partners Pivotal Software and Carbon Black. VMware reported net income of $621 million, or $1.50 a share, on sales of $2.46 billion, up from $2.2 billion a year ago. Earnings were inflated by a $243 million gain on fair-value accounting of its investment in Pivotal, a spinoff that VMware is in the process of acquiring. After adjusting for stock-based compensation and acquisition-related costs, including the Pivotal gains, VMware reported earnings of $1.49 a share, down from $1.56 a share a year ago. Analysts on average expected adjusted earnings of $1.41 a share on sales of $2.41 billion, according to FactSet. The company did not publish a forecast in the announcement, but said it would discuss its business outlook in a conference call scheduled for 4:30 Eastern time. Shares gained more than 1% in after-hours trading following release of the results, after closing with a 2.3% decline at $164.90.

VMware Inc. Q3 adjusted earnings Beat Estimates

VMware Inc. (VMW) released a profit for its third quarter that advanced from the same period last year.

The company’s earnings came in at $621 million, or $1.50 per share. This compares with $334 million, or $0.81 per share, in last year’s third quarter.

Excluding items, VMware Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $617M or $1.49 per share for the period.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.43 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 11.8% to $2.46 billion from $2.20 billion last year.

VMware Inc. earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q3): $617M. vs. $645 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q3): $1.49 vs. $1.56 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $1.43
-Revenue (Q3): $2.46 Bln vs. $2.20 Bln last year.

China Cord Blood Corp Announces Increase In Q2 Bottom Line

China Cord Blood Corp (CO) reported a profit for its second quarter that climbed from the same period last year.

The company’s profit totaled RMB120,35 million, or RMB0.99 per share. This compares with RMB65,11 million, or RMB0.53 per share, in last year’s second quarter.

The company’s revenue for the quarter fell 98.7% to RMB313.46 million from RMB247,10 million last year.

China Cord Blood Corp earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q2): RMB120,35 Mln. vs. RMB65,11 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q2): RMB0.99 vs. RMB0.53 last year.
-Revenue (Q2): RMB313.46 Mln vs. RMB247,10 Mln last year.

Guess? Inc. Q3 adjusted earnings Beat Estimates

Below are the earnings highlights for Guess? Inc. (GES):

-Earnings: $12.42 million in Q3 vs. -$13.44 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: $0.18 in Q3 vs. -$0.17 in the same period last year.
-Excluding items, Guess? Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $14.90 million or $0.22 per share for the period.
-Analysts projected $0.18 per share
-Revenue: $615.94 million in Q3 vs. $605.41 million in the same period last year.

-Guidance:
Next quarter EPS guidance: $1.07 – $1.12
Full year EPS guidance: $1.31 – $1.36