South Africa strike: Miners stand against harassment

Hundreds of striking miners in South Africa have spent more than a week underground.

Almost 300 miners in South Africa have now spent a week underground as they have been protesting against several recent sackings.

Their union says many workers at the Rustenburg mine have also been victims of sexual harassment.

Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller reports from North West province, South Africa.

Volkswagen Launches Electric Car-sharing Operation In Berlin

Volkswagen (VKW.L, VLKAF.PK, VOW.BE) launched electric car-sharing operation, known as ‘WeShare,’ in Berlin.

WeShare will offer 1,500 e-Golf models to customers in Berlin, and will add 500 e-up! vehicles at the beginning of next year. It will also add the first units of the company’s new full-electric ID.3 when it is introduced in mid-2020.

WeShare, which is a “free-floating” system without rental stations and is operated digitally via an app, will expand to Prague and Hamburg in 2020, Volkswagen said.

Volkswagen noted that customers could benefit from tariff of 19 cents per minute. The registration and airport fees will also be waived. Tariffs in three categories are to be offered at an average price per minute of 29 cents, from September onwards.

EARNINGS SUMMARY: Details of ReneSola Ltd. Q1 Earnings Report

Below are the earnings highlights for ReneSola Ltd. (SOL):

-Earnings: -$5.38 million in Q1 vs. $5.44 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: -$0.01 in Q1 vs. $0.01 in the same period last year.
-Revenue: $13.06 million in Q1 vs. $44.76 million in the same period last year.

US weekly jobless claims total 227,000, vs 220,000 expected

First-time claims for state unemployment benefits were expected to total 220,000 for the most recent week, up from the 216,000 claims reported for the prior week.

Get the market reaction here.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Conagra Brands Inc. Q4 adjusted earnings Miss Estimates

Conagra Brands Inc. (CAG) reported a profit for its fourth quarter that rose from last year.

The company’s bottom line totaled $126.5 million, or $0.26 per share. This compares with $69.6 million, or $0.18 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Excluding items, Conagra Brands Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $174.6 million or $0.36 per share for the period.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.41 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 32.5% to $2.61 billion from $1.97 billion last year.

Conagra Brands Inc. earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q4): $174.6 Mln. vs. $195.9 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): $0.36 vs. $0.50 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.41
-Revenue (Q4): $2.61 Bln vs. $1.97 Bln last year.

Beyond Meat heading to American Burger Company, Little Big Burger and Burgers Grilled Right starting July 1

Beyond Meat Inc. BYND, +6.56% said Thursday that its plant-based burgers will be added to menus at more than 45 Chanticleer Holdings Inc. BURG, +2.19% "better burger" locations. Starting July 1, diners can order a Beyond Burger at chains including American Burger Company, Little Big Burger and Burgers Grilled Right. Each chain will design its own burger item using local ingredients. "With recent notable traffic increases cited by brands like Del Taco and Burger King who have too launched plant-based alternatives in their menus, we are cautiously optimistic we have the potential to see similar results as this new offering replaces our previous already popular veggie burger offerings," said Chanticleer Holdings President Fred Glick, in a statement. Beyond Meat shares have skyrocketed 101.4% over the past month while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.12% is up 3.1% for the period.

Rent-A-Center announces plan to start paying quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents a share

Rent-A-Center Inc. RCII, -0.24% said Thursday its board has approved the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents a share, as soon as the company’s refinancing of its revolving credit facility and senior notes is completed, which is expected in the third quarter. The rent-to-own company said it expects to announce the dividend in September and pay it in October. "The company expects to enter into agreements with respect to new credit facilities, which will replace its existing revolving credit facility," it said in a statement. "Proceeds from the refinancing, together with cash on hand, will be used at closing to redeem the company’s senior unsecured notes maturing in 2020 and 2021." Shares were not yet active premarket, but have gained 56% in 2019, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.12% has gained 16.2%.

Nvidia, AMD stocks rise after Wedbush comes out bullish

Shares of Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +5.14% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, +3.67% are up more than 1% in premarket trading Thursday after Wedbush initiated coverage of the chip names at outperform. "While we aren’t forecasting a rebound in cryptocurrency-related demand (though recent rising prices certainly create the potential for a bounce in mining builds), we do believe that inventories of gaming GPUs have largely normalized (in-line with the slight rebound in NVDA gaming sales last quarter)," analyst Matthew Bryson wrote in his Nvidia initiation note. On AMD, Bryson expects the company’s "reemergence" in CPUs and even GPUs to drive a major shift in the PC and data-center markets going forward. "Specifically, we believe AMD’s early adoption of a distributed ‘chiplet’ architecture combined with a shift to leading edge geometries positions the company to take meaningful share from Intel," he wrote. Nvidia shares have gained 19% so far this year, while AMD’s stock has risen 62% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.12% has climbed 16%.