During Tuesday’s Afternoon trade, Shares of Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR), gained 1.88% to $29.27, as the social network declared it will cut about 8% of its work force. That’s about 336 jobs. Twitter has been struggling with slow user growth. The restructuring comes just days after Jack Dorsey was designated as permanent CEO.
Twitter also added a touch of good news for investors in its securities filing, noting that it anticipates revenue and a measure of its adjusted earnings to come in above the high end of its formerly forecast range for the third quarter. WSJ Reports
Twitter said the job cuts will mostly affect its product and engineering teams in an effort to “organize around the company’s top product priorities and drive efficiencies.” The company said it anticipates to spend the money it saves on “its most important priorities to drive growth.”
Twitter, Inc. operates as a global platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time. It offers various products and services for users, counting Twitter that allows users to create, distribute, and discover content; and Vine and video, a mobile application that enables users to create and distribute short looping videos.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), declined -0.27% to $95.74, during its current trading session.
Johnson & Johnson executives, embarking on a $10 billion share buyback program, emphasized Tuesday they still have the cash and the appetite for deals, according to Bloomberg.
But the planned repurchases, double the amount allocated last year, may be an acknowledgment that the company doesn’t have any large-scale targets in its sights right now. After losing out to AbbVie Inc. in March in the bidding for cancer drug maker Pharmacyclics Inc., which ended up selling for $21 billion, the health-care giant hasn’t made another stated attempt to take part in the consolidation of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest companies. Bloomberg Reports
Repurchases may be made at administration’s discretion from time to time on the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. The repurchase program has no time limit and may be suspended for periods or suspended at any time. Any shares attained will be available for general corporate purposes. The company had about 2,767.3 million shares of common stock outstanding as of September 27, 2015.
The company intends to finance the share repurchase program through issuance of debt. Johnson & Johnson will discuss the share repurchase program on its third-quarter earnings conference call on October 13, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
In other news, Johnson & Johnson declared sales of $17.1 billion for the third quarter of 2015, a decrease of 7.4% as contrast to the third quarter of 2014. Operational sales results raised 0.8% and the negative impact of currency was 8.2%. Domestic sales reduced 0.6%. International sales reduced 13.7%, reflecting operational growth of 2.1% and a negative currency impact of 15.8%. Not Taking Into Account the net impact of acquisitions, divestitures and hepatitis C sales, on an operational basis, worldwide sales raised 5.6%, domestic sales raised 7.7% and international sales raised 3.8%.
Net earnings and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2015 were $3.4 billion and $1.20, respectively. Third quarter 2015 net earnings comprised after-tax intangible amortization expense of about $0.4 billion and a charge for after-tax special items of about $0.4 billion. Third quarter 2014 net earnings comprised after-tax intangible amortization expense of about $0.3 billion and a net gain for after-tax special items of about $0.4 billion. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures is comprised as an accompanying plan. Not Taking Into Account after-tax intangible amortization expense and special items, adjusted net earnings for the current quarter were $4.2 billion and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.49, representing decreases of 9.4% and 7.5%, respectively, as contrast to the same period in 2014. On an operational basis, adjusted diluted earnings per share raised 1.2%.
Johnson & Johnson, together with its auxiliaries, researches and develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the health care field worldwide. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices.
Finally, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), lost -0.56%, and is now trading at $33.03.
Ken Koe, a Pfizer Inc. chemist who co-invented Zoloft, which once was the most-prescribed antidepressant drug in the U.S., has died. He was 90. Bloomberg stated
He died on Oct. 7 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, at the home of his daughter, Kristin M. Koe, according to the website of Heald & Chiampa Funeral Home. No cause was given.
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1991, Zoloft sales peaked at about $3.36 billion for New York-based Pfizer in 2004, two years before its patent ran out.
Zoloft is Pfizer’s brand name for the chemical sertraline hydrochloride. It is one of a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and is used to treat depression and anxiety, Bloomberg Reports
In other news, Pfizer Inc. and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) are proud to declare the recipients from the Seeding Progress and Resources for the Cancer Community: Metastatic Breast Cancer Challenge (SPARC MBC Challenge), a first-of-its-kind initiative to address the unique challenges facing women with metastatic breast cancer worldwide. In total, 20 organizations from 18 countries have been selected to receive grants amounting to $760,000 (USD) in funding offered by Pfizer.
Launched on World Cancer Day in February 2015, the SPARC MBC Challenge received noteworthy interest with over 80 applications presented by organizations in 46 countries, reflecting the urgent need for improved services and support for women with metastatic breast cancer. Due to this high level of interest, Pfizer raised its funding of the initiative from $500,000 (USD) to $760,000 (USD) to support additional projects.
The SPARC MBC Challenge aims to empower advocacy groups, hospital networks, support groups and other organizations worldwide as they initiate projects to close the gap in information, support, awareness and policy between metastatic breast cancer and early disease, as well as assist reduce the number of women diagnosed at the metastatic stage of breast cancer.
Pfizer Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through Global Innovative Pharmaceutical (GIP); Global Vaccines, Oncology and Consumer Healthcare (VOC); and Global Established Pharmaceutical (GEP) segments.
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