The markets were all lower today as investors digested economic numbers along with the price of oil sliding over 3%. This weighed on the markets causing a decline of 61 in the Dow 30, a loss of 5 from the S&P 500, and a drop of 9 from the Nasdaq 100. Manufacturing numbers along with unemployment claims will be the economic focus for traders tomorrow.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) suffered a large gap down this morning and closed the day down 7.17%. The cyber security company announced earnings that came in right in line with forecasts at $0.50 a share along with revenue that topped analysts' estimates. The company said that sales surged 41% to $401 million in its fiscal fourth quarter. However, expenses also surged and the company provided a weaker than expected outlook for its current quarter. The company is also buying back $500 million dollars worth of stock. For this reason investors chose to take some risk off the table going into the close of the month.
H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) fell hard this morning after the tax service provider reported a wider than expected loss of $0.55 a share for its fiscal first quarter. Revenue also missed estimates. Sales fell 9% from a year ago, mainly due to the sale of its bank unit and as fewer customers signed up for its services. The company continues to cite competition from rival Turbo Tax, owned by Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) along with others as a hindrance to profitability. Shares were lower by 10.41% today by the close.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stayed in the headlines again today as investors continue to digest the tax penalty announced yesterday. Investors continued to closely monitor any developments related to the European Commission's ruling Tuesday that Apple owes Ireland $14.5 billion in taxes. Shares were mostly flat today, closing up only 0.09%.