The markets finished slightly lower Friday as investors navigated monthly option expiration, along with the pending UK news. The Dow 30 was lower by 58 (-0.33%), the S&P 500 lost 6 (-0.33%) and the Nasdaq 100 was lower by 44 (-0.92%), dragged down by Apple (AAPL ), and Alphabet (GOOGL )
Shares of Oracle (ORCL ) saw a 2.69% pop today, closing just off session highs. Even though the software giant posted earnings per share that missed estimates, revenue topped expectations thanks mainly to its growing cloud business, which according to the report, brought in $690 million dollars. That's a 66% increase from a year ago for that segment, helping offset the decline in software sales.
Smith & Wesson (SWHC ) shot up 8.74% today as the gun maker raised its outlook for the current quarter and the year after. The gun manufacturer reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter, with sales jumping 22%. Demand for fire arms tends to rise after violent incidents like the one in Orlando amid concerns that new government regulations will restrict access in the future. That makes shares of gun manufacturers like Smith and Wesson more appealing to investors.
Apple (AAPL ) sold off 2.28%% today after a Chinese bureau claimed that the US tech giant may have violated patents in their iPhone 6 and 6 Plus according to various reports. A small electronics maker says the iPhone is too similar to its 100C phone. Beijing regulators ordered Apple to stop selling iPhones in China. The company can appeal the ruling and appears to have already taken steps to do so.
Lastly, Lumber Liquidators (LL ) shares blasted off 19.20% today as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ended its probe of the company. The testing showed no unsafe levels of formaldehyde in its flooring. Shares of Lumber Liquidators have taken a big hit following a "60 Minutes" report last March suggesting its flooring from China contained high levels of the cancer-causing substance. Lumber Liquidators has agreed not to resume selling its existing inventory of laminate flooring previously sourced from China.