U.S. Movers: Accenture, Alphabet, FactSet, Home Builders, IBM, Maersk, Nikola, Tesla, TSMC

Scott Peters
19 Dec, 2023
New York City

Alphabet Inc. rose 0.4% to $136.30, and the company's Google agreed to settle charges brought by the U.S. states and consumers in a San Francisco federal court.

The settlement was disclosed on Monday and still needs approval from the judge. Google did not admit charges of unnecessary fees for app transactions and unlawful restrictions on apps on Android devices.

Google will pay $70 million in a fund for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Virgin Island, and Puerto Rico, and $630 million in a fund for consumers.

Eligible customers of the Google Pay store will receive $2 and may receive additional payments depending on their spending between August 16, 2016 and September 30, 2023.

Google is facing other legal challenges regarding its digital advertising practices, search process, and results.

Nikola Corp. increased 3% to $0.84 after a court sentenced the company's founder, Trevor Milton, to four years in prison for making false and misleading statements to drive up investor interest.

Milton was also fined $1 million and sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Nikola stock fell 10% after the news in Monday's trading but rebounded in Tuesday's trading.

In October 2022, Milton was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud and faced 60 years of imprisonment.

In 2021, the company agreed to settle civil charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for $125 million.

AP Moller Maersk AS decreased 2.9% to $8.64 after the company confirmed that it will begin to route ships headed to the Suez Canal via the Cape of Good Hope around South Africa as soon as possible because of rising drone attacks from Houthi militants along the Red Sea route.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing increased by 0.6% to $103.58, and Chairman Mark Liu plans to retire in 2024, and vice chairman and CEO C.C. Wei is likely to assume the role.

Liu joined TSMC in 2018 and took over the chairman's role after founder Morris Chang retired in June 2018.

Tesla gained 2.5% to $258.23, and the company, in an internal memo sent to employees at its battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, announced its plant would streamline pay grades and increase the hourly rate by at least 10%.

CNBC, the financial news television channel, first reported the news.

Tesla is hoping that the move will convince workers to avoid forming a union and push for collective bargaining.

Home builders traded higher after housing starts unexpectedly surged 14% in November from the previous month to an annual pace of 1.56 million units.

Toll Brothers increased 1.8% to $103.19, NVR gained 1.7% to $6,954.55, Lennar Corp. added 0.6% to $148.16, PulteGroup advanced 1.9% to $103.89, and KB Home added 2.5% to $61.84.

Accenture declined 0.2% to $341.20 after the management consulting and tech services provider reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, but the company's guidance fell short of market expectations.

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter ending in November increased 3% to $16.2 billion from $15.74 billion, net income advanced to $2.0 billion from $1.99 billion, and diluted earnings per share rose to $3.10 from $3.08 a year ago.

During the quarter, the company repurchased 3.8 million shares for a total of $1.2 billion, and the company announced a quarterly cash dividend of $1.29 per share to shareholders on record on January 18 and payable on February 15.

The company estimated fiscal second quarter revenue between $15.40 billion and $16.0 billion, a decline of 2% to an increase of 2% in local currency, including a negative 0.5% foreign exchange impact compared to a year ago.

The company estimated its fiscal second quarter GAAP diluted earnings per share to range between $11.41 and $11.76, an increase of 6% to 9% from a year ago.

FactSet Research Systems decreased 0.3% to $457.17 after the financial information integration services provider lowered its annual outlook.

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter ending in November increased 7.4% to $542.2 million from $504.8 million, net income advanced to $148.5 million from $136.8 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to $3.84 from $3.52 a year ago.

IBM declined 0.5% to $161.89 after the company agreed to acquire two divisions focused on AI and enterprise services from Germany-based Software AG for $2.3 billion.