Wednesday was a generally positive day on Wall Street, but the crosscurrents that investors have seen across various sectors of the market continued. Energy suffered as crude oil prices lost $2 per barrel to fall back to the $45 level, but technology stocks recovered from some of their recent declines as investors felt renewed enthusiasm about the sector. In addition, merger and acquisition activity continued to drive interest in some parts of the market. The Nasdaq was the big winner on the day, but the S&P and Dow finished much closer to the unchanged line.
Movado Group (MOV +2.96%), GOL Linhas (GOL +0.00%), and Monogram Residential Trust (NYSE: MORE) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
Movado makes a purchase
Shares of Movado Group moved up by 5% after the high-end watch and accessories retailer announced that it had bought JLB Brands for about 60 million British pounds. JLB owns the popular Olivia Burton line of fashion watches, and after just six years since its founding, JLB has developed a huge following, especially among millennial shoppers. Movado thinks that exposure to millennials is a key benefit to the purchase, but it also believes that the deal will have a positive impact on earnings immediately. Perhaps more importantly, JLB co-founders Lesa Bennett and Jemma Fennings will continue to operate Olivia Burton, and they might end up having a thing or two to teach Movado about staying current in the fickle fashion market over time.
Image source: Movado Group.
GOL flies higher
GOL Linhas stock jumped 13% in the wake of its release of preliminary operational information for its June quarter. The Brazilian airline said that it believes its operating margin finished between 1.5% and 2%, with passenger revenue per available seat-kilometer climbing 7.5% to 8% from the year-ago quarter. Non-fuel unit costs were down 4%, and GOL reduced its total debt by about 100 million Brazilian reals during the quarter. GOL has taken steps to cut capacity in order to find the right level of operations and control costs better, and the preliminary results suggest that the efforts are paying off in increased profitability and efficiency. If Brazil's recent resurgence continues, then GOL could be one of the primary beneficiaries of the positive trend.
Monogram gets a sweet deal
Finally, shares of Monogram Residential Trust soared 21%. The apartment-focused real estate investment trust accepted an acquisition offer from a private equity fund led by Greystar Real Estate Partners. Under the terms of the deal, Monogram investors will get $12 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $3 billion. As Monogram CEO Mark Alfieri described it, "This landmark is the result of Monogram's success at executing and delivering on strong operations, innovative development programs, and investment strategies in conjunction with skillful market timing." The deal should close by the end of the year and continues a trend of acquisitions in the REIT arena over the past month.
