Thursday was a blockbuster day on Wall Street, as investors celebrated progress on the legislative front in Washington and strong results from some of the biggest companies in the U.S. economy. The Dow climbed almost 200 points, and other major benchmarks were up around 1% or more. The big news of the day was that the House of Representatives passed its version of the tax reform bill, meeting its promised timeline and setting the stage to vote on a hoped-for final version of the bill before the end of 2017. Some individual stocks also had strong performances today, and RH (RH 0.64%), J.M. Smucker (SJM 1.18%), and NetApp (NTAP -0.76%) 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.
RH sees blowout results ahead
Shares of luxury furnishings retailer RH soared 26% after it gave a favorable outlook on its sales and earnings. RH now expects fiscal third-quarter revenue gains of 8%, overcoming a 1-percentage-point hit from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Adjusted net income should triple from year-ago levels, and adjusted earnings could be as much as half again what the company had expected just a few months ago. RH also boosted its calls for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, and although sales for the current quarter could take a slight hit due to delays in a key store opening in New York, the retailer gave encouraging early guidance for fiscal 2018 as well. The news suggests that RH's turnaround is in full force and will build momentum in the months to come.
Image source: RH.
Smucker's looks sweet
J.M. Smucker stock climbed almost 10% in the wake of the company releasing its fiscal second-quarter financial report. The jelly maker reported revenue gains of just 1%, and adjusted net income actually fell 4% compared to last year's fiscal second quarter. Yet investors were pleased that the results weren't worse, and Smucker posted particularly solid results in its U.S. retail pet food segment. Smucker also said that key products like Jif peanut butter and Dunkin' Donuts branded coffee saw double-digit sales increases. The food industry is a competitive one, but Smucker is taking strides toward shoring up its business for the long run.
NetApp flashes higher
Finally, shares of NetApp picked up 16%. The maker of flash-based storage products and cloud data analytics platforms said that its fiscal second-quarter sales were up 6%, pushing adjusted earnings higher by more than a third. Moreover, NetApp gave favorable guidance for the current quarter that exceeded what investors following the stock had anticipated. NetApp has done a good job of focusing on the product lines that have the highest potential for growth, and its strategic efforts have paid off thus far both for the company's fundamental results and for shareholders in the form of impressive stock-price gains.
