Tuesday was a largely quiet day on Wall Street, as the stock market gave up gains early in the session to finish slightly lower. Although investors have been pleased over the past week at the prospects for potential interest rate reductions in the near future, the uncertainties associated with tensions between the U.S. and key trading partners still remain in place. Even with those mixed factors in play, some stocks enjoyed big moves higher. Chico's FAS (CHS +0.00%), PolyOne (POL 0.28%), and John Wiley & Sons (NYSE: JW-A) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.
Chico's makes the best of a tough situation
Shares of Chico's FAS jumped 8.5% after the women's clothing retailer reported its fiscal first-quarter results. The company said that revenue fell nearly 8% on a 7% drop in comparable sales, as Chico's closed 41 stores over the past 12 months and saw both lower average dollar sales per transaction and reduced transaction counts. Slight comps gains at the retailer's Soma concept weren't nearly enough to outweigh poor performance at both White House Black Market and the namesake Chico's stores. Yet even though the company also cut its guidance for the full year, investors seemed to take heart from the idea that turnaround efforts are slowly playing themselves out.
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PolyOne expects better earnings
PolyOne saw its stock gain over 9% following new guidance from the chemical maker. PolyOne said that it now believes it will be able to post earnings of $0.72 to $0.74 per share for the second quarter. That's higher than the $0.68 per share it had previously anticipated, and CEO Robert Patterson pointed to the positive impact of cost-control measures on margin, as well as improvement in the North American construction market. PolyOne still has further to go to overcome the weak economic conditions it's experiencing in China and Europe, but investors are happy that they're seeing some signs of life at the company.
Wiley learns its lesson
Finally, Class A shares of John Wiley & Sons were higher by 5%. The global research and education company said that revenue climbed 3% during the fiscal fourth quarter compared to the prior-year period, helping to power Wiley to a 26% rise in adjusted earnings per share. The company said that the acquisition of Knewton will help it compete more effectively in the high-growth area of adaptive learning and affordable content, and CEO Brian Napack was pleased at how well the company's operational progress is building momentum. Although it expects further pressure on earnings in fiscal 2020, Wiley sees a full recovery coming over the next several years, and that's welcome news compared to where it was three months ago.
