Wall Street and the energy sector closed the last trading day of the month on the negative side of the ledger. On Wednesday, Feb. 28, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.50% to 25,029.20, while the S&P 500 settled 1.11% lower to 2,713.83.
Enphase Energy Inc. shares jumped 19.00% in robust trading to close at $3.32, after returning to profitability and reporting non-GAAP net income of $683,000, or 1 cent per share. The company posted a net loss of $9.3 million, or 15 cents per share, in the comparable 2016 quarter.
"We've said, I think pretty consistently, that we believe 2018 will be a year where we get sustainably profitable," CFO Humberto Garcia told analysts on a conference call. However, President Donald Trump's decision to impose trade tariffs on imported solar cells and modules "has created some headwinds" for the company's so-called AC modules.
Southern Co. declined 0.78% on weak volume to end at $43.06. Fitch Ratings downgraded Southern Co. and subsidiary Georgia Power Co., citing risks related to the construction of the Vogtle 3 and 4 nuclear reactors and weaker credit metrics.
AES Corp. reversed gains from the previous day, settling 3.12% down on strong volume to $10.87.
In the midstream sector, Tallgrass Energy Partners LP rose 5.07% to close at $38.35, Enbridge Inc. lost 3.55% to finish at $31.82, and Energy Transfer Partners LP receded 3.34% to conclude the day at $18.21, all in brisk trading.
EOG Resources Inc. shed 5.16% on heavy volume to finish at $101.42, following plans to increase its capital budget by a considerable amount from the $4.1 billion spent in 2017. The company also reported adjusted net income of $401 million, or 69 cents per share, surpassing the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus estimate of 55 cents per share.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. retreated 2.27% in above-average trading to settle at $75.74, after discovering approximately 65 feet of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir at the Pacora-1 exploration well offshore Guyana.
Range Resources Corp. saw an increase of 0.99% on strong volume to end at $13.29, after posting 22 cents per share in adjusted profits for the fourth quarter of 2017 and beating the S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate of 16 cents. The company plans to reduce its capital spending by 20% and generate positive cash flows for the year by slowing activity in an underperforming Louisiana field and investing 85% of 2018 capital spending in the southwestern Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.
April natural gas futures extended losses at midweek as the weakening demand anticipated amid the changing seasons kept pressure on values. While seesawing through Wednesday trade in a $2.659/MMBtu to $2.710/MMBtu spread, the contract settled 1.6 cents lower at $2.667/MMBtu.
Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.
