TWTR
Twitter–The microblogging site's senior vice president of engineering Christopher Fry has resigned from that position, although he will remain in an advisory role. The resignation was revealed in an SEC filing, which did not give a specific reason.
ANN
Margin crunch at Ann
Ann reports comparable-store sales fell 1.8% in FQ1.Sales by brand: Ann Taylor $150.7M; Ann Taylor Factory $69M; Loft $306M; Loft Outlet $64M.The company's gross margin rate dropped 240 bps to 53.4% due to a higher level of promotions at Loft and an increased mix of factory outlet channels.Store count +43 to 1,032.Guidance for FY14 revenue is set at $2.61B vs. $2.62B consensus.ANN +4.3% premarket. Shares had dropped over the last two sessions on earnings anxiety.
CRM
Salesforce.com Inc. shares rose 2.3%, leading the S&P 500 in premarket trade. The company and Microsoft Corp. late Thursday announced a strategic partnership linking Salesforce’s customer relationship management services to Microsoft Office and Windows. The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal. “We are excited to partner with salesforce.com and help customers thrive in a mobile and cloud-first world,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft.
Earnings
BIG
Big Lots– The discount retailer reported first quarter profit of 50 cents per share, excluding certain items, six cents above estimates. Big Lots also raised its forecast for the full year as its sales increase.
EXPR
Express–The retailer posted first quarter profit of six cents per share, eight cents below estimates. Sales fell short of forecasts as well, as does the company's current quarter earnings forecast. The company said its spring inventory sold slowly, and the specialty apparel chain's Memorial Day promotion did not drive traffic as successfully as last year.
LGF
Lions Gate Entertainment–The studio's revenue fell short of expectations for the latest quarter, and was down 8.1 percent from a year ago despite continued box office success for its films.
BNYY
Annie's–Annie's fell five cents short of estimates with profit of 29 cents per share for the fourth quarter. Revenue was slightly short of estimates as well, and the natural foods company gave a full-year earnings projection that's well short of estimates. The company pointed to higher input costs, among other factors.
Conference calls
8:00 12:00 Big Lots BIG
8:30 0:00 ANN ANN
8:30 0:00 Genesco GCO
9:00 0:00 Lions Gate Entertainment LGF
11:00 14:00 Graham GHM
Santez