Good Evening. After a volatile trading week marked by mixed retail profits and a chorus of hawkish Fed comments, U.S. stocks rose on Friday.
The S&P 500 increased by 0.48%, and the Dow Jones increased by 0.59%. The Nasdaq Composite stayed unchanged at 0.01%. Treasury rates continued to rise, with the benchmark 10-year note returning to levels above 3.8% and the rate-sensitive 2-year yield inching toward 4.5%.
FINISHING THE WEEK OFF WITH SOLID EARNINGS
Shares of Ross Stores (ROST) increased today as the off-price retailer surpassed analyst estimates and raised its guidance, despite declining sales and profitability from the same period last year. Here are the numbers:
- Earnings Per Share: $1.00 vs. $0.81 expected
- Revenue: $4.57 Billion vs. $4.37 Billion expected
Although the firm anticipated a highly promotional holiday quarter and stated that inflation will continue to have a negative impact on customers, it raised its guidance as it faced easier comparisons and expects momentum from the third quarter. In addition, the business repurchased 2.8 million shares for $244 million during the quarter and reported that it was on target to return $950 million to shareholders through buybacks this year.
CASE CLOSED
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct blood testing company Theranos in Silicon Valley, has been sentenced to 11.25 years in prison plus three years of supervised release for financial crimes she committed while running the once-thriving business. Holmes has also assessed a special assessment of $400 million.
For her four fraud charges, Holmes was sentenced to approximately 14% of the maximum time of 80 years that sentencing rules theoretically allow. Each of these crimes carried a maximum punishment of twenty years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution.
What does this mean for startups? The judge presiding over Holmes’ prosecution and sentencing stated that the landmark case, one of the most carefully watched in Silicon Valley’s history, should serve as a cautionary lesson for company founders who are ready to exaggerate their companies’ capabilities.