Macy's, Barnes & Noble, L Brands, Target, J.C. Penney, WD-40, Ford

By Francesca Fontana and Jessica Menton 

Here are some of the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Thursday's session. Stock movements noted by ticker reflect movements during regular trading hours; premarket trading is specified separately.

Macy's Inc. -- Down 17% premarket: The department store chain slashed its outlook for profit, sales and gross margin, citing a weakening in sales in late-December.

Barnes & Noble Inc. -- Down 6% premarket: The bookseller said earnings guidance could be slashed as much as 10% due to advertising spending and promotional activity.

L Brands Inc. -- Down 7% premarket: The company said Victoria's Secret struggled in the most recent holiday shopping season, as same-store sales fell and margins suffered a significant declined.

Target Corp. -- Down 3.3% premarket: Target sales r ose 5.7% between Nov. 4 and Jan. 5 in stores and through company websites operating for at least 12 months, the company said Thursday, putting Target on track to have its best full year of sales growth in 13 years.

Costco Wholesale Corp. -- Down 1% premarket: At Costco, sales rose 7%, excluding gasoline and currency fluctuations, during the five weeks ended Jan. 6, the company said Wednesday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. -- Up 6.9% premarket: The retailer's profit outlook for 2019 beat Wall Street estimates late Wednesday. Shares of the company have shed 43% over the past 12 months.

KB Home -- Up 3.4% premarket: The home builder's fourth-quarter earnings topped analysts' forecasts, and the company expects to increase the number of homes it builds this year.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. -- Down 4.5% premarket: The retailer plans to close three stores in the spring and signaled more locations may shutter. The company's stock has jumped nearly 30% so far in January.

WD-40 Co. -- Down 3.9% premarket: The household-products manufacturer delivered earnings in line with analysts' expectations for the latest quarter, helped by strong sales of its flagship product. Over the past 12 months, shares have surged 56%.

Ford Motor Co. -- Up 0.1% premarket: Ford has launched talks with trade unions in Europe about job cuts that could run into the thousands as it shuts European plants and cancels production of unprofitable models in response to a storm of bad news for global car makers.

Alphabet Inc. -- Down 0.6% premarket: Google nears a win in Europe over the EU's "right to be forgotten," as an adviser to the EU's top court argued that Google and other search engines shouldn't be forced to apply the right globally.

This is a version of the "Stocks to Watch" section of our Markets newsletter. To receive it every morning via email, click here.

Write to Francesca Fontana at [e-mail] and Jessica Menton at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 10, 2019 09:34 ET (14:34 GMT)

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