Here are the stories that caught our eye this week.
Big tobacco deal
After being rebuffed in November, British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) has agreed to buy the 57.8% of Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI) it doesn’t already own for $49.4 billion. The previous offer was for $47 billion.
Shareholders will receive $29.44 in cash as well as 0.5260 shares of British American for every Reynolds share they own. Reynolds was a popular dividend stock, so this deal is a little bittersweet for many shareholders.
Target lowers guidance
It hasn’t been a good January for traditional retailers.
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) is the latest to report tepid holiday numbers. The company announced comparable holiday sales were down 1.3% versus the same period last year. Total sales fell 4.9% in November and December.
The company now expects fourth quarter earnings to be between $1.45 and $1.55 per share, versus the previous guidance of between $1.55 and $1.75.
Great Netflix earnings
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) continues to wow Wall Street with impressive subscriber growth.
The video streaming service reported it brought in nearly two million net subscribers during the fourth quarter in the United States, versus expectations of a gain of 1.2 million. Global growth was even better, with more than five million people signing up.
It expects to keep up the growth, telling investors it plans to add 1.5 million subscribers in the U.S. and 3.7 million around the world in Q1.
Netflix shares soared on the news, increasing nearly 4% on Thursday.
