Buzz Stocks: McDonald's Corporation, Sprint Corp, and NCI Inc

Today's stocks to watch in the news include McDonald's Corporation (MCD), Sprint Corp (S), and NCI Inc (NCIT)

Jan 23, 2017 at 9:23 AM

NCIT
S
MCD

Dow futures are pointing to a lower start as traders lean toward caution for the first full week of Donald Trump's presidency. Among specific equities in the spotlight are Dow stock McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), telecommunications specialist Sprint Corp (NYSE:S), and IT interest NCI Inc (NASDAQ:NCIT). Here's a quick look at what's driving MCD, S, and NCIT.

MCD is down 0.8% ahead of the bell, despite beating estimates for fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. Potentially weighing on the shares is a 5% year-over-year decline in revenue, with U.S. stores showing weaker performance compared to global growth. Though McDonald's Corporation is up just 3.8% over the past 12 months, at $122.26, optimism has been building among options traders in recent weeks. MCD holds a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.27 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) -- higher than nearly three-quarters of the past year's readings.

S is 1% higher in electronic trading on news the company will purchase 33% of Tidal -- the music streaming service headed by artist Jay-Z -- for an undisclosed price. The acquisition will give Sprint Corp CEO Marcelo Claure a seat of Tidal's board. The announcement has yet to win any fans from the brokerage bunch, where 17 out of 19 analysts maintain a "hold" or worse rating. But S could be overdue a round of upbeat attention, considering the shares have climbed steadily for the past 52 weeks, adding more than 257% on the charts, at $8.93, ushered higher by the 40-day moving average. The company is due to report earnings next week.

NCIT is set to drop 10.4% at the open after the firm reported an internal investigation, which has so far uncovered that the company's former controller embezzled about $18 million over the last six years. The past year has been choppy for shares of NCI Inc, which finished Friday just above the year-over-year breakeven mark, at $13.95. Meanwhile, some bears may be wishing they had hung around longer. Specifically, short interest in NCIT dropped by nearly 38% during the two most recent reporting periods, and now accounts for just 0.7% of the stock's available float.

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