Stocks to watch today: Match Group, Charles Schwab and Bank of America

On a busy day for financial markets, three stocks made headlines due to significant corporate events and earnings reports. Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH ) saw its shares rise on news of an activist investor’s involvement, while Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW ) came under pressure after reporting a drop in interest income. Meanwhile, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) posted strong quarterly results, beating analysts’ expectations.

Match Group (MTCH) stock gains after activist hedge fund reveals 6.6% stake

Match Group shares rose more than 9% in pre-market trading to $35.00 after hedge fund Starboard Value revealed it owned a 6.6% stake in the company.

The move makes Starboard the online dating giant’s third-largest shareholder. In a letter to Match’s management, Starboard outlined suggestions for improvements, including increasing adjusted operating margins above 40% and implementing more aggressive share repurchase plans.

The activist investor also indicated support for a potential sale of Match to take the company private if improvements are not made. Match Group, which operates popular platforms such as Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, has seen its stock struggle to grow, posting a year-over-year return of -4.97% and a compound annual return of -27.84%.

Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares fall after the bank reported a drop in net interest income

Charles Schwab shares fell 6.95% to $69.86 after reporting second-quarter earnings. While the company narrowly beat analysts’ expectations, posting earnings per share of 73 cents and revenue of $6.69 billion, investors were disappointed by a 6% year-over-year decline in net interest income, which totaled $2.16 billion.

That figure fell short of analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Despite the challenges, Schwab said total client assets reached a record $9.4 trillion and bank accounts grew 2% by the end of the quarter. The firm’s annualized return is 2.34%, with a year-over-year return of 21.34%.

Bank of America (BAC) stock gains on strong Q2 results

Bank of America shares rose 5.01% to $43.99 after the banking giant reported strong second-quarter results. The company reported net income of $6.9 billion and earnings per share of $0.83, beating analysts’ expectations of $0.79.

Total revenue rose 1% year over year to $25.4 billion, also beating forecasts. Despite a 3% decline in net interest income to $13.7 billion, Bank of America saw growth in other areas, with average deposit balances rising 2% to $1.91 trillion.

The bank also announced plans to increase its quarterly dividend by 8% to $0.26 per share. Bank of America shares have performed well this year, with a one-year return of 32.37% and a one-year return of 55.61%.

Disclaimer: The author does not own or have a position in any of the securities discussed in the article.

About the author

Tim Fries is the co-founder of The Tokenist. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim was a senior associate in the investment team of RW Baird’s US Private Equity division and is a co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensor, protection and control solutions.