J.C. Penney Misses, Groupon Tanks, and Zip Car Zips: Afternoon Buzzers

United States stock futures are down on Friday afternoon, as the markets prepare for what could be the third day of losses in a row.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) is off as much as 28.32 percent in the mid-day after releasing third-quarter results that failed to please investors. Revenue rose 32 percent year-over-year to $568.6 million, while operating income rose to $25.4 million compared to a loss of $200,000 a year ago. These ostensibly positive numbers were offset by weakness in the European market, the expectation of higher marketing costs, and a slow down in the company’s core online deals business.

After announcing its intention to pursue projects in Kurdistan, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) is reportedly in talks with super giants such as British Petroleum (NYSE:BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDSA)(NYSE:RDSB) about selling its stake in the West Qurna-1 oilfield in Iraq.

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Shares of Kayak (NASDAQ:KYAK) were temporarily halted on Thursday evening after Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN) announced that it would acquire the company at a 29-percent premium. Priceline is down at about 0.04 percent in the afternoon, while Kayak is up over 27.13 percent. Kayak didn’t come cheap at $1.8 billion, but the acquisition makes a lot of sense of Priceline, which will take advantage of the company’s search technology. Shares of competitors such as Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) and TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) dropped on the news.

Shares of J.C. Penney Company (NYSE:JCP) dropped as much as 6.82 percent in the afternoon after reporting third-quarter results. Revenue fell a staggering 26.6 percent to $2.93 billion, but the company did manage to narrow its earnings loss to $0.56 per share, compared to $0.67 per share a year ago. This is the third consecutive quarter of losses for the retailer.

Zipcar (NASDAQ:ZIP) posted third-quarter results that smashed expectations after the bell on Thursday, and shares shot up over 27.32 percent as a result. Revenue rose 14.9 percent to $78.2 million, beating the mean analyst estimate by 59.3 million. Net income grow to $4.3 million, or $0.10 per share from $0.2 cents per share a year ago. This sort of growth should keep investors interested for the fourth quarter, as the company raised its full-year guidance.

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