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Analysts at UBS downgraded shares of Time Warner Inc. to neutral from buy on Monday. The media and entertainment company is well positioned within the media sector, thanks to its film and TV businesses and position in premium cable, but there’s limited upside potential from current trading levels given the terms of AT&T Inc.’s proposed $85.4 billion merger, according to lead analyst Doug Mitchelson. He wrote that the stock’s risk/reward is balanced since it is trading at a less than 10% spread to the offer value. Mitchelson laid out two pivotal questions: Will the deal garner regulatory approval? And, will Time Warner hit its operating budget in 2017? Newly appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said last week he didn’t think it was likely the commission would review the deal. “We continue to expect successful regulatory approvals and a deal closing around the end of 2017,” Mitchelson wrote in a note to clients. “Given the AT&T merger has a modest breakup fee, it remains crucial that Time Warner performs reasonably close to its budgets.” He said Time Warner is on track to hit its operating budgets, thanks to low-teens affiliate growth at Turner, and expected strong acceleration in HBO affiliate revenue. Shares of Time Warner have gained nearly 43% in the trailing 12-month period, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 18% during the same time frame.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Factory orders climbed by 1.2% in January, meeting the MarketWatch-compiled economist forecast. The Commerce Department said orders have climbed for 6 of the last 7 months and rose 0.3% when transportation was excluded. Industrial machinery orders climbed by 6.6%, while photographic equipment orders dropped by 15%.

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Shares of Dynavax Technologies Corp. reversed premarket losses to trade flat at the open Monday, after the biotech reported findings from an early-stage trial of its SD-101 treatment for metastatic melanoma in combination with Merck & Co.’s Keytruda. Dynavax said the trial produced results for efficacy in 17 patients and safety in 22 patients. “In patients naïve to anti-PD-1 treatment, responses were observed in six out of seven patients, for an Overall Response Rate (ORR) of 86%,” the company said in a statement. “This includes two (29%) complete responses (CR) and four (57%) partial responses (PR). Target tumor shrinkage was observed in all 7 evaluable patients.” Dynavax Chief Medical Officer Robert Janssen said the results allow the company explore higher doses of the drug. Shares have fallen 63% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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The semiconductor market has gotten off to a good 2017, with the best monthly growth in over six years, boosted by strong sales growth in China, according to data provided by the Semiconductor Industry Association. Global chip sales jumped 13.9% from a year ago to $30.6 billion in January, the largest year-over-year growth since November 2010, SIA said. Sales to China soared 20.5%, followed by 13.3% growth in the Americas, 12.3% in Japan and 4.8% in Europe. “The global semiconductor industry is off to a strong and encouraging start to 2017, posting its highest-ever January sales and largest year-to-year sales increase in more than six years,” said SIA Chief Executive John Neuffer. The PHLX Semiconductor Index has rallied 11% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.3%. Among individual stocks, Intel Corp.’s has gained 3% over the past three months and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s has run up 38%.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stock-market indexes opened lower on Monday, as global equity investors grew concerned after North Korea over the weekend launched four missiles into the Sea of Japan. The S&P 500 was down 9 points, or 0.4%, at 2,373. The Nasdaq Composite began the session down 21 points, or 0.4% at 5,849. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 70 points or 0.3%, to 20,931 at the open.

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Shares of Procter & Gamble Co. fell 0.8% in premarket trade Monday, after the consumer products giant was downgraded at B. Riley, which cited concerns over rising valuation as fundamentals have weakened. Analyst Linda Bolton Weiser cut her rating to neutral, after being at buy for the past seven months. She slashed her stock price target to $91, which was just 0.6% above Friday’s closing price of $90.50, from $106. Weiser said that while the stock has rallied 11% since Dec. 1, global category growth has slowed to about 2% from about 3%, and the company’s plan for double-digit percentage price cuts in blades and razors is slated to begin in the June quarter. “The slowdown in consumption growth (in markets like China, U.S., U.K.) has caused retailers to reduce inventory, impacting PG’s sales growth,” Weiser wrote in a note to clients. The stock has gained 8.4% over the past 12 months, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has advanced 6% and the S&P 500 has run up 19%.

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Apparel sales across men, women and children grew 3% in 2016, reaching $218.7 billion, according to a report from the NPD Group published Monday. However apparel has struggled to grow more than 3% since 2013 as gains in one segment are offset by declines in others. Athleisure continues to be the top-selling segment, growing 11% in 2016 to become a $45.9 billion market. Jeans, dresses and tailored clothing also sold well for the year, the group said. And the shift to online sales persisted, with e-commerce sales rising to 19% of all U.S. men’s, women’s and children’s apparel sales. In 2011, it was 11%. “Online’s continued growth has come at the expense of in-store sales, affecting the more traditional apparel department, national chain, and specialty channels,” NPD said. “The growth that occurred n the online, off-price, and mass channels came from a consumer focus on convenience, value and price.” The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 4.7% for the past year, while the S&P 500 index is up 19.2% for the same period.

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Goldman Sachs on Monday downgraded shares of GoPro Inc. stocl to sell from neutral, citing the many challenges facing the company as the core action camera market becomes saturated, including product launch issues in the holiday season and a disappointing entry to the drone market. Goldman lowered its stock price target to $6 from $9.50. “We expect GoPro to continue to struggle fundamentally,” analysts wrote in a note. “In its core action camera market, the company exited a disappointing holiday season with excess inventory, as noted by key supplier Ambarella . It also faces a new competitor, YI Technology, whose products are competitive with GoPro’s but at a $100 (25-33%) lower price point.” The company’s recent restructuring may hamper its ability to differentiate through content, said the note. GoPro shares were down 3.3% premarket, and are down 63% in the last 12 months, while the S&) 500 has gained 19%.

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Advaxis Inc. shares surged 10.6% in pre-market trade Monday after the company said the Food and Drug Administration would allow its ADXS-NEO, a cancer immunotherapy drug partnership with Amgen , to proceed to clinical trials. ADXS-NEO’s approach targets neoantigens, which are seen as a promising avenue of cancer drug development, and the drug is only the second of this type with an Investigational New Drug application accepted by the FDA, according to a company spokesperson. Advaxis said it plans to start a phase 1 trial for the drug in multiple tumor types later this year. Amgen shares slumped 0.2% in pre-market trade Monday. Shares of Advaxis have risen 3.5% over the last three months, and shares of Amgen have surged 24.2% over the last three months, compared with a 7.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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From:: Stock Market News