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Shares of DryShips Inc. soared 18% in active premarket trade Monday, after the Greece-based drybulk shipper said it reached an agreement with one of its lenders to settle its outstanding debt obligations. Volume ahead of the open exceeded 1 million shares, making it the second-most active stock ahead of the open. Under terms of the deal, the lender has agreed to write off about half of the outstanding principal and interest that remains due. DryShips has repaid about $8.2 million of the principal, and will have to pay an additional $2.0 million over the next nine months as part of the agreement. The stock has been extremely volatile over the past week, rocketing earlier in the week, then selling off sharply on Thursday before bouncing back on Friday. Meanwhile, the stock has plunged 95% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.8%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Acorda Therapeutics Inc. shares dropped as much as 13.2% in pre-market trade Monday after the company said it was discontinuing development of its drug intended for post-stroke walking difficulties after a clinical trial failure. Despite promising results for the drug dalfampridine in a phase 2 trial, the latest results were not sufficiently clinically meaningful, the company said. Leerink analyst Paul Matteis’ called the trial’s failure a “small disappointment…we believe only a few dollars of value were priced into the stock at most,” and reiterated a market perform rating. The company said it will now focus on its two late-stage Parkinson’s disease therapies and treatments that are earlier in development in migraine, Parkinson’s disease dementia and multiple sclerosis. Acorda shares have dropped 50.2% year-to-date, compared with a 6.8% rise in the S&P 500 .

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Cloud services company Oracle Corp. on Monday said it reached an agreement to buy cloud-based internet performance and DNS provider Dyn Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition should provide a natural extension to Oracle’s cloud computing platform, President of Product Development Thomas Kurian said in a statement. Dyn gives users faster access by monitoring, controling and optimizing internet applications and cloud services, according to a news release. Shares of Oracle were up slightly in premarket trade and are up more than 9% in the year to date, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 7%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Tyson Foods Inc. said Monday Chief Executive Donnie Smith will step down as CEO on Dec. 31, after seven years in the position. The prepared and processed foods company said President Tom Hayes will succeed Smith as CEO. Hayes will continued to serve has president, and has been elected to the board of directors, effective immediately. Smith will be available as a consultant for three years. “The Board’s decision to name Tom CEO at this time was based on both his track record and how his skills align with the company’s strategic direction and continuing evolution,” said Chairman John Tyson. The company also reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that missed expectations, and provided a downbeat outlook. The stock, which tumbled 7.9% in premarket trade, has climbed 26% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.8%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Citigroup Inc. said Monday it is increasing its share buyback program by up to $1.75 billion, boosting its overall capital action plan to $12.2 billion. The bank already has a stock buyback authorization of $8.6 billion and is increasing its quarterly dividend to 16 cents per share. In the last two years, Citi has reduced its outstanding common shares by 180 million or 6%. Shares were trading up 0.9% premarket, and are up 7.2% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Tyson Foods Inc. tumbled 6.5% in premarket trade Monday, after the processed and prepared foods company reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that missed expectations, and provided a downbeat outlook. Earnings for the quarter to Oct. 1 rose to $391 million, or 96 cents a share, from $258 million, or 83 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 96 cents, missing the FactSet consensus of $1.16. Revenue fell to $9.16 billion from $10.51 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $9.40 billion. The revenue miss was a result of less-than-expected beef, pork and prepared foods sales, which offset better-than-expected chicken sales. For fiscal 2017, the company expects adjusted EPS growth of 7% to 10%, while the FactSet consensus of $4.99 implies 14% growth from 2016 adj. EPS of $4.39. The stock has soared 26% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.8%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Macom Technology Solutions Holdings Inc. announced Monday an agreement to buy cloud infrastructure company Applied Micro Circuits Corp. in a cash and stock deal that values Applied Micro at about $722.7 million. Under terms of the deal, Macom will pay $3.25 in cash and 0.1089 of its shares for each Applied Micro share outstanding. Based on Friday’s closing prices, that values Applied Micro’s stock at $8.36 each, a 15% premium. Applied Micro has about 86.45 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet. Macom expects the deal, which is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2017, to add to its adjusted earnings in fiscal 2017. “This transaction will create an industry powerhouse with the scale, deep customer relationships, innovative technology, and enabling products that will help deliver explosive growth in Enterprise and Cloud Data Centers,” said Applied Micro Chief Executive Paramesh Gopi. Applied Micro’s stock, which is currently halted until 7:45 a.m. ET for news, has run up 14% year to date, while Macom shares have climbed 15% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.8%.

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Novartis AG has acquired U.S.-based Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corp., a developer of therapeutics for blood and inflammatory disorders, the Swiss drug maker said in a statement Monday. The terms of the deal could amount to up to $665 million in upfront, acquisition and milestone payments, Novartis said. The move came after the receipt of results from a trial evaluating Selexys’s SelG1, a treatment for pain related to sickle-cell disease. Novartis exercised a right to acquire Oklahoma City-based Selexys that it obtained in 2012. Shares in Novartis fell 1.5% in early trading Monday.

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Facebook Inc. plans to increase its U.K. staffing level by 50%, or 500 persons, according to media reports on Monday. The social media company plans to move to a new headquarters site in London in 2017, upping its employee headcount to 1,500, the company reportedly said in a statement. Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook’s vice president for the EMEA region, said “high-skilled engineering jobs” will make up the bulk of the new hires. A spokesperson for Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment.
Other technology companies have recently affirmed their commitment to the city, months after Brexit has triggered talk that major banks will relocate jobs elsewhere. Apple Inc. said in September that it will move its London headquarters to the landmark Battersea Power Station.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News