Category: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks opened flat on Tuesday as analysts posited that the postelection rally has run out of steam. The S&P 500 index was little-changed at 2,202, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was steady at 19,096. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 2, or less than 0.1%, to 5,371. A sharp drop in oil prices helped restrain gains, with U.S.-traded crude futures traded nearly 4% lower ahead of a crucial meeting of the Organization for the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which begins Wednesday.

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Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. on Tuesday said it has signed a new long-term film distribution deal with one of China’s biggest online streaming platforms iQIYI. The value of the deal wasn’t disclosed, but under the agreement iQIYI, which has been streaming Lions Gate films since last year, will have exclusive streaming rights in China for upcoming Lions Gate films, such as “Robin Hood” and “Patriots Day.” iQIYI’s platform totes more than 500 million unique users. The renewed agreement is significant for Lions Gate as the industry has shifted its focus to entering China and, or getting its content in front of Chinese audiences — largely with little to no success. Chinese regulators put the brakes on Walt Disney Co. launching its content in the country and streaming giant Netflix Inc. has all but given up on figuring out how best to make a splash in China. Shares of Lions Gate are down nearly 29% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up more than 7%.

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Time Warner Inc. said Tuesday it has commenced a public offering of senior debt, due 2027. The media company said it plans to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the paying down debt. The notes will be issued by Time Warner, and guaranteed by Historic TW Inc., which is backed by Home Box Office Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. The amount of the offering was not disclosed. Time Warner’s stock, which slipped 0.4% in light premarket trade, has run up 44% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.7%.

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Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. announced Tuesday a deal to buy GNP Company, a branded-chicken products provider for the upper midwest, for $350 million in cash. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, is expected to add to earnings per share in 2017 and to achieve about $20 million a year in synergies. Pilgrim’s said it believes GNP’s use of innovative technologies, such as gas stunning, aeroscalding and automated deboning, will enhance production efficiencies by increasing the rate of adoption of new technologies in its existing facilities. “GNP Company boasts outstanding state-of-the-art assets in geographic areas where Pilgrim’s is not currently present, providing Pilgrim’s the opportunity to expand our production and customer bases, while maintaining our high standards for quality service and great-tasting products,” said Pilgrim’s Chief Executive Bill Lovette. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 19% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.7%.

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Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares jumped 9.7% in pre-market trade Tuesday after the company said a phase 3 clinical trial for its Humira biosimilar met its primary endpoint. The drug, M923, is being developed with Shire’s Baxalta for patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Momenta said that the percentage of patients in the study that met the primary endpoint was equal to that of Humira and that the difference in responders confirmed equivalence. The first biosimilar version of AbbVie’s Humira — worth $14 billion, it is the world’s top selling treatment — was approved in late September. Biosimilars are a class of drugs that mimic existing treatments and are expected to save the U.S. health care system as much as $250 billion by introducing competition into the pricey biologics drug market. Momenta said that Shire, which is ending its biosimilars program, plans to transition M923 to Momenta. Momenta shares dropped 6.3% year-to-date, compared with a 7.7% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Shares of Nivalis Therapeutics Inc. plunged 53% toward a record low in premarket trade Tuesday, after a Phase 2 trial of its cystic fibrosis treatment failed its primary endpoint. Although the two doses of cavosonstat were well tolerated, they failed to show an improvement in lung function. The company said it plans to continue to investigate the potential of cavosonstat. But RW Baird analyst Brian Skorney followed by downgraded Nivalis to neutral from outperform, saying he believes “the absence of any clinical effect indicates that cavosonstat isn’t a relevant drug for cystic fibrosis.” Analyst Thomas Shrader at Stifel Nicolaus cut his rating to hold from buy, saying that while Nivalis has indicated it has backup compounds to cavosonstat, the efficacy signals suggest “the therapeutic premise may be dead.” The stock, which went public on June 17, 2015 at an initial public offering price of $14, had dropped 19% year to date through Monday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF had lost 17% and the S&P 500 had gained 7.7%.

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Koppers Holdings Inc.’s shares were downgraded at Wunderlich Securities, which cited concerns over valuation following the recent surge to 2 1/2-year highs. Analyst Liam Burke cut his rating to hold, after being at buy since he started covering the carbon compounds chemicals company in September 2014. Since closing at a near 7-year low of $14.26 on Jan. 19, the stock nearly tripled to $40.50 last Wednesday, the highest close since May 2014, and above Burke’s stock price target of $39. Burke said management has successfully repositioned the company to address the reality of its end markets, and is seeing more stable revenue and margin growth, but the stock’s valuation now fully reflects that solid execution. “A fine company at a fair price,” Burke wrote in a note to clients. The stock has more than doubled year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.7%.

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TrueCar Inc. said Tuesday it expect November new vehicle sales to climb 3.6% from a year ago to reach 1.37 million units, boosted by Black Friday deals and two extra selling days than in the year-earlier period. The online marketplace for new cars said it expects November’s seasonally adjusted annualized rate for total light vehicle sales to come to 17.66 million units, versus 18.25 million units a year ago. “The early launch of Black Friday sales events is helping offset declines in fleet sales this month, as the retail sales environment remains strong for new car sales,” said Eric Lyman, TrueCar’s chief industry analyst, in a statement. “Incentives are also down slightly as automakers begin to address supply side imbalances with planned reductions in vehicle production.” Among individual car makers, Subaru posted the biggest gains in the month at 12.9%, followed by General Motors Corp. , up 11.2%. TrueCar shares up 30% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.7%.

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Shares of Tiffany & Co. surged 2.4% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the high-end jewelry retailer reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that surprisingly that surprisingly rose above expectations. Earnings for the quarter to Oct. 31 increased to $95.1 million, or 76 cents a share, from $91.0 million, or 70 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was a decline to 67 cents. Revenue grew to $949.3 million from $938.2 million, compared with the FactSet consensus for a decline to $923.8 million. Same-store sales fell 2%, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 4.1% drop, as a 20% jump in Japan same-store sales was well above expectations of a 4.3% fall. Net sales in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Japan beat the FactSet consensus while Europe sales fell below. The company affirmed its fiscal 2016 outlook for sales and adjusted EPS. “We are encouraged by some early signs of improvement in sales trends, but we clearly need more positive data over time before this can be considered an inflection point,” said Chief Executive Frederic Cumenal. The stock has gained 2.4% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has climbed 6.5% and the S&P 500 has rallied 7.7%.

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A plane carrying 81 people, including a Brazilian first division soccer team, has crashed as it neared the international airport in Medellin, Colombia, according to an AP report. The BAE 146 short-haul aircraft, run by charter airline LaMia, reportedly declared an emergency because of an electrical failure. The Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil was on board and traveling to play in a Copa Sudamericana final. Reports said 76 of the 81 people on board died.

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