Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Dare Bioscience Inc. plummeted 41% toward a record low Tuesday, enough to make them the day’s biggest decliners on major U.S. exchanges, after the biopharmaceutical company announced a public stock offering. The second-biggest decliners were shares of Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. , which plunged 29% after an equity offering. Dare said it was raising $10.25 million with its offering, which included 5.0 million common shares and warrants to buy 3.5 million common shares. That could potentially more than double the number of shares outstanding, which totaled 6.05 million shares as of Nov. 6. Dare’s stock has now tumbled 89.3% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 13.5%.

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Instinet analyst Jeffrey Kvaal wrote Tuesday that he sees “new drivers brewing” for Apple Inc. , even as iPhone X demand seems to be falling short of the company’s initial expectations. In a note to clients, Kvaal argued that the “era of supercycle may be over,” but he’s optimistic about the potential for secondhand phone sales to continue growing the company’s installed base. He noted that Apple’s base did in fact grow during the latest quarter, which to him “implies services – and perhaps the Watch – can emerge as meaningful drivers by ~2020.” Kvaal believes that the services business could account for more than a third of the company’s overall gross profit dollars by 2020. Still, he kept his neutral rating on the stock. Apple shares are down 0.2% in Tuesday morning trading and up 22% over the past 12 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 20% in that time.

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U.S. stock benchmarks point to a modestly lower open on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 170 points, or 0.7%, lower at 24,448, while the S&P 500 index slipped 15 points, or 0.5%, to 2,642. The Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 31 points, or 0.4%, at 6,952. The main benchmarks are threatening to halt two consecutive days of advances as stocks struggle to recover from its worst week in about two years. Investors have also been weighing a Federal budget that U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed as well as an infrastructure proposal. Looking ahead, Wall Street investors are awaiting key readings of inflation on Wednesday and Thursday. In corporate news, shares of AmerisourceBergen Corp. rose sharply after reports that Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has made an offer to buyout the drug distributor.

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Caterpillar Inc. said Tuesday that rolling 3-month retail sales, through January, of total machines rose 34% on a global basis, with growth in all regions including a 23% rise in North America. Among the machines segments, global resource industries sales jumped 49% and construction industries sales increased 30%. In North America, resource industries sales rose 38% and construction industries sales grew 22%. Total energy and transportation retail sales rose 16%, with power generation sales up 8%, industrial sales rising 13%, oil and gas sales up 27% and transportation sales unchanged. Caterpillar’s stock fell 0.7% in premarket trade, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 152 points, or 0.6%. Over the past three months, Caterpillar shares have run up 11.5% while the Dow has gained 5.0%.

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Shares of PepsiCo Inc. shed 1.2% in premarket trade Tuesday, as the beverages and snack giant’s raised dividend and new buyback program offset fourth-quarter results that showed another decline in beverage and snack sales. Pepsi said it will increase its annual dividend 15% to $3.71 a share from $3.22 a share, starting with the dividend to be paid in June 2018. The company also announced a new $15 billion stock repurchase program, starting July 1, 2018 and expiring June 30, 2021, replacing the $12 billion program that started on July 1, 2015. Based on Monday’s closing price of $111.93, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield 3.14%, compared with the current 3.37% yield for rival Coca-Cola Co. and the implied yield of 1.92% for the S&P 500 , according to FactSet. Also at Monday’s stock closing price, the new buyback program would allow the company to repurchase 9.4% of the shares outstanding. Pepsi shares have lost 1.9% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has gained 2.8%.

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Fitbit Inc. announced Tuesday that it would be acquiring Twine Health, a health coaching platform that’s geared toward those with chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. The company also seeks to help those who want to follow a weight loss or smoking cessation plan. Fitbit said that it expects the acquisition to help it “expand its offerings to health plans, health systems and self-insured employers, while creating opportunities to increase subscription-based revenue.” The company has been making a greater push into the health ecosystem through partnerships with insurer UnitedHealthcare, among others. The company has been especially focused on finding ways for its devices to be used for diabetes management. Fitbit shares are down 1.9% in premarket trading Tuesday, while the stock is down 9.6% over the past 12 months. The S&P 500 Index has gained 14% in that time.

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. shares dropped 3% in premarket trade Tuesday after Novartis AG’s Sandoz announced that the 40 mg dose of Glatopa, its generic for Teva’s popular multiple sclerosis medication Copaxone, has been approved and launched in the U.S. Glatopa was developed through a collaboration between Novartis and Momenta Pharmaceuticals , and the 20 mg dose was made available in mid-2015. Momenta shares surged 6.8% in premarket trade. The 40 mg dose was approved about six weeks earlier than expected, said Leerink Partners analyst Ami Fadia, noting that Teva expected a launch as early as April. Teva shares have surged 64% over the last three months, while Novartis shares have risen 1.6% and Momenta shares have surged 26.4%, compared with a 2.8% rise in the S&P 500 .

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JetBlue Airways Corp. said Tuesday that January load factor declined to 81.9% from 83.3% a year ago, as a capacity rose slightly while traffic declined. Capacity increased 0.1% to 4.64 billion available seat miles, while traffic fell 1.7% to 3.80 billion revenue passenger miles. The number of revenue passengers fell 4.0% to 3.16 million, while departures declined 2.5% to 28,596. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 4.9% over the past three months, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index has surged 9.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.8%.

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Barnes & Noble Inc. said Tuesday it expects to book a charge of about $11 million in fiscal third quarter after implementing a new staffing model that has led to the elimination of store positions. The company made the disclosure in a regulatory filing without specifying how many positions were cut. The bookstore chain said it expects the job cuts to save about $40 million a year. “The new model will allow stores to adjust staff up or down based on the needs of the business, increase store productivity and streamline store operations,” the company said in a statement. Shares rose 1.1% premarket, but have fallen 56% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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Broadcom Ltd. said Tuesday that it would seek to elect six members to Qualcomm Inc.’s board, rather than the 11 members it had originally planned. Broadcom has made an $82/share hostile bid for Qualcomm. If Broadcom’s slate were to be elected, the company said it would have a majority on the Qualcomm board. Qualcomm investors “have welcomed our willingness to provide for appropriate continuity on the Qualcomm board, and have also expressed a desire for a definitive mechanism of achieving such continuity,” Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said in a release. “Reducing the number of nominees we are seeking to a simple majority provides precisely that mechanism.” Qualcomm’s annual meeting is scheduled for March 6. Broadcom shares are up 18% over the past 12 months, while Qualcomm shares are up 20%. The S&P 500 Index has gained 14% in that time, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is up 32%.

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