Category: Stock Market News

A takeover of drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp. by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. would boost Walgreen’s per-share earnings, but would be a headscratcher for investors, Jefferies analysts wrote Tuesday. Walgreens recently approached Amerisource CEO Steven Collis with a view to buying the stake in the company it does not already own, as The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday. Walgreens owns a 26% stake in the company. “While we see strategic value in joining forces with a leading drug distributor such as ABC, we believe WBA has already pursued this opportunity when it formed the WBAD purchasing consortium with ABC and acquired its minority stake in the company,” Jefferies analysts wrote in a note. “WBA has been openly discussing their intention of continuing to pursue vertical-integration deal opportunities, but acquiring the rest of ABC, while financially-rational, begs the question on what incremental strategic value the deal would bring, especially in light of recent moves by CVS and AET and even ESRX buying eviCore.” A deal would however help Walgreens expand in the U.S. and reduce its reliance on the UK’s Boots chain, at a time when the UK market is facing reimbursement and macro pressures, they wrote. Walgreens shares were down 1.7% premarket, while Amerisource was up 13%. S&P 500 futures were down 0.4%.

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Blue Apron Holdings Inc. shares jumped 7.5% in Tuesday premarket trading after it reported fourth-quarter losses that weren’t as deep as expected and revenue that beat expectations. The meal delivery service reported a loss of $39.1 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with a loss of $26.1 million, or 39 cents per share for the same period last year. Revenue fell 13% to $187.7 million, down from $215.9 million last year. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 27 cents and revenue of $185.0 million. Marketing expenses fell to $25.2 million from $37.1 million as the company’s “top priority remains continuing to drive operational efficiencies,” Chief Executive Brad Dickerson said in a statement. Customers fell 15% year-over-year, also reflecting a cut in marketing spend. Blue Apron shares are up 9.5% for the last three months, but down nearly 17% for the year-to-date. The S&P 500 index is down 0.7% for the year so far.

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Eli Lilly & Co. said Tuesday that a phase 3 safety and efficacy study of Taltz for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) met the primary and all key secondary endpoints. Eli Lilly said it plans to submit data for regulatory approval, pending additional data from the ongoing Taltz development program. Taltz is currently approved for treatment of psoriatic arthritis in adults, and to treat adults with moderate-to-severs plaque psoriasis. Eli Lilly’s stock, which is still inactive in premarket trade, has shed 8.0% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has gained 1.1% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 2.8%.

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Blur Apron Holdings Inc. shares jumped 7.5% in Tuesday premarket trading after it reported fourth-quarter losses that weren’t as deep as expected and revenue that beat expectations. The meal delivery service reported a loss of $39.1 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with a loss of $26.1 million, or 39 cents per share for the same period last year. Revenue fell 13% to $187.7 million, down from $215.9 million last year. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 27 cents and revenue of $185.0 million. Marketing expenses fell to $25.2 million from $37.1 million as the company’s “top priority remains continuing to drive operational efficiencies,” Chief Executive Brad Dickerson said in a statement. Customers fell 15% year-over-year, also reflecting a cut in marketing spend. Blue Apron shares are up 9.5% for the last three months, but down nearly 17% for the year-to-date. The S&P 500 index is down 0.7% for the year so far.

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GNC Holdings Inc. shares soared 35% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the health and performance supplements retailer said it will receive a $300 million investment from China-based drugmaker Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holding Co. (Hayao), as part of a strategic partnership and China joint venture agreement. The investment makes Hayao the largest GNC shareholder. GNC is also looking to extend the maturity date of its existing term loan facility by two years to March 2021. Separately, the company GNC reported a fourth-quarter net loss that narrowed to $209.8 million, or $2.99 a share, from $433.4 million, or $6.35 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, the adjusted profit per share came to 25 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue fell to $557.7 million frmo $569.9 million, missing the FactSet consensus of $568.8 million. Same-store sales rose 5.7% in domestic company-owned stores, but decreased 2.0% in domestic franchise stores. The stock has plunged 30% over the past three months through Monday, while the S&P 500 rose 2.8%.

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Under Armour Inc. shares surged 13% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the company posted stronger-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter. The company said it had a net loss of $87.9 million, or 20 cents a share, in the quarter, after earnings of $103.2 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusting for a one-time tax charge and restructuring costs, the company had breakeven EPS, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue came to $1.4 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.3 billion. The company said it recognized pretax costs relating to a restructuring plan announced last August of $37 million. The company is now expecting to book restructuring charges of $110 to $130 million in 2018 after identifying further measures. It expects to generate at least $75 million in annual savings from the restructuring in 2019 and beyond. For 2018, the company is expecting revenue to rise at a low single-digit percentage rate, and for adjusted EPS to range from 14 cents to 19 cents. The current FactSet consensus is for 2018 EPS of 21 cents. Shares have fallen 29% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 14%.

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U.S. firearm manufacturer, Remington Outdoor Company, said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but stay in business throughout the process. “Difficult industry conditions make today’s agreement prudent,” said Jim Geisler, Remington’s executive chairman, in a statement released by the company on Monday. The company has been dogged by falling sales after one of its rifles was used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre of 2012. The restructuring will help the company to cut its debt by around $700 million and inject $145 million in new capital into its different units. Remington said its business operations will not be affected by the restructuring. Remington is owned by Cerberus Capital Management, but CNN reported that once the restructuring process is over, the private equity firm will no longer own the company. Remington could not immediately be reached to comment on its relationship with Cerebus in future.

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South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress, has decided to tell President Jacob Zuma to leave his post after he refused to do so voluntarily, media reports said Tuesday. The ANC’s top leadership came to the decision after 13 hours of discussion in Pretoria that ended early Tuesday. Zuma, who has been president since 2009, will likely have to undergo a vote of confidence in parliament if he does not step down — a vote he is likely to lose, the BBC reported. In line as his successor is Cyril Ramaphosa, who replaced Zuma as leader of the ANC in December. The South African rand shed 0.03% against the U.S. dollar, with one buck buying 11.937 rand.

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A recovery for U.S. equities showed signs of faltering on Tuesday, as stock futures stumbled in early trade. Dow futures fell 81 points, or 0.3%, to 24,503, while S&P 500 futures fell 6.7 points, or 0.3%, to 2,648.50. Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 13.5 points, or 0.2%, to 6,518.25. Stocks gained for a second straight session on Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied over 400 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively. That came after one of the worst weeks for stocks in two years. Asia saw another positive session, outside of the Nikkei , which gave up an earlier gain to slip 0.6%. Oil prices and gold rose, while the dollar pulled back.

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Amazon.com Inc. is laying off hundreds of workers, even as it continues on a nationwide hiring spree and seeks to build a new headquarters that could generate 50,000 new jobs. The Seattle Times reported Monday that the tech giant was cutting hundreds of jobs at its Seattle, Wash., headquarters, and hundreds more across its global operations. In a statement to the Times, Amazon acknowledged making “head count adjustments” and said it was making cuts in some areas while hiring in others. Resources seemed to be shifting from Amazon’s retail business to faster-growing units, such as voice assistant Alexa. The Times reported some of the cuts were aimed at weeding out lower-performing employees. Amazon’s workforce surged 66% last year, to 566,000 nationwide. Amazon reportedly had 4,000 job openings in Seattle as of Monday. Amazon shares are up 18.5% in 2018, and 67.5% in the past year, compared to the S&P 500’s 0.6% loss this year and 14.7% gain over the past year.

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