Category: Stock Market News

Oil futures fell sharply Monday, hit by concerns over a global supply glut. September West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.54, or 3.7%, to end at $40.06 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark traded below $40 for the first time since April, notching a session low of $39.82. Concerns about production by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a rise in U.S. rig counts and large gasoline stockpiles contributed to the weakness, analysts said.

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Shares of Etsy Inc. rocketed 17% to a more than 10-month high in afternoon trade Monday, after Citigroup issued a bullish note on the online crafts marketplace a day before it was scheduled to report second-quarter results. That would mark the second-biggest one-day gain since the stock went public on April 16, 2015. Volume was about 7.3 million shares, already nearly five times the full-day average. Citigroup analyst Mark Kelley started coverage of Etsy with a buy rating, and a stock price target of $14, which was 19% above current levels. Kelley said he believes current consensus estimates for Etsy’s seller services business “are far too conservative,” as the company has made steady progress expanding its take rate as sellers adopt the additive services products. “We view Etsy’s long-term targets as more than achievable, and expect to see upside to consensus numbers as we progress throughout the year and into 2018,” Kelley wrote in a note to clients. Etsy is expected to report after Tuesday’s closing bell a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $80.6 million. The stock has soared 34% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.2%.

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Lyft Inc. said it will “evaluate” its partnership with Didi Chuxing, after the Chinese ride-hailing company said Monday that it would acquire Uber’s China operations. Lyft currently has a partnership with Didi, as well as two other ride-hailing companies, that extends the reach of the app globally. “We always believed Didi had a big advantage in China because of the regulatory environment. The recent policy changes are exactly why we did not invest in the region,” Alexandra LaManna, a spokesperson for Lyft, said in an email to MarketWatch. “Over the next few weeks, we will evaluate our partnership with Didi.” With Didi’s deal, Uber will also own a stake in Didi, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Gold futures logged a modest gain Monday as weaker-than-expected economic data were read by some investors as being tepid enough to give the Federal Reserve pause in raising benchmark interest rates as early as its next policy meeting in September. Lower rates for longer tend to be supportive for gold prices. December gold picked up $2.10, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,359.60 an ounce. Meanwhile, silver futures for September delivery booked their best settlement since July 2014, FactSet data show.

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West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures extended losses in early afternoon trade Monday, dropping below $40 a barrel for the first time since April. September WTI futures were off $1.61, or 3.9%, at $39.99 after trading as low as $39.86. Concerns about a global glut of crude and gasoline, as well as weaker demand as the U.S. summer driving season comes to a close, have contributed to a slump that saw oil futures fall 14% in July.

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Chinese solar energy company Trina Solar Ltd. said Monday it has reached a merger agreement with Fortune Solar Holdings Ltd. and one of its units, after which it will be taken private by an investor consortium in an all-cash deal that implies an equity value of $1.1 billion. The investor consortium includes Chief Executive Jifan Gao, Shanghai Xingsheng Equity Investment & Management Co. Ltd., Shanghai Xingjing Investment Management Co. Ltd., Great Zhongou Asset Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Liuan Xinshi Asset Management Co. Ltd. and/or their respective affiliates. The merger consideration is equal to a premium of 21.5% over the closing price of Trina’s American Depositary Share Dec. 11, 2015, the last day before the company announced the receipt of a going-private transaction. It is equal to a premium of 40.6% over the closing price of the ADS on Friday, July 29, the last day prior to Monday’s announcement. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Shares were trading up 27% after a trading halt was lifted. The S&P 500 was up 0.04%.

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VirnetX Holding Corp.’s stock plunged 44% in active morning trade Monday to a 6 1/2-month low, enough to make it the biggest declining stock listed on U.S. exchanges, after a disappointing court ruling regarding its patent infringement claims against Apple Inc. Volume topped 1.3 million shares, which was already about double the full-day average. The internet security software company said the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a new order in the case against Apple, vacating the previous order to consolidate the two cases, and to retry them as separate cases. “We are disappointed by the court’s decision to vacate its prior ruling on consolidation and ordering the parties to retry the cases as two separate matters,” said VirnetX Chief Executive Kendall Larsen. In February, VirnetX’s stock soared after a federal Jury in Texas ordered Apple to pay $625 million for infringing on VirnetX’s patents.

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Amazon.com Inc. has pushed past Exxon Mobil Corp. to become the fourth-largest U.S. company by market capitalization in intraday trade Monday. The e-commerce giant’s stock was up 0.7% in morning trade, to take its market cap up to $362.1 billion, while Exxon Mobil shares shed 2% to take its market cap down to $361.6 billion. In two sessions since Amazon reported second-quarter results late Thursdays, Amazon has moved up from seventh place. Now the top four largest companies are all technology companies: Apple Inc. at $565.9 billion; Alphabet Inc. at $549.6 billion; and Microsoft Corp. at $440.0 billion. Of the four, only Apple and Microsoft are components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Shares of ADMA Biologics Inc. tanked 21% Monday, after the company said it had received a complete response letter from the Food and Drug Administration regarding an application for a treatment for primary humoral immunodeficiency disease. Raymond James downgraded the stock to market perform from strong buy on the news, although it said it still expects the treatment to be approved, as the letter stemmed from issues at a third-party manufacturer, and not the clinical efficacy and safety data for the drug, named RI-002. “Although these manufacturing issues are largely addressable, the uncertainty surrounding the timing of the resubmission and review remain the key issue, and therefore we are withdrawing RI-002 revenue estimates from our model until we obtain further clarity as to when and what type of a resubmission is possible,” analysts wrote in a note. With a cash position of $24.6 million and lowered monthly burn rate of $1.2 million, Raymond James is expecting the company to have sufficient cash to get through 2017 and resubmit the application. Shares are down 23% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 6%.

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Worldwide shipments of tablets fell 12% in the second quarter, according to a new report from IDC. Roughly 65% of tablets shipped this past quarter were run on Alphabet Inc.’s Android operating system, followed by Apple Inc.’s ioS, which captured 26% of the market. Apple’s shipments fell by 9% year-over-year, but the launch of a new iPad Pro earlier this year helped to increase average selling prices for iPads, lifting Apple’s total share of the market from 25% last year. Samsung Electronics Co.’s share decreased to 15.6% from 18.2% a year ago, as its shipments plunged 25% during the quarter. Lenovo, Huawei and Amazon.com Inc. rounded out the top five, with Amazon recording growth of 1,208%, thanks to strong sales of Fire tablets on Prime Day. That growth spurt helped to lift Amazon’s market share to 4% from 0.3% in the year-earlier period. Shares of Apple rose 0.6% to $104.79 in Monday morning trade, pushing them up nearly 12% in the past three months. Those of Amazon rose 0.1% to $759.59, pushing them up 15.3% in three months. The S&P 500 , meanwhile, has risen 5% in three months.

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